Mini-Decoding: Huberman on the Vaccine-Autism Controversy

Decoding the Gurus

Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne

Science, Leisure, Social Sciences, Society & Culture

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 December 2023

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Andrew Huberman, Stanford academic and host of a science-themed podcast, recently released an episode on Autism with guest Dr. Karen Parker. Considering the prevalence of misinformation about vaccines and autism and this episode being promoted as providing an overview of the topic, we were interested to see how the topic would be covered. In part, this interest was because of Huberman's strategic choice to avoid any discussion, let alone any recommendation, of COVID vaccines during the pandemic. The topic came up 2 hours and 43 minutes into the episode and lasted for around 10 minutes.

What we found was interesting and we think deserving of a mini-decoding. What you will not find here is any endorsement of lurid anti-vax claims or cheers for Andrew Wakefield. Indeed, Huberman notes that Wakefield's research was debunked, while his guest Dr. Parker explains the consensus view amongst researchers that there is no evidence of a link. What you will find: Huberman readily engaging in ‘both sides’ hedging: maybe Wakefield’s research helped locate real issues with preservatives, maybe there are too many childhood vaccines (some clinicians 'in private' recommend none), maybe new data will come out later that reveals a link between autism and vaccines. There certainly are a lot of questions and could it be that 'cancel culture' is the real problem here rather than the existence of a very influential anti-vaccine movement?

Let's just say, when you pair this with Huberman's comments on the potential dangers of Bluetooth headphones/sunscreen, the potential benefits for negative ion bathing and grounding, the lab leak origins of COVID, endorsement of AG1 and a host of other supplements, and fawning over figures like RFK Jnr and Joe Rogan... we have some questions of our own.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The Oh, Hello, welcome to Decoding the Guru's, it's the podcast, where an anthropologist and a psychologist
0:29.8	listen to the greatest minds the world has to offer and we try to understand what they're talking about.
0:34.8	I'm Matt Brown with me is Chris Kavanaugh and on this fine sweltering afternoon in Australia,
0:41.4	I'm ready to do a mini- with you Chris how are you feeling?
0:45.0	I'm doing all right I'm doing good. I'm relatively energized it's the afternoon
0:52.0	but I'm not down yet and it's not sweltering here, but it's also not public freezing. So we're in the okay zone in between.
1:02.0	Yeah, I'm just, I was just in the middle of reviewing a paper for a journal when you called me on the red DTT phone and I read the paper. it's fine, it's good.
1:13.6	I just want to write in the reviewer comments.
1:16.0	It's fine.
1:17.3	I don't mind.
1:18.3	I think you can't do that.
1:19.3	You can't do that. See the life, the demands on an academic's time,
1:22.4	they never cease.
1:24.0	Be it, the code this piece of content,
1:28.0	write a review for this.
1:30.0	Everyone wants my opinion on stuff.
1:32.0	Give George Soros a payment invoice or Eco Health Alliance,
1:38.0	whatever it is you need to do to get through the day.
1:41.0	But what we're here for today math is a mini decoding of someone who's
1:49.1	becoming a podcast favorite. Doctor.
1:53.0	Yours, anyway.
1:54.0	Well, yeah.
	...

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