Ep#102 – Mythcon IV Controversy Debrief

This week on The #GSPodcast Stephen Knight (@Gspellchecker) talks to Sean and Brian from Mythicist Milwaukee (mythicistmilwaukee.com). We debrief Mythcon IV which generated a fair amount of controversy. We talk about principles, guest selection, the harassment campaign to shut them down and much, much more.

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Show Notes

Mythcon information: http://www.mythicistmilwaukee.com/mythinformation-conference-2/

Full Mythcon video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwY4rvhWVf4

Sargon of Akkad V Thomas Smith debate video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTFL0wKmsC0

Sargon Of Akkad’s video response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9ODU956oUA&t=1515s

Thomas Smith’s debrief of Mythcon on ‘Serious Pod’: http://seriouspod.com/sio82-mythinformation-shitshow/

Video analysis of Thomas Smith’s demands/’threats’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6GxqjzZ-gI

Independent article on Jess Phillips rape threats: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/labour-mp-jess-phillips-rape-death-threats-one-day-social-media-attacks-training-a7915406.html

Sargon Akkad on conspiracy theories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx4ZDd1vDGU

Matt Dillahunty’s thoughts on Mythcon (video):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYnlUv68nvk&t=2656s

David Silverman (American Atheists) statement on Mythcon: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10155625641421702&id=619971701

 

11 comments

  • Right, I was going to write something nuanced because there are issues to discuss, but I had to stop at around 36 minutes, so I’ll just say this: If someone tweets “I wouldn’t even rape you” at a sexual assault victim, then yes, they should be excluded from conversations.

  • If they’ve sold a bunch of tickets *because* they invited a two-bit contrarian who unrepentantly tweeted “I wouldn’t even rape you” at a sexual assault victim, then that’s very very sad. Hopefully everyone who bought a ticket has done because the rest of the conference was good.

  • Pingback: #MythCon Disagreement And Thomas Smith’s Online Abuse | Godless Spellchecker's Blog

  • Great interview Stephen. The Sargon issue is ridiculously overblown. At no point did he threaten anyone at any point in time. If I remember correctly, he made a purposefully offensive point to illustrate the point that no speech, regardless of however offensive it is, should be criminalized in any way. And it was a fair point. No speech should ever be criminalized. To use a statement that wasn’t offensive would defeat the purpose.
    People who are too stupid to understand this (either deliberately or through an accident of birth) and just keep on repeating their dumb emo-blackmail are betraying their own inability to think. Not a credit to the ‘Skeptic Community’ (whatever the hell that is), and not much of a loss, to be honest. I would look at it as jettisoning extra, useless weight.

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