I didn’t take many notes yesterday, but I was tweeting like crazy (@RedVelvetCakes), so this recap is practically already written for me.
Friday began with welcomes from D.J. Grothe, Michael Shermer, and Randi himself, who looks fit and spry as ever (Why are only old people ever described as “spry”? He looks vigorous, energetic, dynamic.). Then we got into the panels proper.
…Which, as I said, I’ve already recapped on Twitter, so I won’t repeat myself here. Go use the hashtag #TAM2014 to find everyone’s take on the proceedings, if you’d like.
The star of the day, predictably, was Carol Tavris, who began with “Does this bulletproof vest make me look fat?” before charging bravely in to her talk, “Who’s Lying, Who’s Self-Justifying? Origins of the He Said/She Said Gap In Sexual Allegations.” She discussed “rape culture” and the difficulty of learning the truth in many such cases; two famous examples she brought up were Dylan Farrow’s accusations against Woody Allen and the Duke University lacrosse team’s ordeal. My fellow SINner Jacques Rousseau has written about Tavris’s talk in much greater detail.
After the day’s sessions were done I attended the Skeptics Guide to the Universe fundraising dinner (someone else paid my way). One of the big winners in the auction was Jay Diamond, who blogs at our sister site Healthy Skepticism.
Next I relaxed with some friends and dished gossip about the skeptical community for a while. Then I ran, showered, put on a tight dress, and went down to Penn Jillette’s annual Bacon and Doughnuts and Rock and Roll party. That’s when this happened:
See you all again tomorrow!
