Is science political? - with Kevin Bird

American science has been under attack since this Trump administration began. Tens of thousands of scientists and federal workers have lost their jobs and the effects are starting to permeate through society. This week I have Dr. Kevin Bird on to explain the events of the last 3 months, how science is funded in the United States, why it is being attacked so aggressively, and the ideologies behind these attacks. He also gives us a history lesson on movements of the past that sought to protect the scientific enterprise. It is really important to protect science. Publicly-funded research benefits us all! (Also, sorry for the choppy editing on this episode; I wanted to get this one out quickly!)

Kevin is a NSF Plant Genome Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UC Davis studying the evolutionary impact of structural variation in plant genomes. He also researches scientific racism and posts lots of interesting stuff on his Bluesky account. You can also learn more about his work on his website or Google Scholar page.

Here are some articles Kevin recommends:

1. Brand new article about the NSF freeze
2. Article about the impacts on US science
3. Article about US brain drain
4. USDA and food security
5. US-AID labs that were cut
6. Article on the admin's resegregationism and Project 2025
7. Article about TESCREAL
8. Article about neoreaction
9. Radical science movements from the past

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The views and opinions expressed on this program are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of any institution or funding agency.