A while back, he pontificated on physics supporting the religious idea of a "single invisible plane of existence: the spirit.". Then it was the claim that biology provides evidence that "human beings were made by a God who loves us". Who else but Gregg Easterbrook could turn science into a fractured fairy tale? Now he's dishing out the inside scoop on that "kook", Stephen Hawking:

...Hawking was able to become internationally famous while saying kooky things because today physicists have the status once held by medieval priests: People don't challenge their mumbo-jumbo. Or perhaps Hawking was able to get away with saying kooky things because knowledge of science is so poor: Book critics and the television newscasters who interviewed him assumed the mumbo-jumbo must make sense and felt insecure about simply saying, "Time moving in reverse, what claptrap."

In addition to book critics and newscasters, he should have included included "journalists for the New Republic" in his list of bozos whose knowledge of science is so poor. Every time Easterbrook mentions science, he upchucks some dazzling jewel of lunacy, stated confidently as if it were established fact, that leaves me gaping in wonder. It's a "San Diego is German for 'whale vagina'" moment; Will Ferrell might as well have been channelling Easterbrook in his movie, Anchorman.

Thank you, Brad DeLong, for addressing his nonsense. I couldn't bear it, myself.