In this episode I’m going to play devil’s advocate and look at the flaws on the left of the political spectrum. I am always trying to challenge my biases and poke holes in my positions by listening to opposing opinions. I have been butting heads with a UK professor over social media on several issues recently as he has been posting what I would consider biased right wing positions and I have been challenging him. We are both in agreement on many issues, however, that may come as a surprise to those people on the left. This is a job for The Rational View.

Dr. Anton Van Der Merwe is a Professor of Molecular Immunology at the University of Oxford. He has been on the left his entire life from membership of the ANC, while in South Africa, to membership of the Labour Party since living in the U.K. He is also a passionate environmentalist. He has recently expressed dismay at how the left and environmental groups have abandoned science and replaced it with dogma.

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In this episode I am exploring the divergence between productivity and wages in western economies since 1970. This was covered in one of my first podcasts and is a striking failure of society that has derailed post-war successes and led to the current situation of inequity and unrest. It puts us in the strange position that robotics and AI are going to make the vast majority of the world poorer and further behind.

Dean Baker is the co-founder and a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He has written numerous books and articles. His most recent book is Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer.

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In this episode I’m reviewing the scientific evidence on the safety of new mRNA vaccines. There has been a flurry of misunderstandings and misinformation posted online with the result being spreading vaccine hesitancy and a growing public health emergency. The WHO highlighted vaccine hesitancy as a major global health risk. Just this morning I heard announcements of Measles outbreaks. Vaccines have saved millions of lives. They’ve eliminated smallpox and we are on the brink of eliminating polio. Measles no longer needs to hospitalize thousands of children unless we let it. That being said, there is risk associated with vaccines. Can we have a frank talk about the actual risks?

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In this episode I am continuing to cast a lens into the presence of inequity in society. The Rational View is about using evidence-based practices to promote justice for all. Over the years we, as a society, have made great progress in addressing inequality, but unscientific biases still abound. Many folks would say that we’ve already equalized opportunities. Many would say great gulfs remain to be bridged. What does the data say?

Nilanjana Dasgupta is Provost Professor of Psychology and founding Director of the Institute of Diversity Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She received her Bachelor’s degree in psychology and neuroscience from Smith College and a Master’s degree and PhD in social psychology from Yale University. She is a leader in research on implicit bias and diversity science, applying it to complex social problems. Her award winning research has been featured widely in print and broadcast media. She is the author of Change the Wallpaper: Transforming Cultural Patterns to Build More Just Communities

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In this episode I’m interviewing a researcher who studies equality in the workplace. Her work stands out as being heavily influenced by quantitative studies on the effectiveness of various interventions aimed at leveling the gender gap in the workplace. I hope we can gain some insights into what is good and what does not work to promote fairness in the workplace.

Siri Chilazi is a senior researcher at the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School whose life’s work is to advance gender equality in the workplace. As a keynote speaker and strategic advisor, Siri collaborates with a wide range of organizations around the world. Her work regularly appears in leading media outlets. Siri has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School, and a BA in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard College. Her most recent book, with co-author Iris Bohnet, is called “Make Work Fair”.

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Happy New Year. Welcome to 2025! You made it! I’m glad to be able to share this with you.

Today I want to talk about a health fad called Earthing, or Grounding. You’ve probably heard of it. Is it supported by science or is it snake oil? This calls for The Rational View.

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In this episode I’m interviewing a scientist turned science fiction author who has written a book that takes the reader on a journey around the solar system to the many remote places we’ve visited with our space probes. I’m eager to learn what he thinks about space exploration.

Dr John Moores is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science at York University. He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, a recipient of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute’s McCurdy Award and served as the Science Advisor to the President of the Canadian Space Agency from 2022-2024. John holds a BASc in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in Planetary Science. An author on over 100 articles in planetary science, John has also been a member of five NASA and ESA-led space mission teams.

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In this episode I’m interviewing someone with firsthand knowledge of the replacement of democracy with an authoritarian populist regime. What does this mean? Take, for example, the case of Hungary under the leadership of Viktor Orbán, the populist prime minister of Hungary since 2010. In 2022, European parliament declared that Hungary could no longer be considered a democracy. MEPs are concerned about several political areas concerning democracy and fundamental rights in Hungary. Some of the main areas are the functioning of its constitutional and electoral system, the independence of the judiciary, corruption and conflicts of interest and freedom of expression, including media pluralism. Academic freedom, freedom of religion, freedom of association, the right to equal treatment, including LGBTIQ rights, the rights of minorities, as well as those of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, are also problematic.

What do these first steps towards authoritarianism look like and what can we do to avoid following the same path? Why do people want to go away from democracy? Are they racist bigots?

Gábor Scheiring is a former member of the Hungarian parliament having served from 2010-2014 and an assistant professor of comparative politics at Georgetown University Qatar. He previously served as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University's Center for European Studies. His research explores the political economy and lived experiences of contemporary economic transformations through quantitative, qualitative, and comparative methods. He focuses on how economic shocks create precarity, leading to mental and physical suffering, and how these processes impact democratic stability. His book, The Retreat of Liberal Democracy, which won the BASEES 2021 Book Award, examines how working-class dislocation and elite co-optation foster illiberalism in Hungary.

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