PLAY PODCASTS
Skeptic Check: The Me in Measles

Skeptic Check: The Me in Measles

Big Picture Science

June 27, 201654m 0s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (podtrac.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

Wondering whether to vaccinate your children? The decision can feel like a shot in the dark if you don’t know how to evaluate risk. Find out why all of us succumb to the reasoning pitfalls of cognitive and omission bias, whether we’re saying no to vaccines or getting a tan on the beach.

Plus, an infectious disease expert on why it may take a dangerous resurgence of preventable diseases – measles, whooping cough, polio – to remind us that vaccines save lives.

Also, a quaint but real vaccine fear: that the 18th century smallpox vaccine, made from cowpox, could turn you into a cow!

It’s our monthly look at critical thinking … but don’t take our word for it!

Guests:

  • Paul Offit – Infectious disease specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson – Astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City
  • Adam Korbitz – Lawyer specializing in space law
  • Andrew Maynard – Professor of environmental health science, director, Risk Science Center, University of Michigan

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices