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Together, we research and break down complex, and even controversial, topics facing our society. Our goal isn’t to convince you to see things our way. We want to build a foundational understanding of these complicated topics so that we can address them together. We talk about some pretty heavy stuff on this show, and we tackle topics that might feel polarizing. But we do that because we have an important goal in mind: We want to change the way people have hard conversations. And, we think we can do that using research and discussion to create common understanding. And, since you’re here, we hope you want the same thing. So we suggest getting comfortable, and maybe having a good drink on hand as we work through this stuff. Welcome to our fireside.
Episodes

Monday Jan 31, 2022
S2 | SS27 : The Death of Expertise
Monday Jan 31, 2022
Monday Jan 31, 2022
We’re back after two expected weeks off, and one unexpected week of illness! This week, we’re breaking down something commonly referred to as “the death of expertise” - open antagonism toward established knowledge. How did we get to the point where people who have literal and actual college degrees in complicated fields are placed on the same level of authority as opinionated politicians or folks who are moderately competent Google searchers?
That’s an excellent question. We would love to tell you. (Unashamed reference to Elyse Myers, who Robin thinks is very funny.)
Also included in this episode: the Dunning-Kruger effect, vaccine hesitancy, and Cliff Claven.
In this episode we mention a great series on vaccines, and the anti-vaccine movement, from a podcast called Endless Thread. The series is long, so we’re only linking to episode 3 (which is most relevant to this conversation) here, but we highly recommend the whole thing. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1pHujj1pFYQgPoZb1LGo15?si=7bbfe109cbd542cc
We also mentioned Dr. Noc, who we follow on Instagram for his stellar science communication. https://www.instagram.com/dr.noc/
As always, if you’d like to get in touch…
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You can find all of our sources in our Show Notes.
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