It's Monday, August 28th, 2017, and you're listening to Inquiring Minds. I'm Indra Viscontas.

We're going to take next week off for Labor Day, and then Kishore Hari will be back with me in September.

Each week we bring you a new in-depth exploration of the space where science, politics, and society collide.

We endeavor to find out what's true, what's left to discover,

and why it all matters. You can find us online at inquiring. Show, on Twitter, at Inquiring Show,

and on Facebook. And you can subscribe to the show on iTunes or any other podcasting app.

We find ourselves at the end of August, in the dog days of summer, in a month that probably should have been a banner month for science, at least in the U.S., with a total eclipse, and a hurricane that's on track to be one of the costliest disasters ever in the history of the country. And yet, science hasn't hijacked the headlines as much as we would like. In addition to

these major environmental events, we also have a wild political ride that we've all been on for

what feels like many months. So this week, instead of interviewing a scientist, I decided to turn to an artist.

To see, if, where scientists have trouble being heard, is there a way that artists can get

their message across more effectively?

To that end, I turned to Jonathan Lynn, who has directed 10 feature films, including the cult classic clue.

He also wrote the screenplay, and Nuns on the Run, which is one of my favorite movies, my cousin Vinny, and many more.

In television, Jonathan's writing critics include dozens of episodes of various comedy series, but he's best known for the phenomenally successful multi-award

winning BBC series Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister, which was co-written and created with Anthony

Jay. He's also authored bestselling books and has worked in the theater, including both

directing and writing plays, and he's won numerous awards for his work. And Jonathan's work

isn't just limited to the arts.

His work has influenced lawyers and governments. And his latest book, Samaritans, tackles health care.

And full disclosure, Jonathan is not only one of my dearest friends, but also we have worked

together in the past. Over the past few years, Jonathan has been shocked by how health care is run in the U.S.

And of course, this is a topic that is very much in the minds of many Americans today.

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