In this episode, we discuss…

• What science really is, both as body of knowledge and a constantly evolving process

• Why one study is never enough and the importance of multiple methods, reproducibility, and scientific consensus over time

• When "gold standard" research falls short and why fields like nutrition require more flexible, creative approaches

• Science's built-in caution and how new ideas face a high bar of proof, slowing acceptance but strengthening reliability

• How doubt is manufactured, from the tobacco era to climate science, using fringe voices to challenge strong consensus

• The role of ideology, and how "freedom" narratives can shape public resistance to scientific evidence

• Acting without certainty and why we must make public health decisions even when data isn't 100% complete

• AI and misinformation and the promise and risk of tools like OpenAI in shaping how we consume science

Naomi Oreskes Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences ON LEAVE SPRING 2026 email[email protected] Faculty Assistant: Yaz Alfata

Primary Areas of Research: Agnotology; the Political Economy of Scientific Knowledge; History and Philosophy of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Science and Technology Studies (STS); the History of Climate Change Disinformation

Secondary Areas of Interest: Science Policy, Science and Religion, Women and Gender Studies

Naomi Oreskes is Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. A world-renowned earth scientist, historian and public speaker, she is the author of the best-selling book, Merchants of Doubt (2010) and a leading voice on the role of science in society, the reality of anthropogenic climate change, and the role of disinformation in blocking climate action.

Oreskes is author or co-author of 9 books, and over 150 articles, essays and opinion pieces, including Merchants of Doubt (Bloomsbury, 2010), The Collapse of Western Civilization (Columbia University Press, 2014), Discerning Experts (University Chicago Press, 2019), Why Trust Science? (Princeton University Press, 2019), and Science on a Mission: American Oceanography from the Cold War to Climate Change, (University of Chicago Press, 2021). Merchants of Doubt, co-authored with Erik Conway, was the subject of a documentary film of the same name produced by participant Media and distributed by SONY Pictures Classics, and has been translated into nine languages. A new edition of Merchants of Doubt, with an introduction by Al Gore, was published in 2020. Her latest book, with Erik Conway, is The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loath Government and Love the Free Market, which has been translated to French and Italian.

Oreskes wrote the Introduction to the Melville House edition of the Papal Encyclical on Climate Change and Inequality, Laudato Si, and her essays and opinion pieces on climate change have appeared in leading newspapers around the globe, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, the Times (London), and Frankfurter Allegemeine. Her numerous awards and prizes include the 2019 Geological Society of American Mary C. Rabbitt Award, the 2016 Stephen Schneider Award for outstanding Climate Science Communication, the 2015 Public Service Award of the Geological Society of America, the 2015 Herbert Feis Prize of the American Historical Association for her contributions to public history, and the 2014 American Geophysical Union Presidential Citation for Science and Society. She is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. In 2018, she was named a Guggenheim Fellow, and in 2019 she was awarded the British Academy Medal. In 2024, she was awarded the Nonino Foundation "Maestro del Nostro Tempo" award. And in 2025, she was awarded the Volvo Environment Prize for her contributions in "shaping our understanding of how scientific knowledge is collectively constructed and addressing the challenges of misinformation in public discourse."

Curriculum Vitae

Select Publications

• The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loath Government and Love the Free Market, 2023 (Bloomsbury Press)
• Science on a Mission, 2021 (University of Chicago Press)
• Why Trust Science?, 2019 (Princeton University Press)
• Science and Technology in the Global Cold War, 2014 (MIT Press)
• The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future, 2014 (Columbia University Press) Collapse of Western Civilization Home Page
• Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming, 2010. (New York: Bloomsbury Press.) Merchants of Doubt Home Page Merchants of Doubt at the 52nd New York Film Festival, October 8, 2014
• Models in Environmental Regulatory Decision Making, Whipple, Chris et al. (fourteen additional authors), 2007. (Washington DC: National Academy of Sciences National Research Council, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology), 287 pp.
• The Rejection of Continental Drift: Theory and Method in American Earth Science, 1999. (New York: Oxford University Press)

In the Media

Testimony Before the US Senate Budget Committee, Twitter, June 22, 2023 Science Isn't Always Perfect - But We Should Still Trust It, TIME, October 2019 Climate Change Will Cost Us Even More Than We Think, New York Times, October 2019 Escaping Extinction, World Economic Forum, January 2019 Yes, ExxonMobil Misled the Public, LA Times, September 2017 What Exxon Mobil Didn't Say About Climate Change, The New York Times, August 2017 Assessing ExxonMobil's Climate Change Communications (177-2014), Environment Research Letters, August 2017 Scientists Dive Into the Political Fray, PBS Newshour, April 2017 How to Break the Climate Deadlock, Scientific American, November 2015 What Did Exxon Know?, On The Media, November 2015 The Pope and the Planet, The Open Mind, November 2015 Exxon's Climate Concealment, New York Times, October 2015 Naomi Oreskes, a Lightning Rod in a Changing Climate, New York Times, June 2015 A Chronicler of Warnings Denied, New York Times, October 2014 Merchants of Doubt, Documentary from Sony Pictures Classics, 2014 "Why We Should Trust Scientists," TED Talk, June 2014

The 2014 Vatican Environmental Summit:

• Can a Pope Help Sustain Humanity and Ecology?, New York Times
• Interview for Cosmologics Magazine

Prof. Oreskes discusses her book, "The Collapse of Western Civilization..."

• Naomi Oreskes - The Collapse of Western Civilization, Inquiring Minds Podcast
• "A View From the Climate Change Future," National Public Radio via Boston's WBUR

Edited Volumes

• Oreskes, Naomi, ed., with Homer E. Le Grand, 2001. Plate Tectonics: An Insider's History of the Modern Theory of the Earth (Boulder: Westview Press), paperback edition February 2003.

Edited Journal Volumes

• Oreskes, Naomi and James R. Fleming, eds. 2000. "Perspectives on Geophysics," Special Issue of Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 31B, September 2000.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why women's health needs a full-body reset, moving beyond "bikini medicine" to include brain, heart, immune, and metabolic health.
• How gaps in anatomy education leave women uninformed, even at advanced education levels, limiting body literacy and self-advocacy.
• Why women normalize serious symptoms like pain, heavy bleeding, and fatigue, and how this delays diagnosis and care.
• How to be heard in a short doctor visit by prioritizing and clearly reporting symptoms in advance.
• Why medical language still reflects gender bias, and how updating anatomical terms can improve understanding and care.
• What most UTI advice gets wrong, and why effective options like vaginal estrogen remain underused.
• The difference between screening and prevention in breast health, and why understanding lifetime risk matters beyond mammograms.
• How male-centered research has shaped women's medicine, and what new science is revealing about female-specific health differences.
• Why pushing through pain can worsen outcomes, increasing pain sensitivity and delaying proper treatment.
• How pain management in gynecology is finally changing, with growing recognition that procedures should not require suffering.

Meghan Rabbitt is an award-winning journalist and author of The New Rules of Women's Health: Your Guide to Thriving at Every Age. She specializes in writing about women's health and wellness, and her work has appeared in many national publications, including Women's Health, Oprah Daily, Prevention, Maria Shriver's Sunday Paper, and more. She's known for translating complex medical and scientific topics into clear, actionable information—and for telling stories that help readers better understand their bodies, their health, and themselves.

Important links: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Substack | Book

Press Kit: Here

Ashley Koff, RD is the founder of The Better Nutrition Program (BNP), the Nutrition Course Director for UC Irvine's Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute's Integrative and Functional Medicine Fellowship, and a faculty member at the Integrative and Functional Nutrition Academy (IFNA), where she teaches "An Integrative and Functional Nutrition Approach to Obesity and Weight Management." She is also the author of the upcoming book, Your Best Shot (Harper One, January 6, 2026). A practitioner for over 25 years, Koff is leading a transformative movement in personalized nutrition, turning "better, not perfect" choices into practical, sustainable strategies that deliver real health outcomes. Through patient stories and personal experience, she shows that optimal health is not just possible—it's essential to living your fullest life. Koff has been recognized as one of CNN's Top 100 Health Makers, featured in InStyle as "Hollywood's Leading Dietitian," and has been selected as Westin's Global Nutrition Ambassador.

In this episode of The Smart Human Podcast, host Aly welcomes Dr. Robin Mesnage, a toxicologist and research fellow at King's College London, to discuss the toxicology and pharmacology of glyphosate, commonly known as Roundup. The conversation delves into the effects of glyphosate on the microbiome and cellular health, vulnerable periods of exposure, and ways to reduce exposure. Dr. Mesnage also shares insights from a significant 2025 rat study highlighting the carcinogenicity of glyphosate. The discussion extends to the broader implications of pesticide use on human health, food safety, and agricultural practices. Practical tips for reducing exposure to glyphosate and other chemicals at home are also provided.

00:00 Introduction to the Smart Human Podcast 00:50 Meet Dr. Robin Mesnage: Toxicologist and Research Fellow 01:31 Groundbreaking Glyphosate Study 02:27 Study Design and Findings 03:36 Implications of Glyphosate on Human Health 10:20 Glyphosate in Agriculture and Its Widespread Use 17:04 Glyphosate's Impact on the Gut Microbiome 20:58 Daily Exposure to Glyphosate 24:06 Protecting Vulnerable Populations 26:21 Environmental and Airborne Exposure 29:33 The Glyphosate Controversy: Legal Battles and Health Concerns 32:34 The Impact of Glyphosate on Agriculture and Sustainability 36:24 Organic Farming and Certification Standards 39:14 Practical Tips to Reduce Glyphosate Exposure 51:59 The Importance of Healthy Lifestyle and Vulnerable Populations 53:54 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

🔹 What glyphosate is and why Roundup matters 🔹 How widely glyphosate is used in farming and gardening 🔹 Air, water, and environmental impacts 🔹 How glyphosate works at the cellular level 🔹 Its effect on the gut microbiome 🔹 Links to cancer and other health concerns 🔹 Highlights from a major new glyphosate study 🔹 Where it appears in food and drinking water 💦 🔹 How to reduce everyday exposure 🔹 Why organic farming and USDA certification matter 🔹 How healthy habits support detoxification

Robin Mesnage Scientific Director at Buchinger Wilhelmi Clinics, The Fasting Experts

Research Fellow in the Department of Nutrition, King's College London Scientific Director, Buchinger Wilhelmi Clinics

Unleash the self-healing abilities of your body with fasting! I am the scientific director of the Buchinger Wilhelmi clinic, which specializes in therapeutic fasting. I oversee the research and development activities to scientifically document the health effects of fasting, develop new therapeutic strategies, and most importantly empower our patients to live healthy and fulfilling lives. With over 10 years of experience in molecular biology and bioinformatics, I have the ability to leverage data to optimize fasting protocols, monitor patient outcomes, and identify novel biomarkers for personalized healthcare. Research at King's College London I also collaborate with the Department of Nutrition at King's College London, where I hold a visiting research fellow position. I work with Dr. Ana Rodriguez-Mateos to investigate the role of the gut microbiome in the health benefits of plant foods and phytochemicals. Scientific Editor I am a keynote speaker, regularly offering lectures on scientific topics. I have served as an expert on the regulation of human health effects of chemical pollutants for the French government and occasionally for the European Parliament. My research has resulted in the publication of over 100 scientific articles, cited more than 8,000 times. I have authored and edited the book Herbicides: Chemistry, Efficacy, Toxicology, and Environmental Impacts which offers a comprehensive overview of herbicide toxicology presented by internationally recognized experts. Altogether, I am among the top 1 percent of cited scientists worldwide for my work on the health effects of pollution.

Studies PDFs:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12150505/pdf/12940_2025_Article_1187.pdf

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8883356/pdf/kfab143.pdf

#GutHealth #microbiome #CleanEating, #OrganicFood, #PublicHealth

In this episode, we discuss:

●How sleep and diet directly influence each other. ●How specific dietary patterns and specific nutrients can improve sleep, and how processed foods may worsen it. ●Ways you can restore the body through REM support for memory and learning. ●How aging and menopause influence sleep ●How light exposure therapy works and how light at night (LAN) can disrupt sleep cycles ●How common disorders like sleep apnea disrupt sleep cycles and how they can be managed effectively. ●How consistent routines, stress reduction, and a healthy environment improve sleep quality. ●If naps are a good idea….and under which circumstances you can maximize their benefits? ●How adequate sleep quality & quantity supports weight regulation, metabolism, and overall heart health.

Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Ph.D, CCSH, FAHA Professor of Nutritional Medicine Director, Center of Excellence for Sleep & Circadian Research Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Irving Medical Center Address: 622 West- 168 th Street, PH9-103H New York, NY 10032 E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. St-Onge is the founding Director of the Center of Excellence for Sleep Circadian Research at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The overall focus of her research is the study of the impact of lifestyle, specifically sleep and diet, on cardio-metabolic risk factors. Dr. St-Onge has been NIH-funded since 2008, conducting innovative, cutting-edge clinical research combining her expertise on sleep, nutrition, and energy balance regulation to address questions related to the role of circadian rhythms, including sleep duration and timing as well as meal timing and eating patterns, on cardiometabolic risk. She has strong expertise in the conduct of controlled inpatient and outpatient studies of sleep and dietary manipulations. Dr. St-Onge was Center Director for the American Heart Association funded Go Red for Women Strategically Focused Research Center, aimed at determining the causality of the relation between sleep and cardiovascular disease and the specific role that sleep plays in the health of women throughout the life cycle. She is a pioneer in this field, having chaired the first scientific statements endorsed by the AHA on sleep and cardiometabolic health as well as meal timing and frequency and cardiovascular disease risk prevention. She is the recipient of an NHLBI Outstanding Investigator Award and a standing member of the Human Studies of Diabetes and Obesity Study Section at the NIH.

​In this interview, we cover:

🔹What is herbal medicine, and how has its use influenced human healing

🔹The basic tenets of herbal medicine…can its use be integrated safely and effectively into conventional medical care

🔹Any risks when considering the use of herbal medicine…herb-drug interactions?

🔹Which conditions might be contraindicated in with the use of herbal medicine

🔹Why might someone seek out an herbal medicine doctor…what are the benefits/limitations 🔹Finding a reputable herbal medicine practitioner

🔹Most commonly used, safe herbs used for the most common conditions

🔹Which herbs are David's favorites ….and SO MUCH more! 🤩

David Winston is an Herbalist and Ethnobotanist with 56 years of training in Chinese, Western/Eclectic and Southeastern herbal traditions. He has been in clinical practice for 49 years and is an herbal consultant to physicians, herbalists and researchers throughout the USA, Europe and Canada. David is the founder/director of the Herbal Therapeutics Research Library and the dean of David Winston's Center for Herbal Studies, a two-year training program in clinical herbal medicine. He is an internationally known lecturer and frequently teaches at medical schools, professional symposia and herb conferences. He is the president of Herbalist & Alchemist, Inc. a manufacturer that produces herbal products that blend the art and science of the world's great herbal traditions.

In addition, David is a founding/professional member of the American Herbalist Guild, and he is on the American Botanical Council and the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia Advisory Boards. He was a contributing author to American Herbalism, published in 1992 by Crossings Press, and the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP) , 2000-2018, the author of Saw Palmetto for Men & Women, Storey, 1999 and Herbal Therapeutics, Specific Indications For Herbs & Herbal Formulas, HTRL, 2024 (14th edition) and the primary -author of Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina and Stress Relief, Healing Arts Press, 2007 & 2019 2nd Ed, and Winston and Kuhn's Herbal Therapy and Supplements; A Scientific and Traditional Approach, Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott, 2008. David has also published hundreds of articles in medical and botanical medicine journals and conference proceedings. He is also a member of the AHPA Expert Advisory Council that created the second edition of the Botanical Safety Handbook, CRC Press, published in 2013 (3rd edition in press). In 2011 David along with 9 other members of the Botanical Safety Handbook expert advisory committee were recipients of the AHPA Herbal Insights award. In 2013 he received the Natural Products Association Clinicians award and was awarded a fellowship by the Irish Register of Herbalists. In 2018 he was the Mitchell visiting scholar at Bastyr University, in 2019 he was awarded an honorary DSc degree from the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) in Portland, OR, in 2023 he was awarded the AHPA Herbal Insight award recognizing his over 50 years of educating people about herbal medicine and in 2024 he was given the American Botanical Council's Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder award.

#herbal #botany #medical

Linda S. Birnbaum, Ph.D., D.A.B.T., A.T.S. is the former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) of the National Institutes of Health, and the National Toxicology Program (NTP). After retirement, she was granted scientist emeritus status and still maintains a laboratory. As a board-certified toxicologist, Birnbaum served as a federal scientist for 40 years. Prior to her appointment as NIEHS and NTP Director in 2009, she spent 19 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where she directed the largest division focusing on environmental health research. Birnbaum has received many awards and recognitions. In 2016, she was awarded the North Carolina Award in Science. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health. She was also elected to the Collegium Ramazzini, an independent, international academy comprised of internationally renowned experts in the fields of occupational and environmental health and received an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Rochester and a Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Illinois. She has also received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Rhode Island, Ben-Gurion University, Israel, and Amity University, India; the Surgeon General's Medallion 2014; and 14 Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards, which reflect the recommendations of EPA's external Science Advisory Board, for specific publications. Dr. Birnbaum recently received the Winslow Award, the highest honor from the Yale School of Public Health and was elected an AAAS Fellow. She has also received numerous awards from professional societies and citizen's groups. Birnbaum is an active member of the scientific community. She was vice president of the International Union of Toxicology, the umbrella organization for toxicology societies in more than 50 countries, and former president of the Society of Toxicology, the largest professional organization of toxicologists in the world. She is the author of more than 1000 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, abstracts, and reports. Birnbaum's own research focuses on the pharmacokinetic behavior of environmental chemicals, mechanisms of action of toxicants including endocrine disruption, and linking of real-world exposures to health effects. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Queensland in Australia, the School of Public Health of Yale University, the Gillings School of Global Public Health, the Curriculum in Toxicology, and the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as in the Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program at Duke University where she is also a Scholar in Residence. A native of New Jersey, Birnbaum received her M.S. and Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

…🤩 another episode of The Smart Human podcast🎙️ has just been released! I'm talking with John Abramson MD about medications💊- the drug approval process, conflicts of interest, statin use, and so much more!

Link to YouTube👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/eQWKbgre

Link to audio recording👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/eG_ZUi8f

👉🏽In this episode:

🔹The influence of drug companies on medical journals and evidence-based medicine.

🔹The alarming story of the drug Vioxx, its misrepresentation in clinical trials, and the resulting harm to patients.

🔹The FDA medical peer review process.

🔹The problematic relationship between healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical companies - transparency, data analysis, and clinical decisions.

🔹Lifestyle modification benefits and the over-reliance on medications.

🔹Reforms in the healthcare system to prioritize patient well-being over profits.

After completing a residency in Family Medicine and a 2-year Robert Wood Johnson fellowship, Dr. John Abramson practiced as a family physician for 20 years in a small town an hour north of Boston. He also served for 7 years as chair of the department of family practice at Lahey Clinic. He was on the Harvard Medical School faculty from 1997-2023, most recently as a Lecturer in the Department of Health Care Policy. In 2002, after becoming aware of the uncorrected misrepresentations about the benefits and dangers of Vioxx and Celebrex in our most respected medical journals, Dr. Abramson left his practice to devote his full attention to researching the quality of the information doctors must rely on. In September 2004 he published Overdo$ed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine. Just one week later, Vioxx was withdrawn in the biggest drug recall ever, but not before it had killed between 40 and 60,000 Americans, despite providing no better relief than inexpensive OTC anti-inflammatory drugs. From 2005 through the present, Dr. Abramson has continued his research and served as an expert in litigation involving prescription drugs and medical devices, with each case giving him access to millions of pages of confidential corporate documents and unreleased clinical trial data. He has also served as a consultant to the FBI and U. S. Department of Justice, including a case that led to what was, at the time, the largest criminal fine in U.S. history. Dr. Abramson has published multiple articles in peer reviewed journals, made numerous national media appearances, and written many op-ed pieces, including 2 in the New York Times. His main research interest is the extent to which the commercial takeover of medical knowledge, primarily by the drug companies, is compromising the quality of medical information available to even the most dedicated doctors, harming our health, and wasting enormous amounts of Americans' wealth. In February 2022 Dr. Abramson published his second book, Sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It.

#medical #safety #bigpharma

Joel Warsh, MD, MSc aka DrJoelGator https://www.instagram.com/drjoelgator/ of the popular parenting Instagram account is a Board-Certified Pediatrician in Los Angeles, California who specializes in Parenting, Wellness and Integrative Medicine. He is the author of Parenting at Your Child's Pace: The Integrative Pediatrician's Guide to the First Three Years. #parenting #wellness #medical

Deanna Minich, PhD, is a nutrition scientist, international lecturer, educator, and author, with over twenty years of experience in academia and the food and dietary supplement industries, and currently the Chief Science Officer at Symphony Natural Health. She has been active as a functional medicine clinician in clinical trials and in her own practice (Food & Spirit™). She is the author of seven consumer books on wellness topics, four book chapters, and over fifty scientific publications. Through her talks, workshops, groups, and in-person retreats, she helps people to transform their lives practically and artfully through nutrition and lifestyle. Visit her at: www.deannaminich.com #healthyliving #nutrition #health