Safeguarding Sound Science

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Latest Episodes:

Baked, Steamed, and Frozen: Human Body Evolution in Changing Environments Oct 22, 2025

In the flop of a movie, Waterworld, Kevin Costner's character (spoiler alert!) develops gills as an adaptation to a flooded planet altered by climate change. This plays into the all-too-prevalent misconception that as the Earth warms, we humans don't need to worry — we'll simply evolve and adapt. In this episode of Safeguarding Sound Science, host Mat Kaplan talks with Libby Cowgill, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and NCSE Executive Director Amanda L. Townley about human evolution in response to climate. Cowgill's broad areas of study include Late Pleistocene human evolution, human growth and development, and human adaptation to climate. Cowgill discusses her current research in which she and her team test underlying assumptions about human body form in relation to different environments. To that end, she's "baking, steaming, and freezing people" and collecting a trove of data as a result. Both Cowgill and Townley help us understand the science behind adaptation and natural selection and why we humans will not evolve gills, or any other incredibly complex adaptation, as a rapid response to climate change. All the more reason to act now to mitigate global warming.

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What Darwin Got Wrong ... and Very Right! Oct 15, 2025

Charles Darwin is one of the most recognizable names in science. His On the Origin of Species is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. In this episode of Safeguarding Sound Science, we speak with three experts who marvel at Darwin's innovations while also surfacing what Darwin may have gotten wrong and was unable to consider due to the limitations of his era. Joseph L. Graves Jr. is an evolutionary biologist and a professor of biological science at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Agustin Fuentes is a biological anthropologist and primatologist at Princeton University. And Holly Dunsworth is a biological anthropologist at the University of Rhode Island. Together, in conversation with host Mat Kaplan, they discuss how our understanding of Darwin and evolutionary biology has itself evolved over time, along with related critical issues such as race, virology, and ideological attacks on evolution. "We need to take evolutionary thinking seriously because it literally could mean the future or non-future of our species," Graves states.

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Human Evolution: Uncovering our Origins Oct 08, 2025

You know the t-shirt, right? The one that shows the progression from a monkey to a human? In this episode of Safeguarding Sound Science, we talk with two renowned paleoanthropologists, Jeremy DeSilva and Briana Pobiner, to find out why that image is in fact a viral misconception. DeSilva and Pobiner study the real ancestry of homo sapiens, a story that continues to unfold in Africa and elsewhere around the world. It’s a story that’s as dramatic, as exciting, and as complex as the very best detective novels. DeSilva, an associate professor of anthropology at Dartmouth University, studies the locomotion of the very first apes and our own, earliest human ancestors, known as hominins. Pobiner is a Research Scientist and Museum Educator in the Human Origins Program, part of the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Together, they share their understanding of how we came to be who we are today.

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Peter Hotez on Vaccines, Evolution, and Your Health Oct 01, 2025

Vaccine skepticism and efforts to curb vaccine access are in the news almost daily. This despite the fact that for decades, vaccines have saved millions of lives and reduced suffering immeasurably all across the globe. In this episode, host Mat Kaplan speaks with Dr. Peter Hotez, a pediatrician and global health expert and an outspoken and well-known proponent of the value and science-backed efficacy of vaccines. Dr. Hotez describes the forces at play in the rise of the anti-vaxx movement and the potential harms that could result. Mat also talks with NCSE’s Wendy Johnson. She discusses a curriculum unit she helped author that focuses on the evolution of pathogens and how that evolution shapes the vaccines to combat them: for instance, why flu shots are recommended every year, but measles vaccinations are not.

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Safeguarding Sound Science Season 2: Evolution Edition Sep 26, 2025

The second season of Safeguarding Sound Science from The National Center for Science Education examines the everyday impacts of evolution, the grand theory that informs our understanding of all life on this planet. Host Mat Kaplan talks with scientists, researchers, and other experts as they dispel common misconceptions about evolution, discuss its sometimes invisible importance in our day-to-day lives, and marvel at the wonders of ongoing scientific discovery that help us piece together more of the evolutionary puzzle. Tune in beginning Oct. 1.

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The New Face of Climate Denial: Online Influencers Jul 23, 2025

Like nearly everything ever created by humans, social media can be used for good or evil. The same goes for podcasting and other streaming media shows. We’ll talk with two experts whose work helps us understand how these tools and platforms are misused, particularly when it comes to climate change denial, AND how they can contribute to the progress of good science and the public’s appreciation of it. John Cook, creator of the mobile game "Cranky Uncle," which aims to fight climate and science misinformation, discusses his years-long effort to help inoculate against climate denial arguments and the special problems posed by social media and online influencers. Samantha Harrington, from Yale Climate Connections, then discusses with host Mat Kaplan her findings from her recent article, "Eight of the top 10 online shows are spreading climate misinformation." Join us for this special bonus episode of Safeguarding Sound Science, Climate Change Edition.

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Hope in the Face of the Climate Crisis: Youth Activism and Leadership Apr 23, 2025

Though climate change represents a clear and present danger for all of us, it is young people who will suffer the most if we don't mitigate global warming. And they understand this. Nearly 70% of 16-25-year-olds are extremely worried or very worried about the climate, according to a recent global study. Faced with this mounting crisis, young people are raising their voices and actively engaging in solutions. Meet three such people in this week's episode: Cindy Le, Leilina Patel, and Jariel Ramos, all members of the Action for the Climate Emergency Youth Advisory Board. They're joined by Kelly Lê, Executive Director of Grades of Green, a nonprofit organization that supports schools in fostering environmental literacy worldwide, and NCSE's Amanda L. Townley. Host Mat Kaplan discusses with our guests their paths towards climate activism, their efforts to create systemic change, and the ways they maintain hope in the face of the climate crisis.

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Making Every Classroom a Climate Classroom Apr 16, 2025

What doteachers want and need to know about teaching climate change? And how can they best be prepared to tackle this critical topic, even in places where climate change is considered a taboo subject? Bertha Vazquez, a longtime science teacher and the education director of the Center for Inquiry, has co-written the just-published What Teachers Want to Know About Teaching Climate Change. She tackles these questions, as does guest Amanda L. Townley, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, who is also a former science teacher. Join host Mat Kaplan as he explores with Vazquez and Townley what can be — and is being — done to help every classroom become a climate classroom.

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Today's Forecast: Climate Change, Trusted Sources, and a Sprinkling of Local Relevance Apr 09, 2025

In a warming world, poison ivy is becoming bigger and itchier. That's the kind of personally relevant message that resonates with everyone, and helps make the impacts of climate change hit home, according to Edward Maibach, award-winning climate communicator and director of George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication. And who better to convey those messages than trusted sources, such as TV weathercasters? So says Bernadette Woods Placky, a close colleague of Maibach's and Chief Meteorologist and Vice President for Engagement at Climate Central, whose mission is to communicate climate change science, effects, and solutions to the public and decision-makers. They work with broadcast meteorologists, journalists, and other influential voices. Join host Mat Kaplan as he explores the strategies employed by Woods Placky and Maibach to generate greater understanding of the perils of a warming planet and what can be done about it.

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Zombie Theories Must Die! A Conversation with Climate Communicator Marshall Shepherd Apr 02, 2025

Nationally recognized meteorologist, scientist, and author J. Marshall Shepherd describes zombie climate theories as those that live on, no matter how much the science refutes them time and again. These zombie climate theories, which spread misinformation and misconceptions, are sticky and pernicious and need to be combated by effective science communication, Shepherd says. Join host Mat Kaplan as he explores the many strategies Shepherd uses to convey complex ideas about climate science that hit home for the general public and slay those zombie theories.

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Miseducation in the USA: How Our Kids Are Too Often Denied Climate Facts Mar 26, 2025

Award-winning journalist Katie Worth spent time in schools around the country talking to teachers and students as she attempted to understand the landscape of climate change education in US schools. She chronicles what she discovered in her book, Miseducation: How Climate Change is Taught in America's Schools. Join host Mat Kaplan as he discusses the state of climate change education with Worth and Oklahoma science teacher Melissa Lau, whose perspective is included in Miseducation.

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A Century of Disinformation: Naomi Oreskes and the Merchants of Doubt Mar 19, 2025

In her critically acclaimed books, Merchants of Doubt and The Big Myth, Harvard historian Naomi Oreskes argues that well-funded interest groups have purposely sowed doubt and confusion about climate change. Our host, Mat Kaplan, discusses these tactics with Oreskes, how these efforts mirror what's been done to obfuscate in other campaigns such as by the tobacco industry, and how these efforts to distort and misinform have been combated.

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What Climate Change? Michael Mann and Glenn Branch on the Climate Deniers Mar 12, 2025

Scientists nearly unanimously agree that the planet is warming at an unprecedented rate, and that humans are the cause. We see evidence of climate change in the increased frequency and intensity of catastrophic weather events, glacier melts, and rising sea levels. Yet climate change denial persists, hampering efforts to combat this crisis. Why? Join host Mat Kaplan as he explores the current state of climate change denial and its roots with renowned climate scientist Michael E. Mann, author of The New Climate War, and National Center for Science Education Deputy Director Glenn Branch.

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