by Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie
A weekly podcast about the latest scientific controversies, with Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie <br/><br/><a href="https://www.thestudiesshowpod.com?utm_medium=podcast">www.thestudiesshowpod.com</a>
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April 29, 2025
<p>The Studies Show LIVE (with special guest Jesse Singal) is next Friday, 9th of May, at Conway Hall in London. Get your tickets right <a target="_blank" href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-studies-show-live-with-jesse-singal-tickets-1295602585209">HERE</a>! Or go to <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/tss_live">bit.ly/tss_live</a>. </p><p>Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. can’t be wrong about literally everything, can he? His latest controversial statement is that he wants to find the “environmental exposure” that has been causing the huge spike in autism rates over the past few decades.</p><p>In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart look into whether there really is an autism epidemic in the first place—and if there isn’t, why the diagnoses might be going up so quickly anyway.</p><p>The Studies Show is brought to you by <a target="_blank" href="https://worksinprogress.co/">Works in Progress magazine</a>. This week we discussed the article from the most recent issue about the UK’s land value tax—a cautionary tale of a policy that might sound good on paper, but was utterly cursed in practice. Find this and so many more fascinating articles about human progress at <a target="_blank" href="https://worksinprogress.co/">worksinprogress.co</a>.</p><p>Show notes</p><p>* RFK Jr’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/fact-checking-rfk-jr-s-claim-that-environmental-toxins-cause-autism">latest claims</a> about autism (and his plans to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.science.org/content/article/claiming-autism-epidemic-rfk-jr-describes-nih-initiative-find-environmental-causes">gather data</a>)</p><p>* His <a target="_blank" href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6330950198112">statement</a> “I believe autism comes from vaccines”, from 2023</p><p>* His “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/health/vaccines-kennedy-measles.html">Children’s Health Defence</a>” org from 2015</p><p>* CDC data on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/autism/data-research/index.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com">autism rates in the US</a></p><p>* And similar data <a target="_blank" href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.13505">from the UK</a></p><p>* A paper on the <a target="_blank" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00584048">much lower rates</a> in 1966</p><p>* “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(44)80156-1/abstract">Early infantile autism</a>” - the original 1944 paper by Leo Kanner</p><p>* Hans Asperger’s <a target="_blank" href="http://www.th-hoffmann.eu/archiv/asperger/asperger.1944.pdf">similarly-timed research</a></p><p>* And on his <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-43820794">collaboration with the Nazis</a></p><p>* On “<a target="_blank" href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1111%2Fj.1939-0025.1949.tb05441.x">refrigerator mothers</a>”</p><p>* Data from after the MMR vaccine was <a target="_blank" href="https://archive.is/o/WIUPr/dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01425.x">split</a> in Yokohama, Japan</p><p>* The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353909455_DSM-5_Symptom_Checklist_for_Adult_Autism_Diagnosis/link/6197d0083068c54fa5022438/download?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIiwicGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIn19">DSM-V checklist</a> for autism spectrum disorder</p><p>* Scott Alexander’s controversial piece “<a target="_blank" href="https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/10/12/against-against-autism-cures/">Against against autism cures</a>”</p><p>* 2023 paper on the prevalence of <a target="_blank" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00333549231163551">profound autism</a></p><p>* Article on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/the-rapidly-growing-waiting-lists-for-autism-and-adhd-assessments">growing waiting lists</a> for autism diagnoses</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://cognoa.com/waitlist-crisis-report/">More details</a> on the same</p><p>* 2022 paper on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-022-01064-5">genetics of autism</a></p><p>* Article on rates of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/apr/23/extra-exam-time-why-do-so-many-schoolkids-suddenly-need-it">extra time in exams</a> in the UK</p><p>* Adam Hunt’s post about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.adamhunt.info/post/commemorating-ren%C3%A9e-thornton">Renée Thornton</a>, hot-air balloonist</p><p>* The Economist’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/04/02/the-tyranny-of-tiktokkers-who-turn-up">Bagehot column</a> on the “tyranny of turning up”</p><p>* Underdiagnosed <a target="_blank" href="https://acmedsci.ac.uk/more/news/finding-the-female-face-of-autism">autism in girls</a></p><p>Credits</p><p>We’re grateful to Adam Hunt for talking to us about psychiatric diagnoses for this episode. The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.yada-yada.net/">Yada Yada Productions</a>.</p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe</a>
April 22, 2025
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit <a href="https://www.thestudiesshowpod.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7">www.thestudiesshowpod.com</a><br/><br/><p>Some scientific controversies are quite surprising (why would the shape of the Earth be controversial, for example?). But some aren’t. The controversy surrounding circumcision—which involves disputed medical science, bodily autonomy, children, disease, religion, sex, tradition, family, and, of course, genitalia—is about as fiery as it gets. </p><p>In this paid-only episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart discuss the very sensitive issue of circumcision, covering the health benefits or lack thereof, the alleged risks, and the unbelievably bitter scientists who are battling it out over this unlikely topic.</p><p>If you’re not a paid subscriber, you’ll just hear the very tip of the show—you’ll need to go to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe">www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe</a> to read the show notes and hear the whole thing.</p>
April 15, 2025
<p>Don’t forget THE STUDIES SHOW LIVE—on 9 May in London! You can buy tickets <a target="_blank" href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-studies-show-live-with-jesse-singal-tickets-1295602585209">at this link</a>, or by going to <a target="_blank" href="https://bit.ly/tss_live">bit.ly/tss_live</a>.</p><p>What’s going to be the next pandemic? For a long time you might’ve seen news stories about the current threat of H5N1 bird flu, but you probably haven’t paid much attention. </p><p>In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart try and work out how worried we should be. Are COVID-scarred people freaking out over nothing? Or are we at the start of something much scarier?</p><p>The Studies Show is brought you by <a target="_blank" href="https://worksinprogress.co/">Works in Progress</a><a target="_blank" href="https://worksinprogress.co/"> magazine</a>, a beautifully-produced magazine about science and technological progress. In the current issue you can read articles about new fertility technologies, land value tax, and the one we mentioned in the show, about prehistoric psychopaths. Find it all at <a target="_blank" href="https://worksinprogress.co/">worksinprogress.co</a>.</p><p>Show notes</p><p>* The UK’s “<a target="_blank" href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/213717/dh_131040.pdf">Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy</a>”</p><p>* “Of course the UK had a <a target="_blank" href="https://lessonsfromthecrisis.substack.com/p/its-bizarre-that-this-needs-saying">herd immunity strategy</a>”</p><p>* Tom’s article on “<a target="_blank" href="https://unherd.com/2021/10/the-men-who-failed-britain/">the men who failed Britain</a>”</p><p>* The CDC on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses-types.html">types of influenza virus</a></p><p>* 2025 Harvard Medical School <a target="_blank" href="https://hms.harvard.edu/news/are-we-cusp-major-bird-flu-outbreak">article</a> on H5N1 bird flu</p><p>* Article on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/how-bird-flu-affecting-animal-populations">wild animal deaths</a> caused by bird flu in the current outbreak</p><p>* And the same for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/mammals.html">domestic animals</a></p><p>* Egg prices! <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-the-real-reason-eggs-so-expensive-2025-4">1</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/eggs-us">2</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3028872/pdf/1822-10.pdf">2011 paper</a> on haemagglutinin in avian flu viruses and its infectiousness to humans </p><p>* Pigs as the “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/oc/br/H1N1/pdf/MaZooPubHlthv56p326y09.pdf">mixing vessel</a>” for flu viruses</p><p>* And the potential for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.03.592326v1.full.pdf">cows</a> to be the same</p><p>* The <a target="_blank" href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4810786/">controversial 2012 </a><a target="_blank" href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4810786/">Science </a><a target="_blank" href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4810786/">paper</a> that modified a blue flu virus to be more infectious</p><p>* The WHO’s seeming <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/influenza/human-animal-interface-risk-assessments/updated-joint-fao-who-woah-public-health-assessment-of-recent-influenza-a(h5)-virus-events-in-animals-and-people.pdf?sfvrsn=273b9244_1&download=true">low level of concern</a> about the bird flu outbreak</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/more-evidence-pasteurization-inactivates-h5n1-avian-flu-virus-milk">Pasteurised milk</a> and its effects on bird flu transmission</p><p>* The Swift Centre’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.swiftcentre.org/publicforecasts/bird-flu-human-pandemic-unlikely-but-will-poultry-and-cattle-farmers-take-action">forecasts</a> for the bird flu outbreak</p><p>* Scott Alexander’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/h5n1-much-more-than-you-wanted-to">big piece on bird flu</a></p><p>* The evidence for the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/study-suggests-earlier-us-licensed-h5n1-vaccines-prompt-antibodies-current">effect of antivirals on bird flu</a></p><p>* DOGE cuts to a programme that monitored bird flu in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/fda-suspends-program-improve-bird-flu-testing-due-staff-cuts-2025-04-03/">dairy products</a>, and to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/usda-lose-bird-flu-response-employees-source-says-2025-04-09/">animal monitoring</a></p><p>Credits</p><p>We’re very grateful to Claire Wang for her help with researching this episode. The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.yada-yada.net/">Yada Yada Productions</a>.</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe</a>
Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal
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Tortoise Media
Quillette
Institute for Government
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Global
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