We’ve talked a lot on the program about the Trump administration’s wars on science and education and why they’re doing as part of a larger far-right attack on the achievements of modernity.

This month, the president announced that a change to federal immunization guidance for infants to reduce the number of recommended shots. He cited no actual evidence, just his ludicrous belief that doctors were pumping infants with a liter of vaccine liquids. I wish I was joking.

In addition to the harms to public health and science that Trump and his Health and Human Services secretary Robert Kennedy Junior are creating, the destruction is wreaking havoc on real people’s lives at the scientific and government agencies.

My guests on this episode are two people who have been on the frontlines of these battles. Both are former employees at the National Institutes of Health, which has seen massive layoffs and its scientific recommendations ignored and censored by Kennedy and its director Jay Bhattacharya — after he made his career claiming to oppose censorship of science. They also have a great essay out about the Trump administration’s attacks on science and how to fight them.

Alexa Romberg was former deputy chief at the Prevention Research Branch at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Sylvia Chou was program director in the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute and is a scholar of linguistics and health communication. Both are members of 27 UNIHTED, an organization supporting employees who have been laid off or resigned from the National Institutes of Health.

Our conversation focuses on the how people have been impacted, the hypocrisy of Bhattacharya, and why scientists are having to learn to be more political with their livelihoods under attack.

If you’re interested in supporting Theory of Change, we are doing a fundraising drive for the show and for Flux on GoFundMe. I’d really appreciate your support. You can also become a paid supporter on Patreon or on Substack. Thank you so much for your help. I cannot do this work without you.

The video of this conversation is available. Access the episode page to get the full transcript. You can subscribe to Theory of Change and other Flux podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, YouTube, Patreon, Substack, and elsewhere.

Audio Chapters

00:00 — Introduction

08:12 — The people behind the worst Covid-19 ideas are running Trump’s health policies

14:39 — The gross hypocrisy of Jay Bhattacharya, Trump’s NIH director

19:37 “Wellness” advocates and the need to debate bad medical advice purveyors

28:47 — How tobacco companies set the template for today’s anti-science attacks

35:41 — The importance of community in helping people understand science

38:06 — Civic virtue and excellence as necessary for democracy and science

44:29 — Scientists have not been used to being political, but they must be now

51:14 — Science has always been linked to politics, even if you didn’t realize it

About the Show

Theory of Change is hosted by Matthew Sheffield about larger trends and intersections of politics, religion, media, and technology. It's part of the Flux network, a new content community of podcasters and writers. Please visit us at flux.community to learn more and to tell us about what you're doing. We're constantly growing and learning from the great people we meet.

Theory of Change on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheoryChange

Matthew Sheffield on Social Media

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@mattsheffield

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattsheffield

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/matthew.flux.community

American democracy has been widely seen as embattled for the last 10 years or so, but the factions seeking to undermine or replace it have been active for many decades.

We’ve covered the political groups who have been at work in this regard here on Theory of Change, but it’s also the case that many business leaders have become increasingly radicalized to view democracy as a threat to business — even though the social democratic nations of Europe have combined vigorous capitalism with strong democracy for decades without either one destroying the other.

Corporate interests have always sought influence within governments, but since the 1970s or so, right-wing business leaders have banded together to leverage the federal judiciary to evade public accountability and democratic governance, largely by making conduct that was once criminal perfectly legal.

Joining the show to talk about how this happened and how it works is Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, she’s a professor of law at Stetson University and a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice. She’s also the author of Corporatocracy: How to Protect Democracy from Dark Money and Corrupt Politicians, which is the basis of our discussion today.

If you’re interested in supporting Theory of Change, we are doing a fundraising drive for the show and for Flux on GoFundMe. I’d really appreciate your support. You can also become a paid supporter on Patreon or on Substack. Thank you so much for your help. I cannot do this work without you.

The video of this conversation is available. Access the episode page to get the full transcript. You can subscribe to Theory of Change and other Flux podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, YouTube, Patreon, Substack, and elsewhere.

Audio Chapters

00:00 — Introduction

05:34 — Red-baiting as a PR strategy against holding businesses accountable

13:55 — Buckley versus Valeo and the beginning of corporate influence in federal campaigns

24:53 — Nixon and the right’s obsession with controlliong federal courts

28:57 — Bribery and the post-Buckley campaign finance regime

33:58 — Trump and the Roberts court’s almost total refusal to restrain executive power

38:03 — Poll: Democrats strongly dislike the Supreme Court, but they don’t think it has too much power

43:58 — The Supreme Court’s “shadow docket”

49:34 — Reform ideas for SCOTUS

About the Show

Theory of Change is hosted by Matthew Sheffield about larger trends and intersections of politics, religion, media, and technology. It's part of the Flux network, a new content community of podcasters and writers. Please visit us at flux.community to learn more and to tell us about what you're doing. We're constantly growing and learning from the great people we meet.

Theory of Change on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheoryChange

Matthew Sheffield on Social Media

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@mattsheffield

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattsheffield

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/matthew.flux.community

As November draws nearer, Democrats’ electoral prospects are looking very similar to how they were in 2018 before the party swept to victory in many congressional and statewide seats. 2028 is much further away, of course, but there is a very real possibility that Democrats could gain trifecta control of the presidency, Senate, and House.

If the recent past is any indicator though, in just two years’ time, voters will swing wildly in the opposite direction, handing control back to Republicans. American voters (and elsewhere) are clearly very dissatisfied with what political parties are offering them, but thus far, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have taken the message.

Public opinion surveys keep indicating that people want major societal reforms, including one from last September which found that 77 percent of American adults wanted major political changes, that included 24 percent saying they wanted “complete reform.”

Democrats are disadvantaged by the current political system, so it’s in both their ideological and electoral interest to change things.

But what would major changes look like? That is the project that Adam Gurri, my guest on today’s program. He’s the publisher of Liberal Currents, an online magazine has just put out a new book on this very topic. It’s an anthology of policy proposals and system reforms called The Reconstruction Papers, that is in a lot of ways similar to the Mandate for Leadership a book that’s more informally known as Project 2025, the collection of policy proposals that has become the centerpiece of the second Trump administration’s agenda.

The Reconstruction Papers has a lot of great and interesting ideas, and we get into several of them, but today’s discussion also focuses on the larger question of what liberalism is or should be, which as you might imagine, the publisher of Liberal Currents has thought about quite a bit.

If you’re interested in supporting Theory of Change, we are doing a fundraising drive for the show and for Flux on GoFundMe.

The video of this conversation is available. Access the episode page to get the full transcript. You can subscribe to Theory of Change and other Flux podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, YouTube, Patreon, Substack, and elsewhere.

Audio Chapters

00:00 — Introduction

07:45 — Defining liberalism

11:21 — A liberal version of Project 2025?

16:22 — Liberalism must be able to take its own side

17:42 — Fixing federalism

26:19 — The importance of more than two parties

31:17 — Reforming the Senate and adding more states

40:01 — The vital importance of judicial reform to protect democracy

47:10 — Restraining the president

52:14 — Reforming higher education and promoting national service

59:22 — The importance of public mixing institutions

01:03:34 — Reclaiming national greatness from the far right

01:06:38 — Housing needs to be cheaper and more plentiful

Related Content

— As Republicans have radicalized, Democrats have become more passive—and less successful electorally

— The economy has collapsed for the middle class, Democrats must admit this and act accordingly

— Anglo-American liberal elites have lost the ability to argue for their own principles

— Democrats get lots of bad advice, particularly the idea that most voters are ideological

— As Trump’s popularity has declined, Democrats’ polls are up, but not their brand-name, why?

— Keir Starmer is a cautionary tale for politicians who only want to play it safe

About the Show

Theory of Change is hosted by Matthew Sheffield about larger trends and intersections of politics, religion, media, and technology. It's part of the Flux network, a new content community of podcasters and writers. Please visit us at flux.community to learn more and to tell us about what you're doing. We're constantly growing and learning from the great people we meet.

Theory of Change on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheoryChange

Matthew Sheffield on Social Media

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@mattsheffield

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattsheffield

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/matthew.flux.community

The life and crimes of Jeffrey Epstein were so complex that 5 years after his death, there is much about him that remains yet unknown. The system of sexual violence and exploitation that he devised is as infamous as it is uncovered. The financial structures he set up for himself were so complex that it takes hours to list them all, and his political and business connections were so vast and mysterious that to describe them in detail makes you sound like a conspiracy theorist.

But knowing and sharing the Epstein details is important because the late billionaire was part of a larger class of business oligarchs who have teamed up with each other against democracy, in the United States and around the world. Greg Olear, my guest for this episode, knows a lot about all of this. He has written the book on it, in fact, and it’s out now under the title, “Another Wonderful Secret,” which is a reference to a birthday greeting that Donald Trump sent to Epstein that has since become infamous. Greg is also the host of two podcasts, “Prevail” and “The Five 8.”

If you’re interested in supporting Theory of Change, we are doing a fundraising drive for the show and for Flux on GoFundMe. I’d really appreciate your support. You can also become a paid supporter on Patreon or on Substack. Thank you so much for your help. I cannot do this work without you.

The video of this conversation is available. Access the episode page to get the full transcript. You can subscribe to Theory of Change and other Flux podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, YouTube, Patreon, Substack, and elsewhere.

Audio Chapters

00:00 — Introduction

07:46 — Epstein’s early years as a teacher and then money manager

14:41 — Epstein and Robert Maxwell, father of Ghislaine Maxwell

21:02 — Epstein’s decades of close friendship with Donald Trump

24:51 — Sexual harassment and abuse as social networking for the Epstein Class

30:46 — Epstein’s temporary fallout with Trump and 2016 reconciliation via Steve Bannon

35:30 — After his prison release, Epstein became much more reactionary

38:16 — The mystery surrounding Epstein’s death

40:36 — Joe Biden and Merrick Garland failed to expose the truth about Epstein’s crimes

46:28 — Conclusion

Related Content

—Jeffrey Epstein became the hero of creepy right-wing men before he died

—Newly released documents show that Jeffrey Epstein was obsessed with blocking women scientists

—Covered-up abuse in far-right Christian churches and the origins of Pizzagate and QAnon

—Jeffrey Epstein and the crisis of elite impunity

—Secular post-libertarianism and the Epstein class

—Science fiction and the reactionary mind

Support Democracy Today

If you’re interested in supporting Theory of Change, we are doing a fundraising drive for the show and for Flux on GoFundMe. I’d really appreciate your support. You can also become a paid supporter on Patreon or on Substack. Thank you so much for your help.

About the Show

Theory of Change is hosted by Matthew Sheffield about larger trends and intersections of politics, religion, media, and technology. It's part of the Flux network, a new content community of podcasters and writers. Please visit us at flux.community to learn more and to tell us about what you're doing. We're constantly growing and learning from the great people we meet.

Theory of Change on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheoryChange

Matthew Sheffield on Social Media

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@mattsheffield

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattsheffield

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/matthew.flux.community

Ben Goldberger is a psychotherapist and breathworker serving Chicaog and the surrounding suburbs since 2010. He supports people of all ages and backgrounds in healing and transforming the roots of depression, anxiety and other major life challenges. He specializes in trauma recovery, relationship repair, child development, addictions, journey integration, and spiritual development. He believes in the innate human capacity to heal.

Full Circle Breathwork is an intensive body-centered process that facilitates emotional, physical, and psychological release and spiritual exploration. In groups or private sessions, this powerful method combines deep breathing, evocative music, body movement, artwork, and the co-creation of safe, sacred space to support personal growth and transformation. 

Opposition to vaccines in the United States and around the world was a fringe view for a very long time, but it’s not anymore now, thanks to people like Donald Trump and his Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr.

While this type of thinking has proliferated in the age of social media, in fact, being anti-vax is as old as the vaccines themselves. It’s a history worth exploring and knowing about, not just so that you can have better arguments for why vaccines work, but also so that you can understand that the arguments against inoculations are basically unchanged since the early 18th century when they became commonplace in the West.

Thomas Levenson, my guest in today’s episode, has written a very fascinating history of vaccines called A Pox on Fools, that is the focus of our discussion today. He’s a professor of science writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He’s also the author of several other books, including Einstein in Berlin and Newton and the Counterfeiter.

If you’re interested in supporting Theory of Change, we are doing a fundraising drive for the show and for Flux on GoFundMe. I’d really appreciate your support. You can also become a paid supporter on Patreon or on Substack. Thank you so much for your help. I cannot do this work without you.

The video of this conversation is available. Access the episode page to get the full transcript. You can subscribe to Theory of Change and other Flux podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, YouTube, Patreon, Substack, and elsewhere.

Protecting and supporting democracy is a team effort! We need your help to keep going. Please support my work with a paid or free subscription!

Audio Chapters

00:00 — Introduction07:01 — Inoculation is a ‘newfangled’ idea that is three centuries old13:16 — Vaccine opposition as a form of eugenics19:10 — Cotton Mather’s Christian argument for inoculation25:14 — Vaccines are a political technology, because they cannot work without it33:26 — Nazi ‘Deutsche Physik’ and Russian Lysenkoism39:30 — How the pro-science consensus was built in the postwar U.S.53:31 — Business leaders uniformly agreed on the necessity of science as a civic culture

Related Content

—Why science and democracy need each other

—Robert Kennedy’s MAHA cult is making America sicker

—How the sex and drugs counterculture fell in love with Donald Trump and Jesus

—Study: Disinformation belief is more about defying societal norms than preferring incorrect views

—RFK Junior and the naturalistic fallacy at the heart of the pseudo-scientific medical industry

—How Republicans are making the internet a safe space for misinformation

—Uncertainty makes science powerful — and incredibly vulnerable

About the Show

Theory of Change is hosted by Matthew Sheffield about larger trends and intersections of politics, religion, media, and technology. It's part of the Flux network, a new content community of podcasters and writers. Please visit us at flux.community to learn more and to tell us about what you're doing. We're constantly growing and learning from the great people we meet.

Theory of Change on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheoryChange

Matthew Sheffield on Social Media

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@mattsheffield

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattsheffield

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/matthew.flux.community

“We live in the worst timeline” is a phrase you often hear people say in left-leaning social spaces. It’s usually a joke, but I think it’s more than that. The truth is that, while Donald Trump is the most corrupt president in American history, democracy in this country has been at risk many times throughout its lifetime, and also that it really couldn’t be said to have fully existed until the passage of the civil rights acts of the 1960s.

The moment we’re living in is complicated. On the one hand, it is true that the United States has never had more social progress than right now. But it’s also the case that people are right to feel that things are precarious. We have to keep two things in mind at all times: Things have been worse in the past, but they can get worse if we don’t understand how they were improved.

It’s a lot to consider. That’s why I wanted to talk in this episode with Lisa Corrigan, she’s a professor of communications and gender studies at the University of Arkansas who specializes in African American and Latino history. This is her second time on the program, in her previous appearance, Lisa and I discussed why there is no “Joe Rogan of the left.” In this episode, we talk about how political change and cultural power, the relationship of conservatives to the Democratic and Republican parties, and a lot more.

If you’re interested in supporting Theory of Change, we are doing a fundraising drive for the show and for Flux on GoFundMe. I’d really appreciate your support. You can also become a paid supporter on Patreon or on Substack. Thank you so much for your help. I cannot do this work without you.

The video of this conversation is available. Access the episode page to get the full transcript. You can subscribe to Theory of Change and other Flux podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, YouTube, Patreon, Substack, and elsewhere.

Audio Chapters

00:00 — Introduction

07:02 — How the left lost its organizing culture

13:35 — Liberals’ misplaced faith in business and capital

21:22 — The right’s ploy of lowering everyone’s expectations

35:41 — Reactionaries changed Republican political culture through media

37:30 — The importance of formal debate

42:55 — America as a young, tentative democracy

About the Show

Theory of Change is hosted by Matthew Sheffield about larger trends and intersections of politics, religion, media, and technology. It's part of the Flux network, a new content community of podcasters and writers. Please visit us at flux.community to learn more and to tell us about what you're doing. We're constantly growing and learning from the great people we meet.

Theory of Change on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheoryChange

Matthew Sheffield on Social Media

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@mattsheffield

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattsheffield

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/matthew.flux.community

Donald Trump is in serious political trouble. His approval ratings are even lower than they were after the Capitol Putsch, as independent voters have turned against him. He’s even began losing support from fellow Republicans as well, which is a new thing in his political career. It’s easy to see why: tariffs have increased inflation, his war on Iran has been a disaster, gas prices are up significantly, and people are upset about his desecration of American landmarks like the White House and the Kennedy Center.

If you had paid attention during his first term, you’d have seen that Trump has wanted to take over Greenland, bomb Iran, and tariff the entire world for a very long time. But many of the people who voted for him in 2024 did not pay attention, and now they’re feeling betrayed, claiming that they voted for none of this.

The Republican Party is hollowing out from the inside, but despite this reality, Democrats are even less popular than Trump because they have no affirmative vision and largely refuse to run on the policies their voters actually want, such as universal healthcare and ending financial support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

So what happens next? No one knows for sure, of course, but to ponder the future, I thought it would be worth looking to the past with my good friend Rick Perlstein who is one of the best historians of the Republican party. His first book on Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign is being released in a 25th anniversary edition, and he’s got another one in the works that we talk about in our discussion.

The video of our conversation is available, the transcript is below. Because of its length, some podcast apps and email programs may truncate it. Access the episode page to get the full text. You can subscribe to Theory of Change and other Flux podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, YouTube, Patreon, Substack, and elsewhere.

Related Content

--Kamala Harris lost because Democrats don’t have a political ecosystem

--The economy has collapsed for the middle class, Democrats must admit this and act accordingly

--How the American left became post-political, and how to change that

--Even Democrats who hate him can learn a lot from Zohran Mamdani

--Caving to conservative religious fears does not work electorally

--There is no ‘Joe Rogan of the left’ because Democrats stopped being interested in public debate

--As Republicans have radicalized, Democrats have become more passive—and less successful electorally

--The self-proclaimed ‘popularists’ aren’t doing political science

Audio Chapters

00:00 — Introduction11:21 — What happens to politically homeless Trumpists?22:31 — The Iran war and Republican antisemitism28:00 — Democratic decline and the New Deal legacy39:52 — Politics as teaching48:35 — Perlstein’s new book: The Infernal Triangle53:46 — The U.S. left does not practice democracy in its own affairs

About the Show

Theory of Change is hosted by Matthew Sheffield about larger trends and intersections of politics, religion, media, and technology. It's part of the Flux network, a new content community of podcasters and writers. Please visit us at flux.community to learn more and to tell us about what you're doing. We're constantly growing and learning from the great people we meet.

Theory of Change on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheoryChange

Matthew Sheffield on Social Media

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@mattsheffield

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattsheffield

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/matthew.flux.community

Reactionary Catholics are a small minority of core Republican voters, but in many ways they set the party’s agenda because they’re so well organized and have a much stronger intellectual tradition than the Evangelicals who dominate the Republican voting base. But this trend exists internationally as well, and Opus Dei, a lay-member organization founded in Spain, has become a political powerhouse in a number of different countries.

Aside from the ridiculous caricatures of the group painted by Dan Brown in his Da Vinci Code novels, there has not been much detailed reporting on Opus Dei’s activities. The group is so secretive, in fact, that even the leadership of the church itself has often not known what Opus Dei has been up to.

That has began to change in recent years, however, thanks in large measure to journalist Gareth Gore, who has been reporting on the group for several years and has released an important book which is now out in paperback called Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy Inside the Catholic Church. It’s become an international bestseller that has become so influential that Pope Leo XIV actually invited him to discuss his findings and recommendations at a private meeting.

I was pleased to be joined by Gareth to discuss Opus Dei and his book for this episode. We also talked about why Leo, the first American pope, is becoming a historically significant figure through his efforts to reconcile the conservative faith with democracy in the twenty-first century by telling conservative Catholics that they have a place in modernity—contrary to what reactionary and anti-democratic groups like Opus Dei are telling them.

I hope you’ll enjoy.

If you’re interested in supporting Theory of Change, we are doing a fundraising drive for the show and for Flux on GoFundMe. I’d really appreciate your support. You can also become a paid supporter on Patreon or on Substack. Thank you so much for your help. I cannot do this work without you.

The video of our conversation is available, the transcript is below. Because of its length, some podcast apps and email programs may truncate it. Access the episode page to get the full text. You can subscribe to Theory of Change and other Flux podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, YouTube, Patreon, Substack, and elsewhere.

Related Content

—Trump hates Pope Leo because he sees himself as the real representative of Christians

—In the Republican Party, reactionary Catholics set the agenda rather than Evangelicals

—To understand the Christian right, learn the history of the postwar Christian left

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—James Talarico and the re-invigoration of liberal Christianity

—The Apocalypse of Don: Trump, Nietzsche, and Antichrist America 🔒

—The Christian Right was a theological rebellion against the idea of improving society

—Inside the rallies, the January 6th attack was undeniably a Christian nationalist event

—Far-right pastors ask God to ‘kill’ Democrats spiritually

—How the EWTN cable channel sought to radicalize Catholics

Audio Chapters

00:00 — Introduction

12:26 — Pope Leo XIV standing as a conservative against reactionaries

15:48 — Reactionary billionaire Peter Thiel trying to merge reactionary apocalypse traditions

20:14 — René Girard as the source of Thiel’s Antichrist obsessions

23:10 — A brief history of Opus Dei

29:14 — The Fatima miracle tradition within Hispanic reactionary Catholicism

33:52 — Opus Dei and Spanish dictator Francisco Franco

38:00 — The expansion of Opus Dei outside of Spain, including in the U.S.

42:35 — Opus Dei priest converted many Republicans to Catholicism and was accused of sexual assault

44:58 — Dan Brown’s ‘Da Vinci Code’ and Opus Dei

51:19 — Reactionary Christian traditions grow because they provide economic and social support

57:09 — Abuses, including sex trafficking, were protected by Opus Dei’s secrecy

01:02:22 — Pope Leo’s investigation of Opus Dei

About the Show

Theory of Change is hosted by Matthew Sheffield about larger trends and intersections of politics, religion, media, and technology. It's part of the Flux network, a new content community of podcasters and writers. Please visit us at flux.community to learn more and to tell us about what you're doing. We're constantly growing and learning from the great people we meet.

Theory of Change on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheoryChange

Matthew Sheffield on Social Media

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@mattsheffield

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattsheffield

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/matthew.flux.community

Thirty years ago, John Horgan had a dream—or rather a nightmare. Here and there, scientists were saying that all the major problems of the universe had essentially been solved, and that the work of the future was just going to be filling in the details of what we already knew.

But those voices were largely drowned out in the generation of scientists who came of age promoting radical new ideas that they claimed would push their disciplines far beyond what was then-currently known. Despite their creators’ claims, however, ideas like string theory, quantum consciousness, and chaos theory, were unable to generate actual testable ideas and inventions.

Had scientific progress stalled? Is it possible that there are real limits on what humans can ever know because of the type of beings that we are? This was the thesis of John’s book, The End of Science, which was published in 1996.

The book was instantly controversial, and he was fired from Scientific American because of it. And yet in the intervening 30 years, many of the exact same people he had profiled are still promoting the same unproductive ideas.

Is it accurate to say that science is stalled out though? That’s why I wanted to talk with John about the book, and where he sees things in 2026, especially now that one of America’s two major parties has rebuilt itself around attacking science and secular knowledge.

The video of this conversation is available. Access the episode page to get the full transcript. You can subscribe to Theory of Change and other Flux podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, YouTube, Patreon, Substack, and elsewhere.

Related Content

—Science fiction and the authoritarian imagination

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—Why thinking about aliens can help us better understand philosophy of science

—Why the far-right’s wars on science and sex are linked

—Trump super fans are impossible to argue with because they don’t believe in traditional logic 🔒

—Mental qualia are real, but they create experiences, rather than being created by them

Audio Chapters

00:00 — Introduction

14:51 — Isn’t all science just a type of philosophy?

25:14 — Peter Thiel’s claim that scientific progress has stalled

31:33 — Why science has such difficulty understanding consciousness

38:08 — The tension some religious believers feel with consciousness research

49:02 — Jeffrey Epstein’s obsession with scientists

53:20 — The fragility of the postwar liberal consensuses, and why they were taken for granted

About the Show

Theory of Change is hosted by Matthew Sheffield about larger trends and intersections of politics, religion, media, and technology. It's part of the Flux network, a new content community of podcasters and writers. Please visit us at flux.community to learn more and to tell us about what you're doing. We're constantly growing and learning from the great people we meet.

Theory of Change on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheoryChange

Matthew Sheffield on Social Media

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@mattsheffield

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattsheffield

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/matthew.flux.community

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@realmattsheffield