The second Trump administration is on a highly visible mission to suppress science and public health efforts, through the mass layoffs in scientific departments and agencies, removal of thousands of data sets from federal websites, questioning the safety of life-saving vaccines, and many more extreme authoritarian actions. 

In this episode I’m joined by Spencer Spellman, who holds a Masters in Positive Psychology and is the creator of Fellas Night In, to discuss examples of the disturbing and dystopic ways that the current administration is on a rampage to dismantle our scientific institutions and replace peer-reviewed research with alternative facts.  

Organizations to support mentioned in the episode: 

• Stand Up For Science

• Union of Concerned Scientists

Other media mentions:

• https://michaelmann.net/books/science-under-siege/ 

• https://www.npr.org/2025/08/08/nx-s1-5495338/climate-change-environment-websites-trump  

• https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-evidence-on-tylenol-and-autism 

• https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/may/30/elon-musk-doge-timeline 

Check Out Fellas Night In on Instagram

In this episode we launch into the theme we’ll be referring to as: climate chaos. 

The current administration is on a mission to pour gasoline on the flames that is climate change, removing Biden-era subsidies to green energy and ramping up investments in the coal industry. The depraved decision to rescind the EPA’s endangerment finding is just one example in a slew of moves to accelerate environmental degradation, all for the purpose of propping up polluting corporations and stuffing the pockets of the already unethically wealthy. 

Learn how these events connect to the dystopic themes and circumstances present in Octavia E. Butler’s 1993 novel and speculative fiction, Parable of the Sower. 

Leave a public comment telling the EPA to NOT rescind the endangerment finding. Find information on how to do so at: https://www.lcv.org/blog/how-to-help-the-environment-submit-a-public-comment-to-the-federal-register-in-2-easy-steps/

Introducing Dystopian Discourse, a podcast for anyone who feels like dystopia is not some distant imagined version of the world–but the reality that we find ourselves in today. 

Tune in to hear about the ways in which common dystopian themes are playing out in our everyday lives, and then to discover the people and communities who are actively working to change these dystopic systems for the betterment of humanity and the planet. 

I’m your host, Jac, and I’m so grateful that you’re here.

Music:

Epidemic Sound

Fresh Pastries by Lofive