Feb 07 2008

TAM 6 Speakers Announced

The Amazing Meeting (affectionately referred to as TAM) will have its sixth iteration from June 19-22, 2008 in Flamingo Hotel and Casino-Las Vegas. The conference is organized by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), but it has evolved over the last few years to become the unofficial annual conference of the skeptical movement. Pretty much, it’s the place to be if you want to be a hip skeptic, or at least be surrounded by hip skeptics.

TAM is organized around a series of incredible lectures, and this year’s line-up was recently announced. Here they are:

New speakers this year include Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, PZ Myers, Matthew Chapman, and Sharon Begley. Many of our old friends will be joining us as well, including Phil Plait (the Bad Astronomer), Penn & Teller, Richard Saunders, Dr. Richard Wiseman, Dr. Michael Shermer, Adam Savage (from the Mythbusters), Steve Novella, Christopher Hitchens and Paul Provenza.

The keynote speaker, Neil DeGrasse Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium and has hosted programs on Nova and appeared on The Universe. He is developing into an excellent popularizer of science, in the mold of Carl Sagan (the inevitable comparison).

Observant readers likely noticed that toward the end of the list there is a familiar name – my own. I am excited to be a featured presenter this year. Although the topic of my lecture has not yet been decided, the theme of TAM 6 is ” I, Skeptic: Modern Skepticism in the Internet Age.” My topic will probably fall under the “science-based medicine” category, but I am still open to suggestions.

So feel free to make your suggestions in the comments. What would you like to hear me ramble about for 45 minutes? Even if you are not attending (but if you can – do attend, you won’t regret it) the lectures are always available afterward on DVD.

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