When you hear the word "science," what do you feel? Bored? Intimidated? In awe? Suspicious? Turns out, that gut reaction matters more than you think — and it might be the key to understanding why science communication so often fails, and why grifters and pseudoscientists are so successful.

In this episode I sat down with Daniel Silva Luna, a science communication researcher from Colombia, now based in Germany, whose work focuses on one of the most overlooked forces in how we understand science: emotion. Not just feelings like crying at a nature documentary (though, no shame), but emotion as a navigation tool — the internal compass that shapes what information you trust, what stories you believe, and who you think "science" is even for.

We got into some big questions that don't get asked enough. What is science to people who didn't study it? Why do anti-science populist movements communicate so effectively while scientists struggle to be heard? How do tech billionaires like Elon Musk wrap themselves in the legacy of real scientists to build authority — and what can legitimate science communicators learn from that? And why does science communication still feel like a club most people aren't invited to?

No lab coat required. Just curiosity.

Key Takeaways

1. Emotions don't distort our relationship with science — they mediate it. There's no emotion-free way to engage with information.
2. Anti-science movements work because they speak to real feelings of exclusion, distrust, and frustration. Debunking alone doesn't address any of that.
3. Science communication's emotional range is too narrow. Wonder and curiosity are great. But anger, sadness, fear, and frustration are also legitimate and powerful — and they're being left on the table.
4. Representation in science communication isn't just a fairness issue. It's a relevance issue.
5. Science communicators should think of their work as storytelling with a point of view, not just information transfer.

• Ed Yong: Science Writer
• Queering science communication: Representations, theory, and practice
• Lab coats in Hollywood: Science, scientists, and cinema - David A. Kirby
• Varieties of awe in science communication: Reflexive thematic analysis of practitioners’ experiences and uses of this emotion - Daniel Silva Luna
• Emotion in practice: The cultural work of emotion in science communication - Daniel Silva Luna

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