The DISRUPTED SCIENCE Podcast

Caldera Information Solutions LLC
  • 5.0 (9)
  • Society & Culture

From the authors of the forthcoming book ”How the Internet Disrupted Science” comes this view of science and society from where the action is — the scientific claims and publishing space. Hosted by Kent Anderson and Joy Moore, listeners receive analyses of current events, updates about the book, and opinions on various topics of interest. Book pre-sales available now. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/How-the-Internet-Disrupted-Science/Kent-Anderson/9781493094400

  1. Aug 26

    August 26, 2026 — Starting Your Journal’s Digital Detox

    We have a chapter in our book (“Trapped in the Tech Shrine”) about how scientific publishers became habituated to taking publishing and business advice from technology vendors. It became so entrenched that some might wonder who’s in charge. Today, we find ourselves in the midst of a palpable tech backlash against: Big Tech oligarchs Data centers Techno-authoritarians Lawsuits are everywhere as extraction and exploitation are challenged, as the energy and economic disruptions of data centers are sparking increasingly organized protests to thwart them, and AI and tech valuations and futures are in flux. Through their embrace of digital tech, publishers became accustomed to platforms and templates, which were developed in large extent to spread the higher costs of digital publishing. As a result, today we have code bases full of business risks, incentives to set it and forget it for as long as possible, and distractions built in a decade ago that too often go unquestioned. It seems time to say that tech often distracts from substance, is too quickly elevated for no good reason, and can easily mislead us about what matters to our audiences. Is it time to question assumptions? To begin a digital detox? Is it all vaporware, selling us on a future that will never come? As automakers replace massive touchscreens with knobs and dials, do we need to do our own program of digital detox? We finish with our “Discoveries of the Week.” Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Amazon Music/Audible Subscribe on YouTube Music provided by Provoke the Truth — https://provokethetruth.net/

  2. Aug 19

    August 19, 2026 — Scientific Publishing’s Fauci Reckoning

    Today, we want to talk about Anthony Fauci, and our role in making life difficult for him — and, beyond his current travails, for society at large. In 2021, healthcare expert Paul Keckley noted five flaws in the response to Covid-19, three of which ended up at our doorstep: Covid-19 science has been compromised by political self-interests The influence of social media has been underestimated The scientific community has confused the public The scientific publishing system was at the heart of what some called an “infodemic,” with hundreds of papers posted or published per day, most from inexpert research teams and nearly all from inexpert authors, part of the “more information will solve this faster” mentality. When speed was prioritized over quality or relevance or even sound public health messaging, misinformation purveyors had a field day. Preprints dominated the news and were seen at the White House. The My Pillow guy started a Covid-19 grift with a preprint. The myocarditis myth was started with a bad preprint. Steve Bannon catalyzed the lab leak conspiracy with two preprints he funded. Fake information from anti-vaxxers and others went mainstream. And, worse, the seeds of MAHA were planted, created a beanstalk that RFK, Jr., and Jay Bhattacharya among others would climb to positions of power. All of this — and more — undermined what could have been a good pandemic response if messaging had been consistent, uniform, and science-based and delivered mainly by trained public health leaders. Instead, our eagerness to chase attention undermined these efforts while helping to make MAHA and empowering the very people who attacked Anthony Fauci recently. It’s time to have this uncomfortable conversation — our Fauci reckoning. We can’t make things better if we don’t accept that scientific publishing played a role in public health’s struggles to do right by us during a pandemic, in Fauci’s woes during that time and subsequently, and in society’s science-addressable problems ever since. We end on a more cheerful note with our “Discoveries of the Week.” Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Amazon Music/Audible Subscribe on YouTube Music provided by Provoke the Truth — https://provokethetruth.net/

  3. Aug 7

    August 7, 2026 — Interview with Colette Delawalla

    Colette Delawalla is the Founder and CEO of Stand Up for Science (SUFS), an organization that has been at the heart of our national — and now international — defense of independent science as an independent truth-seeking pursuit. With the organization recently notching a win by getting the proposed OMB funding rules — which would have given political appointees discretion over spending decisions, among other affronts — potentially delayed, Colette and her team are now working to ensure these proposals are shut down entirely while activating a larger coalition to reinvent science in ways that will auger well for the future. But we get to let her explain . . . You can donate and support SUFS in many ways. They and others are fighting the good fight. We are extremely grateful that Colette took the time to speak with us. Along with Beth Jacobs, who we interviewed last December, and many others, science is being defended by some great people and well-aligned teams. Please do your part whenever you can! We also share our “Discoveries of the Week.” Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Amazon Music/Audible Subscribe on YouTube Music provided by Provoke the Truth — https://provokethetruth.net/

  4. Aug 5

    August 5, 2006 — Shopify Your Pseudoscience

    OA publishing and social media gave pseudoscience information a business model, but how do those people actually sell and fulfill products? The media keep missing this story, focusing on the products and not the businesses, as we found with a recent WIRED story about “natural” alternatives to Adderall. It’s not that they’re pushing these as much as how easily they’re able to push them in the first place. Shopify is a central operator, with templates, stock photos, profitability calculators, e-commerce, and fulfillment services. Just pick your poison, so to speak, and watch the money start to flow. The family behind Shopify, based in Canada, is also trying to build a media empire called True North. And, since their politics tilt to the right, it’s no surprise their stock price also responds to the political winds of their most lucrative market, the US. From “slopfluencer” grandmas to AI monks, it seems no taboo is off-limits when it comes to scamming people. There are retail competitors, including Amazon and TikTok, but one in particular seems focused on undercutting Shopify — another platform that feels even griftier called Swell. We’ll walk you through what we’ve found. It’s not definitive, and we can only speculate about some things, but it’s worth knowing about. Of course, we share our “Discoveries of the Week.” Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Amazon Music/Audible Subscribe on YouTube Music provided by Provoke the Truth — https://provokethetruth.net/

  5. Jul 29

    July 29, 2026 — Tales From the Bookstores

    We’re back from our first signings, and we have a few stories to share. The signings occurred prior to the book’s official publication date, creating some extra interest but also some challenges the bookstores helped us navigate. Overall, it was a great experience, getting better and better as we settled in and got used to the format. The people we met were all fantastic and interesting. The stores we visited (and our helpful hosts): Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA: Tuesday, July 21st Host: Taylor Jabberwocky Books in Newburyport, MA: Friday, July 24th Hosts: Shauna, Grace, and Sue (and Chaucer) Northshire Books in Manchester, VT: Saturday, July 25th Host: Kendall In addition to some highlights from the signings, we also discuss recent and upcoming podcast interviews, and why we’re excited for people to finally read our book. Finally, we share our “Discoveries of the Week.” Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Amazon Music/Audible Subscribe on YouTube Music provided by Provoke the Truth — https://provokethetruth.net/

  6. Jul 8

    July 8, 2026 — Eugenics: Our Interview with Anita Chan Revisited

    In 2025, Anita Say Chan’s book, Predatory Data: Eugenics in Big Tech and Our Fight for an Independent Future, was published by the University of California Press. This led to a review here, and we became immediate fans of her insights and research trajectory. We also conducted an email interview with Chan back in June 2025, before we were any good at podcasting. That interview is absolutely riveting, with dozens of insights that will give you pause. Then, in September 2025, we had the chance to do a podcast interview with Chan, where we discussed: the path from Big Data to eugenics to the surveillance economy the role academia has played in enabling much of this our lurch toward tech-led authoritarianism our confusion of metrics with merit Big Tech’s monoculture and paranoia It’s a great interview. Given renewed attention on both “soft eugenics” and eugenics in scientific publications — preprints and otherwise — we thought it would be a good idea to revisit this. We’d also like to mention a recent paper by Helen Burn about Galton and the history of eugenics in statistics and at University College London (UCL). Chan references the history, as well. Discoveries of the Week (also revisited) Sniffing out the platypus [video] Subscribe today Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Amazon Music/Audible Subscribe on YouTube Music provided by Provoke the Truth — https://provokethetruth.net/

  7. Jul 1

    July 1, 2026 — Book Time Approacheth

    We’re finally in the long-awaited tunnel to people buying and reading our book. It seems like forever, yet the book also strikes us as more relevant than ever. As with most things set into motion, the path has contained some surprises. One was that the initial publication date (July 21st) was pushed back to August 4th due to supply chain issues. However, three book signings had already been scheduled, so the publisher has arranged for books to be available early at these pre-publication signings: Porter Square Books in Cambridge, July 21st — more information/RSVP Jabberwocky Books in Newburyport, July 24th — more information/RSVP Northshire Books in Manchester, VT, July 25th — more information/RSVP This week, we discuss having a “platform” for the book, recording podcast interviews, drafting potential op-eds, dealing with reviews and early feedback, and some fun experiences we’ve already had. We also discuss a mental challenge that sneaked up on us — so much time has passed and so much has changed since we put pens down, we have to become comfortable about talking about the book as if it’s a new thing, when for us it’s more than a year or two old. We also share our “Discoveries of the Week.” Link to Kent’s discovery about frogs. PNAS paper discussed. Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Amazon Music/Audible Subscribe on YouTube Music provided by Provoke the Truth — https://provokethetruth.net/

  8. Jun 18

    June 18, 2026 — Let’s Talk Impact Factor

    Quantification as proxy for qualification of scientific and academic publications has been around for a very long time.  Today, we touch a little on the history of bibliometrics and scientometrics, but not as much as in the chapter in our book, where we go into the metrics of it all over the last 30 years. Griping about the JIF has been going on for decades. “Responsible use” or “don’t count it” per DORA “should” statements, etc., and to no avail because in the end it is a commercial product that influences careers, university rankings, and provides fodder for profit-driven publishers all over the world. Constraints on publication made it a reliable measure of centrality in a community. Disrupting constraints on publication via cascading portfolios, pop-up journals, special issues, AI slop, and preprints has compromised the JIF. Researchers no longer recognize lists of high impact journals in their fields. Clarivate has not addressed in their marketing copy how their 2026 product accounts for what is actually happening in scientific publishing today. They highlight “transparency,” “publisher-neutral,” “6th decade of trust,” and “responsible use,” but the reality is that what they are selling includes fake citations, fake papers, real citations to fake papers, real papers citing fake papers, paid-for authorships, author appropriations, journals that have gone hybrid or OA getting rankings boosts because they are easier to be cited, including by AI, etc.  What’s different today, even moreso than a year ago, is that the tricks and schemes to use scientific papers as currency for various reasons are known, and turbo-charged by AI. We’ll be talking more about this in the coming months. But we wanted for now to have a frank conversation about the JIF during “announcements week.” It’s our effort to make you a little more aware of what’s going on in the trust marker and metrics space from our point of view. Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Amazon Music/Audible Subscribe on YouTube Music provided by Provoke the Truth — https://provokethetruth.net/

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About

From the authors of the forthcoming book ”How the Internet Disrupted Science” comes this view of science and society from where the action is — the scientific claims and publishing space. Hosted by Kent Anderson and Joy Moore, listeners receive analyses of current events, updates about the book, and opinions on various topics of interest. Book pre-sales available now. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/How-the-Internet-Disrupted-Science/Kent-Anderson/9781493094400

Information

  • Creator
    Caldera Information Solutions LLC
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    57
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The DISRUPTED SCIENCE Podcast

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