The Gatekeeper

Radiolab

WNYC Studios

Science, Natural Sciences, History, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.6 • 43.5K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2022

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, Reporter Peter Smith and Senior Producer Matt Kielty tell the story of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that set the standard for scientific expertise in a courtroom, i.e., whether an expert can testify in a lawsuit. They also tell the story of the Daubert family — yes, the Dauberts of “Daubert v Merrell Dow” — whose win before the nine justices translated into a deeper loss.

Special thanks to Leah Litman, Rachel Rebouche, Jennifer Mnookin, David Savitz, Brooke Borel, and Tom Zeller Jr.

Credits: Reporting by Peter Andrey Smith. Produced by Matt Kielty. Reporting and production assistance from Sarah Qari. Fact-checking by Natalie A. Middleton. Editing by Pat Walters. Sound Design by Matt Kielty. Mixing help from Arianne Wack.

Citations: If you're interested in reading more from Peter Smith, check out his work over at Undark.org

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wait, you're listening to Radio Lab from WNYC.
0:19.4	Alright, three, two, one.
0:21.4	Hey, I'm Lula Miller.
0:22.8	I'm WattifNasser.
0:23.8	This is Radio Lab.
0:24.8	And today, we have a video.
0:29.8	We have a story.
0:30.8	Jumbo Pepp, PR.
0:31.8	Oh, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we,
0:33.5	from science journalist, Peter Smith.
0:36.5	Okay.
0:37.5	I'm going to, I'm going to switch gears pretty dramatically here because I want to start
0:40.9	with the big case before the Supreme Court this last session.
0:44.0	You will hear argument this morning in case 19, 13, 92, the abortion case, dobs versus Jackson
0:50.4	women's health organization.
0:52.6	Because something happened during the arguments that I think most people probably didn't
0:59.0	notice.
1:00.0	Basically, I would say the lawyer for Mississippi, he's arguing against abortion.
1:07.7	And of course, the Supreme Court has already decided the issue of abortion in two previous
1:11.2	cases.
1:12.2	So they have seen much more calm.
1:13.5	What hasn't been at issue?
	...

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