<description>&lt;p&gt;In this interview episode, we are joined by physicists &lt;strong&gt;Sam Gregson&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Bad Boy of Science&lt;/em&gt; YouTube channel) and &lt;strong&gt;Tim Henke &lt;/strong&gt;to examine the rise of &lt;em&gt;science populism&lt;/em&gt;: a style of science communication that borrows the tactics of political populism, including grievance narratives, institutional distrust, and conspiratorial framing, while presenting its advocates as lone truth-tellers battling a corrupt academic elite.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We discuss how DTG favourites like Sabine Hossenfelder and Eric Weinstein, as well as fresh new faces Brian Keating and Avi Loeb, deploy selective truths about physics to fuel self-aggrandising, anti-expert narratives.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Along the way, we also cover stuff like why “physics hasn’t progressed in 50 years”, cranks are useful props for populist arguments, and the strange obsession with Nobel Prizes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are interested in guru dynamics, science communication, and physics crankery, this might be an episode for you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ol&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/@BadBoyofScience" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Bad Boy of Science (Sam Gregson)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://timhenke.nl/category/about/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Tim's Profile Website&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQnOFGWsXNM" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Bad Boy of Science – The Rise of Physics Populisers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/@TheoriesofEverything" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Theories of Everything (Kurt Jaimungal)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.amazon.com/Losing-Nobel-Prize-Cosmology-Ambition/dp/1324000910" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Losing the Nobel Prize – Brian Keating&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/@DrBrianKeating" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Into the Impossible (Brian Keating)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/@SabineHossenfelder" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Sabine Hossenfelder’s YouTube Channel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-portal/id1469999563" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;The Portal (Eric Weinstein)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/galileo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;The Galileo Project (Avi Loeb)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Sean Carroll – Mindscape / Preposterous Universe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li data-list="bullet"&gt;&lt;span class="ql-ui" contenteditable="false"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Not Even Wrong (Peter Woit)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;br/&gt;</description>

Decoding the Gurus

Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne

The Rise of the Science Populists with Sam Gregson and Tim Henke

FEB 9, 202695 MIN
Decoding the Gurus

The Rise of the Science Populists with Sam Gregson and Tim Henke

FEB 9, 202695 MIN

Description

In this interview episode, we are joined by physicists Sam Gregson (Bad Boy of Science YouTube channel) and Tim Henke to examine the rise of science populism: a style of science communication that borrows the tactics of political populism, including grievance narratives, institutional distrust, and conspiratorial framing, while presenting its advocates as lone truth-tellers battling a corrupt academic elite.We discuss how DTG favourites like Sabine Hossenfelder and Eric Weinstein, as well as fresh new faces Brian Keating and Avi Loeb, deploy selective truths about physics to fuel self-aggrandising, anti-expert narratives.Along the way, we also cover stuff like why “physics hasn’t progressed in 50 years”, cranks are useful props for populist arguments, and the strange obsession with Nobel Prizes.If you are interested in guru dynamics, science communication, and physics crankery, this might be an episode for you.LinksBad Boy of Science (Sam Gregson)Tim's Profile WebsiteBad Boy of Science – The Rise of Physics PopulisersTheories of Everything (Kurt Jaimungal)Losing the Nobel Prize – Brian KeatingInto the Impossible (Brian Keating)Sabine Hossenfelder’s YouTube ChannelThe Portal (Eric Weinstein)The Galileo Project (Avi Loeb)Sean Carroll – Mindscape / Preposterous UniverseNot Even Wrong (Peter Woit)