Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Misinformation abounds these days, but perhaps the most pernicious and dangerous falsehood is that vaccines pose a widespread risk.

As the most hoped-for vaccine in history nears, we look at the roots and the new blossoms of the anti-vaxxer movement.

And when you think of biker gangs, you probably think of wide-open American roads,

long handlebars, and long-handlebar mustaches.

But the biker gang scene has long been established in northern Europe,

and lately, things are getting ugly.

But first...

Dozens of large blazes are burning in Washington, Oregon, and California, many

fueled by low humidity and soaring temperatures.

Several neighborhoods were reduced to ash.

Some residents who escaped were forced to drive through roaring flames. I was wondering what time it was, and then I looked outside and it looked

like doomsday. America's western states are fighting nearly 100 wildfires that have killed

at least 15 people and raised entire

towns. The sheer scale of some of these blazes is hard to fathom, even seen from space

satellite images. This year's fire season has once again come early. For Americans fleeing

infernoes, climate change seems all too real.

I quite literally have no patience for climate change deniers. You may not believe it intellectually,

but your own eyes, your own experiences tell a different story, particularly out here in the west coast

of the United States.

But that's only part of the story behind the current devastation.

...