User:Nmillerche/sandbox/Rebecca Watson

Rebecca Watson (born October 18, 1980) is an American blogger and independent podcast host. She is the founder of Skepchick who also co-hosts The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast with Steven Novella, Bob Novella, Jay Novella and Evan Bernstein (earlier with Perry DeAngelis). She also previously co-hosted the Little Atoms podcast.

Skepchick
Watson founded Skepchick in 2005, describing it as "an organization dedicated to promoting skepticism and critical thinking among women around the world." Originally the site consisted of a forum and a monthly online magazine, Skepchick Magazine, which was launched January 15, 2006.

In 2006, Watson released The Skepchick Calendar, a pin-up calendar featuring pictures of skeptical women for every month. New calendars have been made in subsequent years, including Skepdude Calendars since 2007.

On February 12, 2006, Watson created a blog titled Memoirs of a Skepchick, as an addition to the magazine. Eventually the blog, now simply titled Skepchick, became the main site, as Skepchick Magazine was discontinued in July 2006. Fourteen other bloggers beside Watson now contribute regularly, including one man.

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
Watson's first appearance on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast was on episode 33 (March 9, 2006), where she was interviewed about her work on Skepchick. She returned on episode 36 (March 29, 2006) as a regular member of the panel.

The Public Radio Talent Quest
In May 2007, Watson entered The Public Radio Talent Quest, a contest aimed to find new public radio hosts. The contest claims to have received more than 1,400 entries. Watson's entries won the popular vote in every round, and she was declared one of three winners who each would receive $10,000 to produce a public radio pilot.

Watson's pilot, Curiosity, Aroused, was an hour-long program focused on science and skepticism. It featured interviews with Richard Saunders of Australian Skeptics and Mystery Investigators, and Richard Wiseman, author of Quirkology and Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. She also investigated claims of poisonous amounts of lead in lipstick, went on a ghost tour in Boston and visited a Psychic Fair.

Her show was the only one among the three winners not to receive funding by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for being turned into a one-year show.

Personal life
On July 11, 2009, she and Sid Rodrigues were married in a surprise ceremony during The Amaz!ng Meeting 7. On April 8, 2011, she announced that she and Rodrigues were separated and seeking a divorce.

Elevator incident
In June 2011, Watson described an experience at a skeptical conference, concerning an approach by a man in an elevator, who invited her to his room for coffee and a conversation late at night, after she had talked extensively about disliking being "sexualized" at atheist conferences. In a video blog, among other things, she stated that incident made her feel sexualized and uncomfortable and advised, "Guys, don't do that". Her statement sparked a controversy among the skeptic community. Her critics said she was overreacting to a trivial incident, most notably Richard Dawkins, who wrote a satirical letter to an imaginary Muslim woman undergoing female genital mutilation, sarcastically contrasting her plight to Watson's complaint. This in turn caused him to be criticized by those supporting her on the issue, including several figures in the community. Watson announced that she would not buy or endorse Dawkins's books and lectures in the future. She also wrote that, as a result of Dawkins's criticism, her Wikipedia article was vandalized and offensive images were posted on her Facebook page.

The Mail & Guardian summarized the incident as "a fairly useful debate about feminism, sexism and appropriate sexual boundaries between men and women [that] descended into all out troll warfare and an attendant witch-hunt to persecute sexists in the atheist community."

Honors
An outer main-belt asteroid discovered March 22, 2001 by David H. Healy was named 153289 Rebeccawatson in her honor.