War on Science How Politics Dominates the Science Debate with Shawn Otto

Published: May 20, 2017, 12:30 a.m.

b'This episode I invite Shawn Otto to discuss the politics that have creeped into all corners of science. Whether you are talking about climate change, GMOs, Vaccines, or the myriad of other scientific areas, politics are raging. The importance of good science debate will only become ever more critical as the tsunami of new technology and scientific inventions hit us over the next few decades.\\xa0
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Shawn has worked for years to get politicians to focus on and debate the major science issues like climate change, and to base policy decisions\\xa0on evidence, while working to get journalists to do a better job of covering\\xa0these important questions.\\xa0
In 2007, Shawn cofounded ScienceDebate.org and in 2008 he produced the first US presidential science debates between President Barack\\xa0Obama and his opponent, Senator John McCain. In 2012 he did the same thing between Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. ScienceDebate.org became\\xa0the largest political initiative in the history of science, supported by more than 100 major universities, the US National Academies, the AAAS, dozens of Nobel laureates, members of congress, corporate CEOs, most major science organizations,\\xa0leading scientists, and\\xa0creative voices in arts and culture. In 2016, Shawn organized a national effort to get\\xa0presidential candidates to answer 20 questions about science, engineering, tech, health & the environment.
Shawn has spoken\\xa0in several\\xa0countries about\\xa0how to hold science debates, and he educates\\xa0audiences all over about the importance\\xa0of science to democracy and as a force for justice\\u2014and how to identify, expose, and debunk\\xa0science denial and attacks.

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Shawn Otto\'s Official Short Bio:
Otto was awarded the IEEE-USA ("I-Triple-E") National Distinguished Public Service Award for his work elevating science in America\'s national public dialogue. He is cofounder and producer of the US presidential science debates at ScienceDebate.org and the only person to get Donald Trump to answer science questions during his presidential campaign. He is the award-winning author of \\xa0The War on Science, which has been called "a game changer, and probably the most important book you\'ll read this year." He is also an award-winning screenwriter and novelist, best known for writing and co-producing the Academy Award-nominated movie House of Sand and Fog, and the LA Times Book Prize finalist literary crime novel, Sins of Our Fathers. He has advised science debate efforts in many countries and speaks worldwide on the critical role of science, evidence, and objectivity in free societies. He lives in Minnesota with his wife, Rebecca Otto, the Minnesota State Auditor and a 2018 candidate for Governor, in a solar and wind-powered green home he designed and built with his own hands.'