Heaven on a Stick: Misinformation, Uncertainty and Sausage Fingers

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Annie to talk about misinformation in science and healthcare and why the most confident explanation is not always the most accurate one.

We unpack the difference between misinformation and disinformation, the idea of “inoculating” people against misleading claims, and why becoming more comfortable with uncertainty might actually make you happier.

We also talk about what science really is: not a fixed collection of facts, but a process of testing claims, challenging hypotheses and continually correcting itself.

Along the way, we venture into COVID vaccine conspiracies, the false claim that Professor Richard Scolyer’s brain cancer was caused by vaccination, the vague promise that a multivitamin can make an already healthy person somehow “weller,” and the surprisingly difficult question: what does optimum health even mean?

There is also a discussion about reinventing yourself in a room where nobody knows you, and the revelation that Annie has digits like chipolatas.