Science Counterpunch

About Science Counterpunch

Welcome to Science Counterpunch, a short, punchy brand for a YouTube‑first podcast that combines hard evidence, frontline scientist testimony, and rapid rebuttal clips to expose anti‑science influencers and actors while centering science and experts who’ve been targeted. www.protagonist-science.com (https://www.protagonist-science.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Philipp Markolin, Sam Gregson

Category

comedy · science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

15 Mar 2024

Latest episode

3 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

26 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   3 Oct 2026

   The real biosecurity threat /w Gigi Kwik Gronvall

   Biosafety rarely ends at the lab door, and biosecurity coverage gives us scary headlines but wrong perceptions. Right now, bird flu is spreading through a Utah mink farm, while officials scramble without a response plan. Meanwhile, Washington is busy fighting boogeyman of the last pandemic’s origin story, turning it into vindictive research bans, cancelled funding and vaccine contracts, and scientists who can no longer do the work that keeps us safe. This week on Science Counterpunch, we’re joined by Gigi Kwik Gronvall, an immunologist, Fort Detrick veteran researcher and professor at the Johns Hopkins University who recently testified before Congress on biotech innovation and biosecurity, for a clear-eyed look at what biosecurity really means and how policy by vibes leaves us less safe. We unpack the difference between scary stories and real risks, why gutting scientific capacity is a security threat in itself, and what an evidence-based defense against the next pandemic should look like. We talk about: * biosafety vs. biosecurity—what they mean, and why they matter far beyond the lab * fiction vs. reality: what thrillers like Biological War get right, and why real outbreaks rarely start with a villain * how the lab-leak narrative became a funding policy—and what vague gain-of-function bans cost us in the race against bird flu * smart rules vs. vibes rules for lab safety, AI biothreats, and apocalyptic narratives shaping public perceptions * what governments, institutions, and listeners can do now to build pandemic preparedness This isn’t about being for or against scary biosecurity science. It’s about keeping evidence, and reality, in charge — before the next outbreak decides how bad it gets. Science Counterpunch is a punchy YouTube-first podcast that exists to defend the Enlightenment in an age of information warfare. We expose merchants of doubt, amplify experts under attack, and arm you with the tools to spot anti-science rhetoric before it spreads. Evidence matters. Reason isn’t optional. Let’s counterpunch. Push back on propaganda and help amplify the voices of scientists under attack - share this episode. Find the full playlist of Science Counterpunch here (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnzdgklfCMnJ6hJzhD8zinppvtb3uN4no). Follow, like and subscribe to Sam´s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@BadBoyofScience) to watch the video recording and not miss any upcoming episode. Any thoughts and feedback? Let us know in the comments! Subscribe for free to receive updates on my work and join the fight for an evidence-based worldview. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.protagonist-science.com (https://www.protagonist-science.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   3 Jul 2026

   The Science Counterpunch Insights Library

   I´m not going to lie. It often feels impossible to keep on top of things these days, between career, raising two young kids, health challenges and just trying to function, the day has few hours left to think about what I can do to make a difference in public discourse, or just as a citizen with a democratic inclination to fight rising authoritarianism and anti-science grifters. I know many readers here are similarily exhausted; so this is not to complain but to show that maybe there are small things we can do here and there. For example, I recently created an interactive Covid-19 origins timeline (https://www.lab-leak-fever.com/interactive-timeline) based on the research in my book with the help of AI tools. It´s not perfect, but it is a lot more accessible than a 500 page book. I prototyped (or vibe-coded) the html for the timeline up in a few hours using Claude code, because I thought this is a useful thing to have and a bounded application of AI I can stand behind. (I also wrote a new AI use policy for my blog here (https://www.protagonist-science.com/p/ai-policy)) Because of this experiment, I got a bit more ambitious to try to create a useful resource from our Science Counterpunch interviews (https://www.protagonist-science.com/podcast). You can watch the live video explainer on top, and you can find the library here (https://www.lab-leak-fever.com/science-counterpunch-library). Sharing is caring? What the Science Counterpunch library actually is I went back through every transcript from all ten episodes and used AI to summarize and create ultimately 305 individual insight cards. Every card is attributed by name, and 169 of them carry a direct, timestamped link back to the exact second in the original video where the guest said it to make sure context can be re-established. The more interesting part of this library is what it makes visible, which is that there are a lot of issues, but also a lot of proposed solutions. Overall, our guests had proposed up 90+ solutions (of course with various degree of overlaps or anecdotal touch) I believe that by making the problem and solution space parsable, at a glance, maybe it opens a way to find some nuggets of insights for people who do not have the time to listen to 10+ hours of podcast inverviews and then do the pattern-analysis on top of it themselves. But check for yourself. (https://www.lab-leak-fever.com/science-counterpunch-library) The library has many ways to explore the insights: The Insight Card Library — search and filter across all ten episodes and according to category (e.g solutions). This is to really explore freely. You can also type in a name, a tactic, a keyword; and every guest who touched upon it. The Problem → Solution Map — I let AI group every problem-type card into 7 clusters and every solution-type card into 7 clusters, this is not perfect but a useful way to parse the problem and solution space. The Episode × Category Heatmap — which episodes lean hardest into which kind of content. Episode 6 for example, with Gregg Gonsalves, is almost entirely focused on actism solutions. That is not a coincidence; that is who Gregg is and what fights he has actually been in. The Recurring Concepts Map — just a different way to show where guests overlapped (e.g many had used RFKjr as a case example of a bad actors with real-world consequences) It’s a tool. It’s also just fun to poke around in I don’t want to hide the second half of this. Yes, the library exists to make tactics, systemic problems, and solutions legible fast for people with little time and much exhaustion. But it’s also just enjoyable to click through — to follow a thread from a problem cluster to the solutions guests actually proposed for it, to go down a rabbit hole starting from one guest’s name and end up somewhere you didn’t plan on. I built it to be explored (https://www.lab-leak-fever.com/science-counterpunch-library), not learned. Participatory engagement for people looking for inspiration in the fight against anti-science. Maybe that is not your cup of tea. Either way, this exists now. Thanks for reading Protagonist Science! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.protagonist-science.com (https://www.protagonist-science.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   24 Apr 2026

   Cool worlds against cosmic misrepresentations /w David Kipping

   Is a cosmic rock truly an alien spaceship that the government does not want you to know about? Misrepresentations of scientific inquiry or hypotheses often aren’t an accident, but a structural by‑product of how curiosity, media incentives, and speculation collide. Space science, especially the search for alien life, sits at the perfect fault line: high uncertainty, high awe, and enormous public attention. The result is a constant churn of overreach, misinterpretation, and claims that outrun the evidence. This week on Science Counterpunch, we’re joined by astrophysicist David Kipping—director of the Cool Worlds Lab at Columbia University and creator of the Cool Worlds channel—to examine how serious science pushes back. We unpack why astronomy and astrobiology attract so much distortion, how careful speculation differs from storytelling dressed up as science, and what it means to communicate uncertainty without killing curiosity. We talk about: * why space and alien life grab the public imagination—and why that makes audiences vulnerable to grifters * the difference between compelling speculation and testable scientific hypotheses * working with institutions like NASA, and where institutional communication succeeds or fails * the risks and rewards of engaging massive platforms that don’t consistently respect scientific limits * what scientists, creators, and audiences can do better or differently to stop misrepresentation before it hardens into belief Being careful and evidence-driven isn’t about shutting down wonder or fun speculations. It’s about protecting them—by keeping evidence in charge. Science Counterpunch is a punchy YouTube-first podcast that exists to defend the Enlightenment in an age of information warfare. We expose merchants of doubt, amplify experts under attack, and arm you with the tools to spot anti-science rhetoric before it spreads. Evidence matters. Reason isn’t optional. Let’s counterpunch. Push back on disinformation and help amplify the voices of scientists under attack - share this episode. Find the full playlist of Science Counterpunch here (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnzdgklfCMnJ6hJzhD8zinppvtb3uN4no). Follow, like and subscribe to Sam´s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@BadBoyofScience) to watch the video recording and not miss any upcoming episode. Any thoughts and feedback? Let us know in the comments! Subscribe for free to receive updates on my work and join the fight for an evidence-based worldview. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.protagonist-science.com (https://www.protagonist-science.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.