Science and technology aren’t neutral, argues scientist and researcher Vincenzo Pavone. Rather, they offer valid but situated knowledge and pursue political goals that reflect the priorities of their society and time.

Today, we speak with Vincenzo for the hour about his latest book, Bioeconomies, and his argument that we need a new pact between science, politics, and business—one that allows for independent research and robust regulation, takes the public good seriously, and collaborates meaningfully with the social sciences and humanities.

Along the way, he and Esty discuss pharmaceuticals, patents and animal ownership, climate change, nuclear energy, global fertility chains, and more.

Vincenzo Pavone is a tenured researcher at the Institute of Public Policies of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid. He is the author of From the Labyrinth of the World to the Paradise of the Heart: Science and Humanism in Unesco’s Approach to Globalization (Lexington Books, 2008) and co-author with Joanna Goven of Bioeconomies: Life, Technology, and Capital in the 21st Century (Springer, 2017).

Cover image by PIRO4D from Pixabay