On the first day of Christmas my true love said to me

Rip up the chariot

Forget about the telly

Let's play scratch cards

Coins out to scratching

Everybody laughing better not be cheating

And the chance to win a pound or three

Add some play to Christmas

With scratch cards from the National Lottery. Please gift

responsibly, rules and procedures apply. Players and gifters must be 18 or over. And the chance to win a pound or three.

In the past two episodes, I've explored a myriad of links between science and politics, and the fact of the matter

is that from individual scientists up to entire governments, politics shapes and moves research.

But it would be disingenuous to suggest that this doesn't cause problems, especially when you

throw in the media, special interest groups, hearsay, and gossip.

After all, anything can get twisted in the rumor mill.

So how should we talk about science?

Science likes to claim its value-free, but it's not.

Actually, good politics is more important than good science.

We screwed this up, right? We the director of the night science journalism program at MIT.

Science journalists act as one of the most direct links between researchers and the rest of society.

And after reporting on science

for over 30 years, Deborah is under no illusions that science and politics are separate.

...