Hey, it's Flora. Happy Science Saturday. Today we're bringing you a special bonus episode from our friends at the live call-in show, The Middle, hosted by the great Jeremy Hobson. They invited me on last week because they were doing a show about something we love to yak about here on Science Friday, and that is trust in science and how to

restore it. It was a really interesting conversation, and I think you might enjoy it. Here's Jeremy.

The pandemic and the response to it, people telling us to wear masks, stand six feet apart,

get the vaccine. That actually led to a significant drop in trust in science in America, in part because COVID almost instantly became political.

Here is Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis speaking in 2021.

I think it's very important that we say unequivocally, no to lockdowns, no to school closures, no to restrictions, and no mandates.

Florida famously had very few rules during the pandemic and ended up with a death rate that was

actually about the same estates with a lot of rules. That was then. Now the president president of the United States, who, by the way, calls

climate change a hoax, has appointed science skeptics throughout his administration, including

health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's been whittling away at vaccination recommendations

in the United States. And more worrying for scientists, the federal government overall has sought

billions of dollars in cuts to

scientific research so our question to you this hour how can trust in science be restored

joining me this hour flora lictman who is host of public radio science friday flora welcome to the

middle thank you for having me glad to be. People are going to think it's like a

different time of day right now if they're listening to you on this show. I'm very confused personally. Yes. Well, and joining us as well is Priya Natarajan, who is a theoretical astrophysist and chair of the Yale Astronomy Department. Priya, welcome to you. Delighted to join in on this conversation. Well, and let's talk about where we are on trust right now.

Flora, I'll start with you. I'm delighted to join in on this conversation. Well, let's talk about where we are on trust right now.

Flora, I'll start with you.

How much did COVID and the response to covert from politicians who were, you know,

bringing what they were hearing from scientists to the public have to do with the drop in trust in science, do you think?

You know, Jeremy, I don't, I'm going to make a mess of this question right off the bat.

I feel like this is not a tidy story, at least from my vantage point.

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