The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott

Bob McDonald on the Energy Transition

This episode is a special treat, not only for listeners, but also for me.  I will be talking to a popular Canadian media icon and long time host of CBC’s Quirk’s & Quarks show, science journalist Bob McDonald. We will be talking about his new book The Future is Now: Solving the Climate Crisis with Today’s Technologies. In the book, Bob brings an upbeat we can do it message to a world in need of hope.
BOB McDONALD has been the host of CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks for over 30 years. He is a regular science commentator on CBC's News and a science correspondent for CBC TV’s The National. His previous book, Measuring the Earth with a Stick was shortlisted for the Canadian Science Writers Association Book Award. He has been honoured with the 2001 Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; the 2002 Sandford Fleming Medal from The Royal Canadian Institute; and the 2005 McNeil Medal for the Public Awareness of Science from the Royal Society of Canada. In 2011, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. His recent book, THE FUTURE IS NOW: Solving the Climate Crisis with Today's Technologies is a national bestseller.
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Bolstering your cognitive immunity with Dr. Andy Norman

On this episode I have a returning guest, Dr. Andy Norman, who’s group CIRCE is taking on a new challenge to fight the world’s disinformation problem.  As an ally of The Rational View, Andy’s group of dedicated experts is looking for ways to boost society’s mental immunity against parasitic memes and the ever growing threat of misinformation.
Returning guest Andy Norman is the award-winning author of Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think. His work has appeared in Scientific American, Psychology Today, Psychiatric Times, Skeptic, Free Inquiry, and The Humanist. He has appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, NPR, and The BBC’s Naked Scientist. His research illuminates the evolutionary origins of human reasoning, the norms that make dialogue fruitful, and the workings of the mind’s immune system. He champions the emerging science of mental immunity as the antidote to disinformation, propaganda, hate, and division. He is the founder of the Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative (CIRCE), a global think-tank leading the effort to inoculate humanity against cognitive contagion.
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A summary of what I’ve learned on nutrition and health

This episode summarizes my investigations to date on nutrition and health. I will share what I have learned and what I remain skeptical about. In other podcast news I just had a major milestone for The Rational View! We broke 100,000 downloads!  Thank you for continuing to listen and download, and helping us to get exposure.
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Beth McDaniel’s paint captures carbon

In this episode I am interviewing an entrepreneur who is trying to play a big part in slowing the acceleration of climate change. She is co-founder of an Xprize team trying to capture CO2 from the air. Long story short their technology claims to be able to remove massive amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and convert it into hydrogen, biochar, and other environmentally friendly solutions.
Beth McDaniel, JD is co-founder and President of the award-winning paint and coatings company, Reactive Surfaces where she also serves as legal counsel. She is also a partner in McDaniel and Associates, a law firm specializing in patent and trade secret law. As a serial entrepreneur, she has guided this bleeding-edge innovation company, operating in the paint and coatings and specialty chemicals industries, for the past 15 years. She has served in leadership roles for numerous organizations, including serving as a Pathways to Peace Fellow, a premier social justice organization. Her work in the area of human rights and social justice brings a level of experience and intention to ensure that any climate solution has at its heart environmental justice and enhancement of human rights and personal livelihood. She brings the same dedication to her family, including her two children and grandchildren.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #carboncapture #algae #paint

Dr. Joel Fuhrman says we can eat our way to better health

In this episode I am continuing my investigations into the evidence linking nutrition and health. What does the science say? My previous guest, Dr. Valter Longo discussed the data on intermittent fasting and cellular regeneration. I’ve also spoken with Dr. Traci Mann regarding the observation that fad diets don’t work. Today I’m going to be interviewing another dietary guru who believes that his diet can extend lifespan and reverse the course of diseases. 
 
Joel Fuhrman, M.D. is a board-certified family physician, seven-time New York Times best-selling author and internationally recognized expert on nutrition and natural healing. He specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional methods. Dr Fuhrman is the President of the Nutritional Research Foundation and on the faculty of Northern Arizona University, Health Sciences division. He coined the term “Nutritarian” to describe a nutrient-dense eating style, designed to prevent cancer, slow aging, and extend lifespan. For over 30 years, Dr. Fuhrman has shown that it is possible to achieve sustainable weight loss and reverse heart disease, diabetes and many other illnesses using smart nutrition. In his medical practice, and through his books and television specials, he continues to bring this life-saving message to hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
 
Dr. Fuhrman also operates the Eat To Live Retreat in San Diego. At this residential facility, people from all over the world come to stay for 1-3 months weeks to recover from conditions ranging from cardiovascular disease to autoimmune disease, food addiction and more. They also gain the skills and knowledge to make these changes permanent when they leave the retreat. 
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#TheRationalView #podcast #nutritarian #diet #health #nutrition #disease #diabetes #food

Dr. Valter Longo Advocates Intermittent Fasting to Live Longer

In this episode I’m continuing my investigations into the science of nutrition and health. Today I’m looking at the effect that diet has on longevity. We know that eating poorly can kill you in any number of ways, but is there a fountain of youth out there? Can we extend lifespan merely by choosing the right foods?  My guest today will have something to say on this topic.
 
Dr. Valter Longo has thirty years of experience in the field of longevity and healthy eating. He is the Director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California – Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Los Angeles, and the Director of the Longevity and Cancer Program at the The Italian Foundation for Cancer Research Institute of Molecular Oncology in Milan, Italy. He is the author of the best seller “The Longevity Diet” and the 2 Italian books “Alla tavola della longevità” (“At the Table of Longevity”), and “La longevità inizia da bambini” (“Longevity Begins in Childhood”). Professor Longo is also the scientific director of the Create Cures Foundation and the Valter Longo Foundation. In 2018, TIME Magazine named Professor Longo as one of the 50 most influential people in health care for his research on fasting-mimicking diets as a way to improve health and prevent diseases.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #fasting #health #longevity #ProLon

Science Communication in a Crisis with Dr. Christopher Reddy

In this episode I am returning to a core topic to The Rational View, the communication of science. My guest has experience communicating science to the public during environmental crises, and has shared his experience and advice for other scientists in a newly published book. What are the mistakes that scientists make in outreach, and how can we do a better job without endangering our careers?
Christopher Reddy is a leader in the study of marine pollution and the development of environmentally friendly industrial chemicals. A senior scientist in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry at Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution and faculty member of the MIT/WHOI joint program in oceanography, Reddy has led numerous field operations along coastlines, in the open ocean, and at the bottom of the sea to conduct transformative research that crosses disciplines and guides policy decisions worldwide. As an author, Dr. Reddy has recently published ‘Science Communication in a Crisis’
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Dr. Antonio Cabrales on the AI revolution and UBI

I have been recently exploring the impacts of what I call the AI revolution we are currently experiencing surrounding the release of ChatGPT and its rapidly expanding progeny.  Today I want to explore the economic impacts of ChatGPT gobbling up white collar jobs the same way that robotics has devastated blue collar jobs and salaries. I originally discussed this issue in one of my first podcasts on "Income Inequality: We botched it", where I point out that blue collar workers are no longer able to afford the same lifestyle of previous generations due to robotics taking over their jobs and the proceeds being gobbled up by business owners.  We are on track for another crash unless we smarten up and fix the system.  To explore the impacts of this revolution I have a distinguished economist who has recently published in Nature, a paper called Robots, Labor Markets and Universal Basic Income.
Antonio Cabrales has a Ph.D. in Economics from University of California, San Diego, and is a professor at Universidad Carlos III. He has been a professor at University College London, and at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He is Executive Vice President of the European Economic Association, fellow of the Econometric Society, former President of the Spanish Economic Association and recipient of the King Rei Jaume I prize in Economics 2021. He has worked in a wide range of topics: game theory, the economics of networks, mechanism design, economics of education, experimental and behavioral economics. He is associate editor of the Journal of Economic Theory and has edited and published in several economic journals and Physical Review Letters.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #AI #artificialintelligence #UBI #universalbasicincome #jobs #economics

Can we afford [not] to have Universal Basic Income? (re-release)

I think this episode is very pertinent and deserves to be re-released now that we are starting to experience what seems to be a revolution in artificial intelligence.  The job market is about to be shaken up considerably.  I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!
The global economy is in a shambles due to CoVid-19 and millions of workers are suffering with no safety net.  The last time the economy tanked like this in 2008 it was due to unregulated greed run amok in the mortgage financing industry. That time, Investment Bankers got a juicy handout to the tune of several trillion dollars approved within hours of the crash. Unemployed Canadian workers have received $2,000 per month since March. In the US today, however, desperate folks who have lost their jobs and health care have received a one-time cheque of $1,200.  This leaves many people calling for a re-assessment of Universal Basic Income. Can our modern economy afford to provide a minimum standard of living to the poor? Will it disincentivize labour? What are the pros and cons?
On this episode I interview Mr. Floyd Marinescu to ask tough questions about Universal Basic Income. Mr. Marinescu is CEO and co-founder of C4Media which provides software development news and learning events serving 1.2M online on InfoQ.com, and 8000 attendees annually via QCon conferences in SF, NY, London, Beijing, Shanghai, and Sao Paulo.  Floyd is an angel investor in over a dozen startups, and has built teams and businesses in the US, Canada, China, Brazil, Europe.  Floyd is also a CEO activist for universal basic income. He is the founder of CEOs for Basic Income and UBI Works.  Go to https://UBIWorks.ca for more info.
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#therationalview #newpodcast #universalbasicincome #basicincome #ubi #automation #covid #socialism #capitalism #economy #income #evidencebased

The alcohol controversy

In this episode I demonstrate my research process by focusing on some controversy that came to light following my interview of Dr. Peter Butt, chairman of the group responsible for Canada's new tightened guidelines on healthy drinking.
The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR) has just published a stinging critique of the newly released Canadian guidance on Alcohol and Health. In the critique, Forum chair R. Curtis Ellison stated: “I am appalled by the conclusions of the authors of this paper.  They present a pseudo-scientific amalgamation of selected studies of low scientific validity that fit their preconceived notions and ignore many high-quality studies whose results may not support their own views”.  This was widely publicized in the National Post in an article by Chris Selley entitled “A scorching new critique of Canada’s alcohol guidelines’. I want to believe them, so I need to be careful about my confirmation bias.
What’s the truth and how do we find out?
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#TheRationalView #podcast #alcohol #health #science #controversy #J-curve #heart #cancer