Podcasts about unscientific america

Welcome to the Peculiar Movie Club, a bonus podcast linked to our main show the Peculiar Book Club through common themes in media.  This week, in honor of the book Unscientific America, we are discussing the recent dark comedy Don't Look Up. Join Davey Berris and Darren Cross as we take a deep dive into this funny yet terrifying look at a possible natural disaster, how science fails to communicate with politicians, the media, and the public, and Adam McKay's unique style of making movies. Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

The earth is not flat. Vaccines work and they don't make you magnetic. Global warming is real. Covid is airborne. But you will hear a great deal to the contrary, too, from vaccine and climate deniers, flat-earthers, and plenty of conspiracy theorists willing to die on the hill of their chosen belief. Why? What happened? I thought it might be interesting to do a little time travel. What if we looked a book arguing for science and the humanities to join forces and stop science misinformation… BEFORE Covid. Heck, before Twitter was much of thing, even. Before the social media monoliths we explored in Cory Doctorow's recent work. Let's go all the way back to 2009—when I was still a graduate student—and revisit a collaboration between a journalist and a scientists: Unscientific America. We'll talk live to Sheril Kirschenbaum, host of SERVING UP SCIENCE on PBS, executive director of ScienceDebate, a national nonprofit that encourages politicians to address science and innovation, and director of The Energy Poll at The University of Texas at Austin. A prolific writer and scientific thinker, she brings a lot to the table when it comes to getting science on the ballot (and into the public). How has Unscientific America changed? What do we make of this new, science denying world? Bring your questions and your debate hat and let's get political! Only on PBC. Episode was recorded live March 14, 2024. Follow us on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@peculiarBC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/peculiarbooksclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thepeculiarbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Youtube (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/PeculiarBookClub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)!

This week's episode features Sheril Kirshenbaum, a scientist and author working to enhance public understanding of science and improve communication between scientists, policymakers and the public.  Sheril currently hosts “Serving Up Science” at PBS Digital Studios and is executive director of Science Debate, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization working to get every candidate on record on science policy.

 Sheril co-authored “Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future” with Chris Mooney, which was chosen by Library Journal as one of the Best Sci-Tech Books of 2009 and was named by President Obama's science advisor John Holdren as a top recommended read. 

Sheril has been featured in documentary films about science and society and her writing appears in publications such as Bloomberg and The Atlantic as well as in scientific journals including Science and Nature. 

Sheril has been a 2015 Presidential Leadership Scholar, a Marshall Memorial Fellow, and a legislative NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Fellow in the U.S. Senate with Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL). Sheril holds MSc degrees in marine biology and policy and is currently working toward a PhD in community sustainability. Her research focuses on how we make decisions about science and policy.

 During this week's episode, Sheril and I discussed a range of topics related to life as a scientist and science policy, including: Sheril's experience as the first in her immediate family to go to grad school, some of the challenges she faced, and how she successfully navigated in sometimes unfamiliar territory Unscientific America, the excellent book Sheril co-authored with Chris Mooney more than 10 years ago highlighting anti-intellectual tendencies of the American public and what Sheril thinks is going wrong and what can be done to reverse this trend Science Debate, which Sheril founded with colleagues during the 2008 U.S. election in response to the absence of science and technology topics in the presidential debates and in the campaigns, and the changes in the science policy landscape over the past 15 years or so As a scientist, what surprised Sheril when she began her Knauss Fellowship in Sen. Bill Nelson's office and what recommendations she has for listeners interested in getting into policymaking Lessons Sheril has learned, as an international speaker about science communication, about presenting scientific information in an engaging, memorable way accessible to general audiences Sheril's book - The Science of Kissing - which explores everything you always wanted to know about kissing but either haven't asked, couldn't find out, or didn't realize you should understand.  Looking to the rest of 2022 and beyond, how Sheril sees science communication evolving and resonating more with the general public, orr are we in for increased obstacles ahead, in terms of public attitudes towards science

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"Unscientific America" the war on science/ still more Natomas flood risk insanity

"Unscientific America" the war on science/ still more Natomas flood risk insanity

Are Science and Religion compatible? The New Atheists argue that a proper understanding of science undermines faith. But according to atheists such as Chris Mooney (author of Unscientific America and host of CFI's podcast Point of Inquiry) not only are science and moderate religion compatible , but the uncompromising rhetoric and harsh tone of the New Atheists "can only damage the cause of scientific literacy." For this episode, the doubtcasters share their take on the "accommodationist" vs "confrontationist" debate. Also on this episode: a critical look at the Templeton Foundation and we look at the psychology of persuasion for a new installment of God Thinks Like You.

Episode 32 of Books and Ideas is an interview with Sheril Kirshenbaum, co-author of "Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future." Our emphasis is on the importance of scientists learning to communicate about their work to political leaders and fellow citizens. We discuss some of the factors that have marginalized science and examine some creative potential solutions.Go to http://booksandideas.com for detailed show notes and episode transcripts.Send feedback to gincampbell at mac dot com or call our new voicemail line at 206-984-0358.

Chris Mooney is a 2009-2010 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT and author of three books, including the New York Times bestselling The Republican War on Science, Storm World, and Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future, co-authored by Sheril Kirshenbaum. In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, Chris Mooney talks about the growing divide between science and society. He contrasts the issues addressed in The Republican War on Science with the current problems facing society as outlined in Unscientific America. He argues for the unique public policy significance of science for society, and why scientific literacy matters more than other kinds of cultural or historical literacy. He discusses the policy relevance of scientific illiteracy in terms of global warming and biotechnology. He talks about the need for scientists to become better communicators to the public. He shares his criticisms of the New Atheists and explains why their attacks against religious moderates works counter to the goal of scientific literacy. He recounts his experiences as an atheist activist while in college, and how his views have changed about campus forethought activism since that time. He explores other underlying causes of scientific illiteracy, including our educational system, the media's dysfunctional treatment of science, and growing anti-science movements such as the climate deniers and vaccine skeptics. And he details concrete actions that science advocates can take in order to increase scientific literacy.

In this month's podcast, hear from Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum, co-authors of the recently released Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future as they speak with Jennifer Bardi, editor of the Humanist magazine. Kirshenbaum and Mooney will discuss what scientific illiteracy means for our society, possible ways to combat it, and the disagreements they have with the so-called New Atheists over religion.

Why, when many of the problems of the twenty-first century require scientific solutions, are Americans paying less and less attention to scientists? How might we reverse this alarming trend and integrate science into our national discourse--before it's too late?

Chris Mooney, author of the new book, Unscientific America as well as The Republican War on Science, will be the guest. The hosts will also talk about all the attention the Foundation's newest federal lawsuit--challenging a move to engrave religious mottos prominently at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center--is receiving, and provide a brief "Freethinkers Almanac" about famous freethinkers born in July.