9 Michael Mann - From Computer Geek to Political Giant Slayer

Inquiring Minds

Science, Society & Culture, Neuroscience, Female Host, Interview, Social Sciences, Critical Thinking

4.4 • 848 Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2013

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On the show this week we talk to climate researcher Michael Mann about how he, as a self-described math and computer nerd working in an esoteric field known as paleoclimatology, wound up front and center in a nationally watched political campaign.His situation traces back to the world famous "hockey stick" graph, originally published by Mann and his colleagues in a 1998 scientific paper, and then prominently displayed by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its 2001 Third Assessment Report. Because of its stark depiction of just how dramatically humans have altered the climate in a relatively short time period, the figure may well be the most controversial chart in history. Not scientifically controversial, mind you: politically controversial.This episode also features a discussion of the myth that left-brained people are logical and right brained people are creative, and the legacy of Carl Sagan and its lessons for today's science wars.Subscribe:itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inquiring-minds/id711675943feeds.feedburner.com/inquiring-mindsSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's Friday, November 15th, and you're listening to Inquiring Minds.
0:05.7	I'm Chris Mooney.
0:06.6	And I'm Indrae Viscontas.
0:08.2	Each week we bring you a new in-depth exploration of the space where science, politics, and society collide.
0:14.1	We endeavor to find out what's true, what's left to discover, and why it all matters.
0:18.3	You can find us online at climatedisk.org, and you can follow us on Twitter at Inquiring
0:23.1	show and on Facebook at slash Inquiring Minds podcast.
0:31.3	So on today's show, we talked to climate researcher Michael Mann, a scientist who went on a pretty unlikely and in some
0:40.1	ways incredible journey from being curiosity driven, just doing his research, what scientists do,
0:46.0	that kind of thing, to getting pulled by overwhelming force into politics and ultimately
0:51.6	campaigning directly against a politician Ken Cuccinelli in the state of
0:55.7	Virginia's very, very high profile gubernatorial race. And it's a pretty amazing story. Here's a
1:01.3	clip of man discussing it. My book is in substantial part is about my journey from, you know, a
1:09.8	science nerd who the last thing I ever wanted to do
1:14.4	was to get involved in politics.
1:16.6	You know, to me, that was anathema.
1:18.6	And how because of my experiences and because of the situation I found myself in, I ultimately
1:24.2	did grow to embrace the role that I can have in sort of informing this debate
1:31.7	that we're having about potentially the most significant challenge that human civilization has
1:36.9	faced. So in some ways, I actually think that Michael Mann is harkening back to what used to be
1:42.3	the role of the scientist, which was, you know, to really
1:45.0	further society and make things better, you know, wasn't so different from politics. And in a lot of
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