Special Episode: Adam Kucharski & Proof
This Podcast Will Kill You
Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts
4.8 • 17.7K Ratings
🗓️ 21 April 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
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Summary
Why do we believe what we believe? Is what we believe the truth? How can we convince others of our beliefs? If you’ve ever found yourself pondering these questions, you know that the answers are rarely clear-cut. We need to form beliefs in order to navigate the world, but how skilled are we at evaluating evidence for those beliefs or weighing new data that contradicts them? In this week’s TPWKY book club episode, Adam Kucharski, Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine joins me to discuss latest book, Proof: The Art and Science of Certainty. With this book, Dr. Kucharski presents a compelling and thoughtful examination of the concept of proof, delving into topics ranging from the justice system (what’s a reasonable doubt?) to infectious disease, clinical design to the founding of this country. And he leaves us with a powerful lesson: what convinced you of something might not convince someone else. Tune in for a fascinating conversation!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is exactly right. |
| 0:05.0 | This is exactly right. The |
| 0:23.6 | The Hi, I'm Erin Welsh, and this is this Podcast Will Kill You. You're tuning in to the latest |
| 0:56.5 | episode of the TPWKY Book Club, where I chat with authors of popular science and medicine |
| 1:02.5 | books about their latest work. Since starting this series a few years ago, I've gotten to |
| 1:07.8 | cover some amazing books, and I appreciate so many of you reaching out with your |
| 1:12.6 | suggestions for books to feature. Keep those recommendations coming, please. And if you'd like to take a look |
| 1:18.4 | at the full list of books that we've covered in this series, as well as get a sneak peek at ones that are |
| 1:23.3 | coming up in future episodes, head on over to our bookshop.org affiliate page, which you can find |
| 1:29.0 | on our website, this podcast will kill you.com, under the extras tab. On the bookshop page, you'll find |
| 1:35.0 | several podcast-related lists, including one for this book club and the TPWKY Kids Book Club, which, |
| 1:42.4 | if you're not following us on social media, you absolutely should be |
| 1:45.8 | because Aaron Updike has been putting together videos reviewing children's books. It is such a |
| 1:50.9 | great resource for sciencey kids' books for all ages. And if you want to share your thoughts on these |
| 1:56.3 | episodes, make topic suggestions, submit a first-hand account, you can get in touch with us using the contact us form on our website. |
| 2:03.9 | Two last things before moving on to the book of the week. |
| 2:07.0 | And that is to please rate, review, and subscribe. |
| 2:09.6 | It really does help us out. |
| 2:11.4 | And second, you can now find full video versions of most of our newest episodes on YouTube. |
| 2:16.7 | Make sure you're subscribed |
| 2:17.7 | to the Exactly Right Media YouTube channel so you never miss a new episode drop. |
| 2:23.4 | Belief is a powerful force. |
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