Publicity Machine Sputters Into Gear

Now that you’ve voted, I know what question you must be asking yourself: where can I go to hear Sean do things like relentlessly flogging his new book, The Particle at the End of the Universe, in stores November 13? Well you’ve certainly come to the right place. Here are some upcoming opportunities in various media.

  • Here’s a video I just did with Chris Johnson, who is working on a book entitled “A Better Life: 100 Atheists Speak Out on Joy and Meaning In a World Without God.” Hear me at my arrogant, hubristic best. (I am talking about the difficulties of defining meaning in a purposeless universe but somehow managed to work in the Higgs boson.)
  • This weekend both Jennifer and I will be speaking at Skepticon 5, in Springfield, Missouri. Apparently there will be other speakers, as well.
  • Local folks, on Monday Nov. 12 I’ll be participating in an event called Uncorked, sponsored by Pasadena music/art organization MUSE/IQUE. The show is headlined by innovative cellist Matt Haimovitz, and his supporting cast includes me and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. (None of the preceding is a joke.)
  • On book release day, Tuesday, I’ll be doing a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything). Scheduled to start at 11am Pacific time. Head over there to pester me about all the questions you think I avoid over here.
  • Later that day I’ll be on Attack of the Show, which I believe is broadcast live at 4pm Pacific, then webcast Wednesday morning at 10am Pacific.
  • That night, for you insomniacs, I’ll be on Coast to Coast AM, starting at 11pm Pacific.
  • This could be quite cool: on November 15 at 3pm Pacific, I’ll be doing an online presentation/Q&A on a new platform called Shindig. (See an example here.) I will give an informal talk, then anyone following from online who has a webcam can “get up on stage” with me and ask questions, or different audience members can chat amongst themselves. Could be awesome, or a disaster, we’ll have to see.
  • Friday the 16th I’ll be on Science Friday. Presumably a more focused discussion than on Coast to Coast.
  • Back here in Pasadena, on Sunday Nov. 18th I’ll be giving a public lecture on the Higgs boson at the Skeptics Society at 2pm Pacific. Apparently this will also involve a live webcast, so tune in.
  • On Thursday November 29 I’m scheduled to be on a plucky little cable TV show called the Colbert Report. Due to the vicissitudes of television, these things tend to get un-scheduled and re-scheduled with abandon, but that’s the current plan.
  • A day later I’m in Portland, giving a public talk at the First Congregational Church.
  • A week after that I’m in Toronto, appearing on a public panel on Dec. 7 talking about the Higgs.

And that’s it for 2012, as far as I currently know. Come January I’ll be in the UK for a bit, which should be fun. The above looks like a long list, but several of them are local and/or electronic, so I have high hopes for continuing to get actual work done over the next couple of months.

15 Comments

15 thoughts on “Publicity Machine Sputters Into Gear”

  1. I thought any people who were on Coast to Coast were nutjobs talking about alien abductions, end of the world and paranormal stuff.

  2. I do love atheists, they are wonderful people that are searching for truth and meaning in a universe and world where things seem to be often out of control, at least in a world where war is often the first choice, however I do disagree with their unbelief of an all Loving God, whom expects mankind to first of all choose Love, the Love that dwells within each and every person that chooses to Love, the Love that is the real Savior of mankind, not the so called Love that hates those who disagree with their ideas of what God wants. The absolutely unconditional Love of each and every man woman and child, no exceptions.

  3. @Tony

    yeah, the problem is loving people like Hitler and Pol Pot doesn’t achieve good things – better to bludgeon them with the nearest rock don’t you think?

  4. Let’s get those metaphors better on track Sean. Engines sputter to life. You shift into gear, ideally after your engine has stopped sputtering.

  5. Catching up on CV blogs after a week of business in Vegas (What an oxymoron!). While reading comments, noticed that if one wants a personal reply, it helps to toss in a favorable comparison of Sean to Carl Sagan or the like. (Sorry for the snipe … forgot to pack my meds.)

  6. I don’t really take any joy from saying this, and in fact I hope that I am even wrong, but in practical terms the Higgs boson seems relatively useless, or at least constitutes a substantial misallocation of resources. Where did the finance for this come from, by the way? Does the HB exist primarily due to transfers of money that were forced upon unwilling participants, or people not even consulted, and thus not voluntarily given, for example? If so, that would hardly be natural, one could argue. But more importantly, why exactly has such a huge mobilization of (scarce) resources not been applied to more obviously practical problems in need of solutions? Why, for example, wasn’t this money spent on developing free energy, or even just more efficient forms of renewable energy? A monument to misdirection, perhaps. Where can a person discover how much the HB has cost, and also where the money for it came from? It seems fairly expensive. I’ll check back in a few weeks to see if anybody has been able to answer.

  7. @ James, maybe if some of these despots were really Loved when they were children they would have been totally different people when they matured, however the case one has to put the welfare of others foremost and take whatever measures necessary to that effect, such as putting serial killers where they can no longer harm, or kill, or putting tyrants out of business permanently.

  8. It’s amazing that so many look to tyrants to solve their troubles, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc were looked to by their people for salvation in times of trouble.

  9. Pingback: A Book Full of Particles | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine

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