Episode 8: Confessions of a Science Critic (with James Heathers)

Explicit content warning

08/29/18 • 62 min

Yoel and Mickey welcome Northeastern University research scientist and science critic James Heathers to their show. Yoel, Mickey, and James discuss science reform and the need for robust science criticism. Why is it so hard for some (older) scientists to admit their mistakes? Do science critics feel empathy for the scholars they criticize? Is there a danger of science criticism going too far, even over-correcting? What exactly is Yoel drinking this episode?

Bonus: James discusses his fascinating research on people who can control their goosebumps.

Bonus Bonus: Yoel and Mickey submit to James's break-music request.

Special Guest: James Heathers.

Links:

Molson Canadian | Premium Lager
Big Cranky - Stony Creek BreweryStony Creek Brewery
Retraction Watch – Tracking retractions as a window into the scientific process
Meet the ‘data thugs’ out to expose shoddy and questionable research | Science | AAAS
Why We Find And Expose Bad Science – Medium — Why We Find And Expose Bad Science (It isn’t because we’re mean.)
Here’s How Cornell Scientist Brian Wansink Turned Shoddy Data Into Viral Studies About How We Eat -- BuzzFeed — Brian Wansink won fame, funding, and influence for his science-backed advice on healthy eating. Now, emails show how the Cornell professor and his colleagues have hacked and massaged low-quality data into headline-friendly studies to “go virally big time.”
The voluntary control of piloerection [PeerJ]
The People Who Can Control Their Goose Bumps - The Atlantic — Everyone cannot do it. But Palejko is not alone, either. He is among dozens of people that James Heathers, a postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University, identified during and after a recent study on the phenomenon. Heathers posted a preprint—which has not yet been peer reviewed—describing 32 people who can control their goose bumps, and he’s been contacted by several others since. Many of them, like Palejko, had thought this ability was perfectly ordinary for most of their lives. Palejko told me his brother can do it, too.
Creating goosebumps at will may be more interesting than it sounds | Ars Technica

Bonus: James discusses his fascinating research on people who can control their goosebumps.

Bonus Bonus: Yoel and Mickey submit to James's break-music request.

Special Guest: James Heathers.

Links:

Molson Canadian | Premium Lager
Big Cranky - Stony Creek BreweryStony Creek Brewery
Retraction Watch – Tracking retractions as a window into the scientific process
Meet the ‘data thugs’ out to expose shoddy and questionable research | Science | AAAS
Why We Find And Expose Bad Science – Medium — Why We Find And Expose Bad Science (It isn’t because we’re mean.)
Here’s How Cornell Scientist Brian Wansink Turned Shoddy Data Into Viral Studies About How We Eat -- BuzzFeed — Brian Wansink won fame, funding, and influence for his science-backed advice on healthy eating. Now, emails show how the Cornell professor and his colleagues have hacked and massaged low-quality data into headline-friendly studies to “go virally big time.”
The voluntary control of piloerection [PeerJ]
The People Who Can Control Their Goose Bumps - The Atlantic — Everyone cannot do it. But Palejko is not alone, either. He is among dozens of people that James Heathers, a postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University, identified during and after a recent study on the phenomenon. Heathers posted a preprint—which has not yet been peer reviewed—describing 32 people who can control their goose bumps, and he’s been contacted by several others since. Many of them, like Palejko, had thought this ability was perfectly ordinary for most of their lives. Palejko told me his brother can do it, too.
Creating goosebumps at will may be more interesting than it sounds | Ars Technica

Previous Episode

Episode 7: When Does the Left Go Too Far?

Yoel and Mickey ask how to know when the political Left has gone too far. Assuming the Left can indeed go too far--turning off even other progressives who feel abandoned by their natural political home--Yoel and Mickey riff on ways this might manifest. The conversation includes a discussion of identity politics, the problems with subjectivity, the challenge of balancing the desire for justice with the desire for truth, and the inherent problem of being both a scientist and activist. Before debating the supposed sins of the Left, Yoel and Mickey discuss a new paper overturning the cause of the so-called negativity bias (i.e., the notion that bad is stronger than good).

Bonus: Mickey makes a risky hypothesis about German beers. Can any listeners provide evidence that disconfirms Mickey’s bold claim?

Links:

Next Episode

Episode 9: Giving the Finger (with Alice Dreger)

Yoel and Mickey welcome author, journalist, historian, and bioethicist Alice Dreger to the show. Alice, who wrote Galileo’s Middle Finger, discusses how her upbringing, her academic background, and her own Galilean personality led her to piss so many people off in the service of serving both truth and justice. Can academics pursue both truth and justice? What is a Galilean personality? Do activists pollute science? Why did Alice refuse to be lumped in with the so-called Intellectual Dark Web? How can we improve the way newspapers work?

Bonus: Why did Yoel and Mickey create an (Alice approved) drinking podcast?

Special Guest: Alice Dreger.

Links: