re: #2 rosiee

You give the mainstream audience more rationality than they actually possess. Each of Alex’s points was shouted at least three times, and even if they come away thinking that Alex is a nut they will also think ‘but he had some good points, and Piers wasn’t able to counter them” I think you need to look at the history of “shouting heads” debates — it’s the demagogue who comes away with the win in audience ratings in most cases. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a creationist debate, or a presidential debate.