Whatʼs on at QED?

Dr Tom Berry has worked as a general and breast disease surgeon, and is the former Head of Scotland for Breast Cancer Now. He is currently studying for a law degree, and for more than twelve years has delivered Medics Against Violence (MAV) content in schools and community projects such as The Prince’s Trust. As a director of MAV, he is passionate about advocating and promoting a public health approach to violence reduction. His campaign work has seen him appear on BBC News, Channel 4 Dispatches, BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 4’s You & Yours.

Eli Bosnick is a comedian and podcaster living in New Jersey with his wife and son. As co-host of God Awful Movies, The Scathing Atheist, The Skepticrat, D&D-, and Citation Needed, heʼs managed to turn high school class clowning into a life-long career, which is exactly the opposite of what the guidance counsellor told him. In his spare time he enjoys card tricks, licking Christian apologists, and making prank websites about the organizers of this conference.

Heath Enwright is the co-creator of the Podcast Award winning Scathing Atheist podcast, and the co-host of God Awful Movies; a Christian movie review podcast that lambastes the very worst Christian cinema has to offer, alongside his other shows, The Skepticrat and Citation Needed. In his spare time, Heath enjoys being constitutionally protected from self-incrimination.

Dr Chris Jackson is former Chair in Sustainable Geoscience at the University of Manchester, working in the general area of sedimentary basin analysis. When not studying rocks, Chris gives geoscience lectures to the public and in schools, having appeared on several Earth Science-focused, television productions and podcasts. Chris is engaged in efforts to improve equality, diversity, and inclusivity in Higher Education.

Noah Lugeons is the co-creator of the Podcast Award winning Scathing Atheist podcast, and the host of the Podcast Award eligible God Awful Movies podcast. He is the author of Diatribes Volume One: 50 Essays From a Godless Misanthrope, and a proud vertebrate. In his spare time, he enjoys writing bios in the third person.

Professor Mark Maslin FRGS, FRSA is a Professor of Earth System Science at UCL and the Natural History Museum of Denmark. Mark is a leading scientist with particular interest in understanding climate change and the major challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. He has published over 180 papers in journals such as Science, Nature, and The Lancet. Mark has written 10 books and over 60 popular articles and regularly appears on radio and television. His books include ‘Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction’ (2021), ‘The Cradle of Humanity’ (2019), ‘The Human Planet’ with Simon Lewis (2018) and his latest book is ‘How to save our planet: the facts’ (2021).

Dr Azra Raza is the Chan Soon-Shiong Professor of Medicine and Clinical Director of The Evans Foundation MDS Center at Columbia University. A practising oncologist seeing 30-40 cancer patients per week, she also directs a basic cancer research lab with hundreds of original publications in high profile journals. She worked with President Clinton designing Breakthrough Developments in Science and Technology and with VP Joe Biden for the Cancer Moonshot initiative. Her latest book, *The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last* was published in October 2019. Her life is devoted to early detection and prevention of cancer.

Dr Fern Riddell is a cultural historian, and an expert in sex, suffrage and entertainment in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. She is the host of The History Channelʼs Podcast series #NotWhatYouThought and Presenter of BBC 4ʼs A Victorian Scandal: The Rudest Book in Britain. Her first book, The Victorian Guide To Sex, tackled the myths of Victorian prudishness, and her more recent book Death In Ten Minutes tells the forgotten story of the Suffragette bomber and birth control activist, Kitty Marion. Her most recent book, Sex: Lessons From History, is an exploration of the attitudes and identities western society has had towards sex. As an on screen expert, she has appeared on documentaries for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky Arts, Smithsonian, BBC Radio 3 and 4, and has appeared as an expert historian for radio and television across the world, working with both Audible and Spotify. She writes for The Guardian, Huffington Post, Times Higher Education, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, History Today and BBC History Magazine. Her work has also appeared in The Daily Mail, Penthouse and Time.com.

Rachel Schraer is a senior reporter for BBC News, covering health and misinformation. She led the health team’s coverage of misinformation during the pandemic, highlighting claims about fertility targeting women and unproven treatments like vitamin D and ivermectin pushed by anti-vaxxers, and was then appointed as the first specialist health and disinformation reporter within the BBC’s fact-checking team.

Professor Tom Shakespeare is professor of disability research at LSHTM, has published over 100 papers and chapters about disability as a qualitative sociologist. His books include *The Sexual Politics of Disability*, and *Disability Rights and Wrongs*. He has worked for WHO, and has been a member of the Arts Council of England, and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.

Dr Ema Sullivan-Bissett is a Reader in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham. She works on issues in the philosophy of mind and psychology, in particular, belief, delusion, and implicit bias. She is the Principal Investigator of two research projects: Deluded by Experience; and Conspiratorial Ideation and Pathological Belief.

Dr Joy Y. Zhang is Reader in Sociology and the Founding Director of the Centre for Global Science and Epistemic Justice at the University of Kent. Originally trained as a medical doctor, her research investigates the transnational governance of scientific uncertainty and the democratisation of knowledge production. Her work contributes to sociological theories of risk, cosmopolitanism, decolonisation and subaltern politics. She has undertaken empirical studies on stem cells, synthetic biology, genome editing, food movements and environmental politics. She is the author of: The Cosmopolitanization of Science: Stem Cell Governance in China (2012), Green Politics in China: Environmental Governance and State-Society Relations (2013), The Elephant and the Dragon in Contemporary Life Sciences: A Call for Decolonising Global Governance (2022) and Democratic Participation and the Cosmopolitics of Science: Why Scientific Citizenship Matters in the 21st Century (forthcoming).

When Paul last graced the QED stage he did it in a full suit of armour. Since then things have changed a bit, including a significant reduction in the protective quality of his attire. He’s the former host of the Ask an Archaeologist and the current host of Chronology Crew: The Unofficial Time Team Podcast. Paul mostly just does kids gigs these days, so this should be fun. Paul will be the emcee for QED 2022.

If there were really a god, would he inspire such god awful cinema? Join Noah Lugeons, Heath Enwright and Eli Bosnick as they tackle a ‘classic’ of religious movie-making. The trio, who also produce The Scathing Atheist and The Skepticrat, have tackled some of the very worst offerings from Christian cinema, and will be appearing for the first time on the QED main stage to break down another piece of pseudoscience propaganda.

InKredulous takes to the stage in a live version of this satirical, skeptically themed podcast. Join QED Co-organiser Andy Wilson and his guests in a comedy panel show designed for the curious. The panellists will find the funny in recent news stories, castigate the perpetrators of pseudo science and marvel at how they get away with it.

Serious Inquiries Only digs deep on the science behind viral headlines, right-wing talking points, and other public misconceptions! Running for over 300 shows since 2016, when it took over from its predecessor Atheistically Speaking, Serious Inquiries Only is hosted by Thomas Smith and Lindsey Osterman.

Produced by the Merseyside Skeptics Society, Skeptics with a K is the longest-running skeptical podcast in the UK, featuring Mike Hall, Dr Alice Howarth, and Michael Marshall. Each episode features skeptical breakdowns of credulous newspaper stories, the latest health fads, myths and misconceptions, and reports on skeptical activism and investigations.

Mike Hall is producer and host of the long-running podcast Skeptics with a K, part of the organising committee for QED, and former president of the Merseyside Skeptics Society. In the last few years he has garnered a reputation as the ‘placebo effect guy’, much to his annoyance. Mike will be recording a live episode of Skeptics with a K in the podcast room.

Alice Howarth is a cancer researcher, science communicator, and Deputy Editor of The Skeptic. She has investigated psychic shows, cancer quackery events, and has written for The Guardian. Alice will be recording a live episode of Skeptics with a K on the QED podcast track.

Michael is the Project Director of the Good Thinking Society, President of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, and editor of The Skeptic. Since 2013 he has interviewed proponents of pseudoscience for the Be Reasonable podcast, including leaders of the Flat Earth movement. His work has seen him organising international homeopathy protests, and lecturing on journalism and PR at a number of universities. He has written for The Guardian, The Times and New Statesman. Michael will be recording a live episode of Skeptics with a K for the QED podcast track.

Dr Lindsey Osterman earned a PhD in social psychology in 2012 and was an associate professor of psychology until 2022, when she left to pursue a career in public science communication. She co-hosts the podcasts Serious Inquiries Only, What The FUP? Downloads From The Secret Ghost Library, and We’re On The Same Page. Lindsey will be hosting a live edition of *Serious Inquiries Only* on the QED podcast track.

Thomas Smith is a professional podcaster who began podcasting in 2010 with a quest to read the entire bible while providing critical commentary and humour along the way. That project soon led to many others, including Serious Inquiries Only, Opening Arguments, Philosophers in Space, Dear Old Dads, and several other shows. Thomas will be hosting a live edition of *Serious Inquiries Only* on the QED podcast track.

Andy Wilson is co-organiser of the QED conference and host of perennial QED-favourite InKredulous. As a former board member of the Merseyside Skeptics Society he was one of the driving forces behind the 2010 10:23 overdose campaign, and he took the role of MC at QED 2012. Andy will be hosting InKredulous Live in the podcast room.