'Media madness' Category
Episode 13 — A Pigment of his Imagination: James Watson, Race, and Intelligence
If you’ve been following the news at all lately, you’ve probably heard an earful about James Watson — the Nobel laureate stirred up a bit of controversy lately by essentially stating that people of African descent aren’t as intelligent as people of European descent. Predictably, most media outlets focused on the dramatic and controversial aspects of the whole affair, without explaining that Watson’s comments have precisely zero basis in science. Listen to this episode, and I’ll lead you through the messy and emotionally charged terrain of race, intelligence, and genetics….
Meteorites, the Media, and Mass Hysteria
When I first heard about the recent supposed meteor impact in Peru, and the sickness it allegedly brought to locals, I was just going to let things go by. Something odd happened in a remote area, and it seemed pretty easy to write the mess off as a miscommunication. But this mess seems to be building up quite a head of steam in the media, so I suppose it’s worth a further look…
Don’t fear the frame…
Every now and again, some argument will get started in the blogosphere that is so pointless, so utterly self-defeating that it makes you question whether folks are really thinking at all.The tempest in the teapot du jour is about “Framing” science….
