How is the press supposed to cover science in a country where the government stifles research that conflicts with its policies?

Episode Rundown

00:00 “I’ve got a bat tattoo so I must really love biology” Riskin

00:25 The Postmedia piece on the blocked Arctic ice story  (link)

The Privy Council Office (link)

05:04 Daily Planet seems to be doing well (link)

07:40 My personal favourite theortical response by a an Ebola expert (link)

09:00 Over 2000 Scientists cut over the last five years (link)

and the protests (link)

09:35 “Federal scientists aren’t allowed to talk to the media right, they’re not allowed to do an interview with Daily Planet or with you. They have to go through somebody from the government will than approve the message and then control the interview. And might not let the interview happen.” Riskin

Those are a lot of restrictions (link)

09:50 “It’s like living in the U.S.S.R in terms of information from the scientists that we as citizens pay for…”

“….there is this big blockade and it’s all going through these filters and sometimes it malicious and other times it’s a little bit more subtle. Oh we’re just going to put our little spin on this so you know, the new artic research center is going to be named after an oil company.” RIskin (link) (link) (link)

11:01 “Science never speaks with one voice and that can be used to water down scientific consensus. So for example, there’s no disagreement that evolution is true. But you can always find some wingnut working at some college in who knows where.” Riskin

11:40 “The idea that all of science in Canada can speak in one voice like a govermnet department is ludicrous.” Riskin

12:30  The Silence of the Labs on CBC’s The Fifth Estate (link)

12:45 “The Globe and Mail doesn’t have a science section. Postmedia, their app has an energy section which i’ve realized is sponsored by the energy industry.” Jesse

Can’t post this one enough (link)

13:07 “When I go out and do an episode of Daily Planet or give a talk to bunch of University (or college) students. The point is not to make them understand the scientifitc concept, that’s nice. But the point is to have them see this is worthwhile, and it’s an endeavour.” Riskin

Riskin showed my class the importance of science (link)

13:39 Graphene is pretty badass (link)

14:21 “I use to do this with lottery tickets why I was in junior high. If you take scotch tape and put it over the silver stuff, you can pull it back and then if you held it up you can almost see the numbers. And then you do it again and put on more scotch tape and peel it back and see more numbers before you scratched and you can scratch the ones…I’m not telling people do to that.” Riskin

Dan Riskin knows his crimes (link)

15:50 “I am furious, I am totally outraged and insulted. I am just so mad that my government is letting this happen in my country. I feel like I live in the U.S.S.R. If you look back at the U.S.S.R snd ask why didn’t everybody rise up and revolt and I’m like why aren’t we doing more right now? So if I can get people to care and at least when they vote next time- ‘you know what, I didn’t appreciate when you killed science in Canada and gutted our environmental legislation’” Riskin

17:19 “He’s a great leader. He’s got a vision and knows what he wants to do, and I think he cares about the environment of his bank account. And the bank accounts of the rich Calgarians making a ton working the environment over…To make millionaires richer so we can lose all our natural resources, it’s just not worth it.” Riskin

17:50 Enjoy John Oliver and Bill Nye being amazing  (link)

26:40 Only 2% of Canadians deny it (link)

27:38 “When the government says we’re not going to measure the effects of the oil and gas industry so we can decisions with complete impunity, and not have a before and after comparison.” Riskin