There is a growing wave of anti-rationalism that has been destroying respect for expertise and undermining our institutions, preventing rational debate. It is spreading an epidemic of misinformation, which threatens to weaken the very foundations of our democracy. Tom Nichols, a Professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, discusses his latest book on this subject: “The Death of Expertise and the Campaign Against Established Knowledge.” If you’re an anti-vaxxer, an Obama birther, a 9/11 Truther, or if you believe there really are aliens at Roswell, you need to listen to this show.

Tom Nichols on The Death of Expertise

I’m a skeptic searching for the truth in all matters related to science and medicine, especially where it intersects with economics, politics, and public health. The truth is out there and we’re going to find it together...

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Every October, the American Society of Anesthesiologists [the ASA] hosts the largest medical specialty meeting of its kind for thousands and thousands of anesthesiologists from around the world. This year’s meeting is being held in San Francisco from October 13th to 17th. To recognize the importance of anesthesia in the evolution of surgery, and to commemorate the first public demonstration of surgical anesthesia administered to a patient undergoing surgery [by William Morton on October 16th, 1846], called “World Anesthesia Day”, I present a different episode of the Strange Daze podcast each day of the meeting. Today’s Episode is On Pins and Needles. It’s a true story about trying to master spinal anesthesia. While spinal anesthesia can be a beautiful and elegant alternative to general anesthesia, every anesthetic technique has limitations, and dealing with the limitations of spinal anesthesia can be a terrifying experience for the anesthesia resident.

STRANGE DAZE: On Pins and Needles

Every October, the American Society of Anesthesiologists [the ASA] hosts the largest medical specialty meeting of its kind for thousands and thousands of anesthesiologists from around the world. This year’s meeting is being held in San Francisco from October 13th to 17th. To recognize the importance of anesthesia in the evolution of surgery, and to commemorate the first public demonstration of surgical anesthesia administered to a patient undergoing surgery [by William Morton on October 16th, 1846], called “World Anesthesia Day”, I present a different episode of the Strange Daze podcast each day of the meeting. Today’s episode is: Fragile: Handle with Care. It’s a true story about administering my first anesthetic to a baby having a routine hernia repair that devolved into one of the most terrifying cases of my early career. How can a routine anesthetic go so wrong? Truth be told, in about a million and a half different ways.

STRANGE DAZE: Fragile: Handle with Care

Every October, the American Society of Anesthesiologists [the ASA] hosts the largest medical specialty meeting of its kind for thousands and thousands of anesthesiologists from around the world. This year’s meeting is being held in San Francisco from October 13th to 17th. To recognize the importance of anesthesia in the evolution of surgery, and to commemorate the first public demonstration of surgical anesthesia administered to a patient undergoing surgery [by William Morton on October 16th, 1846], called “World Anesthesia Day”, I present a different episode of the Strange Daze podcast each day of the meeting. Todays Episode is Production Pressure. It’s a true story about how in our haste to get a surgery case started we sometimes do things that we shouldn’t do, and at other times, we fail to do the things we should…  In anesthesiology, either error can have serious consequences.

STRANGE DAZE: Production Pressure

Every October, the American Society of Anesthesiologists [the ASA] hosts the largest medical specialty meeting of its kind for thousands and thousands of anesthesiologists from around the world. This year’s meeting is being held in San Francisco from October 13th to 17th. To recognize the importance of anesthesia in the evolution of surgery, and to commemorate the first public demonstration of surgical anesthesia administered to a patient undergoing surgery [by William Morton on October 16th, 1846], called “World Anesthesia Day”, I present a different episode of the Strange Daze podcast each day of the meeting. Today’s Episode is Crepitus. It’s a true story about how incompletely understood and improperly conducted laser surgery can turn a routine knee arthroscopy into a life-threatening disaster.

STRANGE DAZE: Crepitus

Every October, the American Society of Anesthesiologists [the ASA] hosts the largest medical specialty meeting of its kind for thousands and thousands of anesthesiologists from around the world. This year’s meeting is being held in San Francisco from October 13th to 17th. To recognize the importance of anesthesia in the evolution of surgery, and to commemorate the first public demonstration of surgical anesthesia administered to a patient undergoing surgery [by William Morton on October 16th, 1846], called “World Anesthesia Day”, I present a different episode of the Strange Daze podcast each day of the meeting. Today’s Episode is Wrong Assumptions. It’s a true story about a healthy, 37-year-old woman who comes into the hospital expecting a routine delivery of her third baby and ends up in a coma. How can a routine case to go so wrong? In about a million and a half different way. This is just one of them.

Tom Nichols on The Death of Expertise

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