Podcast appearances and mentions of tom toles

Science is under attack, and not by accident.  In this episode of Cut to the Chase, Gregg Goldfarb sits down with Dr. Michael E. Mann, one of the world's leading climate scientists, to expose the coordinated, well-financed campaign working to discredit research, intimidate scientists, and pull public opinion away from the facts. From the "hockey stick" graph that made him a target to the death threats, the gutting of federal science agencies, and the way climate denial and vaccine misinformation merged into one anti-science machine, Mann lays out how we got here — and where the openings to fight back actually are. Co-author with Dr. Peter Hotez of the new book Science Under Siege, Mann brings candor and a surprising amount of hope to a heavy subject: why he never backed down, and what he tells students who still dream of becoming scientists. Join Gregg and Dr. Michael Mann on Cut to the Chase as they explore: Why the "hockey stick" graph made one scientist a target for powerful interests How climate denial and vaccine misinformation merged into one anti-science movement What "stochastic terrorism" is, and the real-world cost of speaking out Why clean energy and affordability may be the strongest case for climate action How attribution science could let courts hold fossil fuel companies accountable What Mann tells the next generation of scientists about staying in the fight     KEY MOMENTS 0:12 — Opening: defending truth in a world awash with misinformation 1:38 — The "hockey stick" graph and why it made Mann a target 5:12 — How climate and vaccine denial merged into one anti-science machine 8:12 — The "ladder of denial": why the arguments keep shifting 10:09 — Stochastic terrorism, death threats, and the personal cost 13:26 — Social media, podcasts, and the spread of misinformation 14:51 — Why he refused to give up 18:53 — The political path forward and the midterm elections 19:02 — The MAHA movement: common ground or trap? 23:37 — Why clean energy and affordability should lead the message 32:01 — Advice to students who still want to become scientists 36:01 — The EPA's rollback of the endangerment finding 38:54 — Attribution science, climate liability, and "the polluter pays" 41:03 — The U.S. on the world stage and ceding ground to China 43:56 — Closing: don't politicize the planet   Dr. Michael E. Mann is a presidential distinguished professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, where he directs the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media. One of the world's most influential climate scientists, he is best known for the "hockey stick" graph, which became an iconic and fiercely contested symbol of human-caused climate change. His latest book, Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces that Threaten Our World (PublicAffairs, 2025), is co-authored with vaccine scientist Dr. Peter J. Hotez and examines the political and ideological forces driving today's attacks on science, and how the public can fight back. He is also the co-author, with the late Pulitzer Prize–winning cartoonist Tom Toles, of The Madhouse Effect. Named to Bloomberg News's list of the 50 most influential people in 2013, Mann has spent decades at the intersection of science, policy, and public communication, defending evidence-based research in the face of organized denial and personal attacks.   The resources mentioned in this episode are: Book: Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces that Threaten Our World — by Michael E. Mann & Peter J. Hotez (PublicAffairs, 2025)   Earlier Book Referenced: The Madhouse Effect — by Michael E. Mann & Tom Toles   Learn More: Dr. Michael Mann — michaelmann.net   Topics & People Referenced: Dr. Peter Hotez · the "hockey stick" graph · the EPA endangerment finding · attribution science & climate liability · the MAHA movement   Contact / Follow Dr. Michael Mann: Website: michaelmann.net Want more conversations that cut through the noise on science, climate, and the issues shaping our future? Subscribe to Cut to the Chase with Gregg Goldfarb for new episodes every week.  

Michael speaks with Dr. Michael Mann, co-author (with Tom Toles) of "The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy." Original air date 26 October 2016. The book was published on 27 September 2016.

Communicating the science of climate change, with its overwhelming expert consensus, seems like it should be easy. However, a science-averse media and strong fossil fuel lobby make it exceedingly difficult. Climatologist Michael Mann and cartoonist Tom Toles have teamed up to put climate change in context in their new book, The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy. I talked to both of them at this year’s Annapolis Book Festival.

The serious side of Dr. Michael E. Mann approaches his battle with the climate change deniers in the Trump Administration with scholarly excellence. But, the author side of Dr. Mann approaches the same topic with science, satire and cartoons. Dr. Mann is one of the world’s foremost authorities on climate change and its impacts. He is an award-winning scholar. He is a Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State University, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI). He also is the director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center (ESSC.) He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles in his field and is known as one of the top scholars on this topic. He discusses with the Spectrum podcast the serious side of climate change and the dangers we face with climate change deniers both in the Trump Administration as well as in Congress. He also, however, discusses his most recent book and how he takes a different approach to effectuate change. As an author, he makes the climate change issues accessible to the general public through the use of satire and cartoons in “The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy,” published by the Columbia University Press. In this book he teamed up with Pulitzer-prize winning political cartoonist Tom Toles of the Washington Post to approach the topic with a combination of hard science, satire and humor. According to a book summary presented by Amazon: “The Madhouse Effect portrays the intellectual pretzels into which denialists must twist logic to explain away the clear evidence that human activity has changed Earth's climate. Toles's cartoons collapse counter-scientific strategies into their biased components, helping readers see how to best strike at these fallacies. Mann's expert skills at science communication aim to restore sanity to a debate that continues to rage against widely acknowledged scientific consensus. The synergy of these two climate science crusaders enlivens the gloom and doom of so many climate-themed books―and may even convert die-hard doubters to the side of sound science.” The book makes the complicated issues surrounding climate change accessible to both believers and deniers. Dr. Mann is lecturing about his book at the Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium on the Ohio University campus on March 28, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.

With the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States, it now seems climate change denial has reached into the most powerful political office in the world. In this special Sydney Ideas public lecture, world-renowned climate scientist Professor Michael Mann provides a somewhat light-hearted take on a very serious issue - the threat of human-caused climate change and what to do about it. Based on his recent collaboration with Washington Post editorial cartoonist Tom Toles, Professor Mann reviews the scientific evidence of climate change, the reasons we should care, and the often absurd efforts by special interests and partisan political figures to confuse the public and attack the science. Despite the monumental nature of the challenge this poses to human civilization, and the seeming inability of political leadership to respond to the climate crisis, Professor Mann highlights ways forward in mitigating future harm and reasons for cautious optimism. SPEAKER: Professor Michael E Mann, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Pennsylvania State University Presented by Sydney Ideas and the Sydney Environment Institute at the University of Sydney on 8 February 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/michael_mann.shtml

Donate to America Adapts (We are now a tax deductible charitable organization!) Subscribe to America Adapts on Itunes In this week’s episode of America Adapts, host Doug Parsons gets a visit from legendary climate change scientist/activist, Dr. Michael Mann, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Pennsylvania State University. Doug and Mike talk about a wide range of issues: from the publication of his new book, The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy; the Presidential Election; the history of climate denialism; to science communication in general.  We discuss Randy Olson’s influence, the scientist turned filmmaker, who connected Doug and Mike, which led to a discussion on effective science communication and the use of storytelling in science.  Regarding Mike’s new book, The Madhouse Effect, in an innovative twist, Mike collaborated with Tom Toles, long time cartoonist with the Washington Post. The book focuses on climate change and the long running battles climate scientists have had with the denier movement. Tole uses his cartoons to encapsulate each chapter with a relevant and biting cartoon.  The book deftly uses humor to reach a different audience with hopes of educating them about climate science.  The conversation then pivots to some climate science history, where Mike vividly describes what the political and scientific world was like when he first released his now iconic ‘hockey stick’ research paper.  Mike explains some of the key moments of constructing that paper and that “uh oh” moment when they realized humans were behind the recent warming around the globe. Mike then walks us through his many battles with the denier movement, from the time he was sued at the University of Virginia, through the infamous Climategate “scandal.”  Doug and Mike discuss the difficulties of communicating with the public when scientists are held (and hold themselves to) a much higher standard of information sharing, whereas the Koch Brothers' funded opposition has no such standard.  We discuss the ‘fake news’ issue and how that has been present in the climate change world for years. Finally, we talk about what will happen during a Trump administration.  An overall theme of our Trump discussions is the wildcard nature of his policies. President-Elect Trump even recently met with Al Gore to discuss climate change.  Doug and Mike anticipate bad things in addressing climate change, but also recognize that President Trump might surprise his detractors.  Mann acknowledges his book is much more relevant with the election of Donald Trump since the book deals so much with climate denial. Doug asks Mike, hypothetically, what if President Trump asked Mike to come to the Oval Office to brief him on climate change: what would he say to President Trump?  Without giving too much away, it involved invoking Lincoln, recruiting Bill Nye the Science Guy, and playing to Trump’s very large ego.  Some key quotes from the podcast interview: “Climategate was a rear guard, battle of the bulge, full frontal assault on the science of climate change.’ “If trump does move forward with the agenda he’s threatened to pursue...then it could be game over for stabilizing temperatures at 2 degrees..” “The forces of anti-science are very mobilized, and trained to be very great communicators and in many cases...they are cleaning our clocks…”  “If we are to actually make America great again, then we’re going to have to be part of the clean energy revolution.” “We now have for the first time in history, a president who denies that climate change even exists.” “It’s in the realm of possibility that Trump could flip on the issue of climate change if there was a concerted, good faith outreach effort, to him,  by the scientific community.” “Donald trump doesn’t get to decide if the world moves ahead on climate change, the world is moving ahead.” We discuss the upcoming 20 year anniversary of the hockey stick and opportunities to acknowledge that anniversary as way to highlight the issue of climate change in a potentially future hostile political environment.  The conversation with Mike was fascinating, informative and downright inspiring. So have a listen, there’s much much more that’s said! Finally, yes, most of your favorite podcasts are supported by listeners just like you! Please consider supporting this podcast by donating through America Adapt's fiscal sponsor, the Social Good Fund. All donations are now tax deductible! For more information on this podcast, visit the website at http://www.americaadapts.org and don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on Itunes.   America Adapts on Facebook!   Join the America Adapts Facebook Community Group. Check us out, we’re also on YouTube! On Twitter: @usaadapts Email:  americaadapts@gmail.com Subscribe to America Adapts on Itunes Additional Resources for Dr. Michael Mann http://www.michaelmann.net/news http://www.meteo.psu.edu/holocene/public_html/Mann/news/interviews.php

On this episode of Working, David Plotz talks with Washington Post cartoonist Tom Toles about the importance of finding humor in the news and why he draws 24 cartoons each week. To learn more about this series, click here. Visit the Working archive page for more episodes, or subscribe in iTunes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices