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Join geneticist Kevin Folta and GLP contributor Cameron English on episode 152 of Science Facts and Fallacies as they break down these latest news stories:
Rock ‘n’ Roll legend Neil Young triggered a new wave of COVID vaccine controversy earlier this month, threatening to remove his music from Spotify unless the company pulled Joe Rogan’s podcast from its platform. Rogan has come under fire for interviewing two contrarian physicians who have made dubious claims about the shots. “I am doing this because Spotify is spreading false information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” Young wrote in a now-deleted post on his website.
But there’s more to the story. While Rogan has undoubtedly amplified anti-vaccine claims on his show, Young has a long history of spreading misinformation about crop biotechnology, falsely claiming that GMOs cause “terrible diseases,” which is why many countries ban them, he says. The musician is also apparently unaware that the COVID shots are products of genetic engineering.
Spotify recently promised to put a “content advisory” on any future COVID-related episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience and make its platform rules public “in an effort to increase transparency between consumers and creators.” The platform has so far refused to remove the podcast, though. Should Spotify cut ties with Rogan, or is there a better way to correct the falsehoods he promotes about vaccines?
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Our culture seems to be fascinated with Psychopaths. It’s not uncommon to see them depicted as serial killers or anti-heroes in popular TV shows and films, for example. But despite our widespread interest in their (usually exaggerated) stories, most of us have a poor understanding of the disorder that afflicts them.
Psychopathy, it turns out, is relatively common and the chances are good that you’ve probably met a psychopath without knowing it. That’s because many of these individuals do not engage in violent behavior like their on-screen counterparts, and they’re often very successful, productive members of society. What else has science revealed about this enigmatic condition?
The Green Revolution helped rescue perhaps as many as a billion people from poverty and starvation. But a recent study assigned these benefits a startling numerical value—$83 trillion. Critics of the man who spearheaded the Green Revolution, plant pathologist Norman Borlaug, maintain that his work led to intense environmental degradation and “divorced” the world from our sources of food. The new research is further confirmation of how wrong they are.
Kevin M. Folta is a professor, keynote speaker and podcast host. Follow Professor Folta on Twitter @kevinfolta
Cameron J. English is the director of bio-sciences at the American Council on Science and Health. Visit his website and follow ACSH on Twitter @ACSHorg
