Why the chemtrail conspiracy theory lingers & grows – and why Tucker Carlson is talking about it theconversation.com/why-the-chem... "Conspiracies are dramatic & exciting, with clear lines of good & evil, whereas real life is boring & sometimes scary." Needed: "better ways to embrace uncertainty"

Dog owners now worry vaccines will cause "pawtism?" We need to understand the role of political identity in the spread of vaccine lies (and other health misinformation) and how we can work to counter it. My new piece...👇

Ayurveda Can Harm Your Liver www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/... via @jonathanjarry.bsky.social "Many Ayurvedic preparations have been found to contain alarming amounts of heavy metals like arsenic and mercury, which can cause or worsen liver disease"

The protein hype has gotten totally bonkers. Marketing health halo. Ignore.

I got a COVID booster because I continue to see “healthy” people lose their health to COVID and don’t want to risk it happening to me

Influencers > media OR politicians. Yikes. Influencers have more reach on 5 major platforms than news media, politicians: report toronto.citynews.ca/2025/11/13/i... "More than two-thirds of younger Canadians engage with political content from influencers..."

Americans are injecting themselves with unproven peptides abcnews.go.com/Health/wireS... "...peptides being promoted by influencers, celebrities and wellness gurus are different: Many have never been approved for human use..." @erictopol.bsky.social: "None of them are proven."

"Young people’s risk of developing myocarditis is higher and longer lasting after covid-19 infection than after vaccination against it, the largest study of its kind..." Covid-19: Major study compares myocarditis risk in children after vaccination or infection www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Almost half of all Americans are hesitant to vaccinate their dogs. Their primary concern? Dog autism. - @caulfieldtim.bsky.social www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Needle phobic? Nasal spray flu vaccine allays fear but has limited access in Canada healthydebate.ca/2025/11/topi... via @healthydebate.bsky.social Me: "We shouldn’t underplay the role of needle phobia in this context, but I’m curious how the anti-vaxxers are going to frame this."

🚨 My new piece: increasingly, vaccine hesitancy tied to political identity www.thestar.com/opinion/cont... via @thestar.com Vaccines are a wedge issue, exploited by politicians to garner votes, by political commentators to build brands and by online influencers to get clicks. #VaccinesWork

Despite RFK Jr's claim of “radical transparency”, there was no media and no live streaming at yesterday's MAHA Summit…but there was no shortage of woo and quacks 🦆🦆 and swag bags featured creatine and beef tallow cooked chips.. www.statnews.com/2025/11/12/m...

Good example of scienceploitation - use language of real science to sell bunk. At-home gut microbiome tests? Hype. medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11... "Nearly half of the companies offering these tests also sell supplements or probiotics that they recommend based on the test results."

The key? #Move. Is It a Bad Idea to Exercise Before Bed? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/w... "Most importantly, don’t be discouraged from exercising if you can only do exercise in the evening." I get frustrated with the optimization advice. Best time to workout? When it works for you. 💪

Important to remember the power of foreign state actors in shaping vaccine hesitancy... Social media and vaccine hesitancy gh.bmj.com/content/5/10... "...a substantial relationship between foreign disinformation campaigns and declining vaccination coverage."

Protein: Ignore marketing hype. How much protein do you really need? www.nature.com/articles/d41... via @nature.com "...the protein craze has been driven mostly by aggressive marketing of high-protein foods and supplements..." "...most Americans already eat more than enough proteins."

Ottawa! Next week! 👇 This is a critical time. A knowledge crisis. How did we get here & what can we do? How to Escape the Fake: Making Good Policy in the Age of Misinformation : irpp.org/irpp-event/f... via @irpp.org @cmadocs.bsky.social Hope to see there!

Yet more science-free MAHA BS... 👇 What Kennedy’s saturated fat guidelines would mean for American health www.statnews.com/2025/11/12/i... via @statnews.com "...experts say data simply doesn’t support the idea that fat from animal sources is preferable to fat from plants."

"Stem cell" bunk is everywhere! Stem cells sound magical, but they’re not all created equal. Here’s what you need to know theconversation.com/stem-cells-s... "There is also a risk from unproven stem cell clinics, which offer treatments that lack evidence and can put patients at risk."

Access to vaccines is not a privilege — it is a human right. In @statnews.com today, Stefan Peterson and I write about using a human rights-based approach to deal with vaccine denialism and the return of measles, whooping cough and diphtheria www.statnews.com/2025/11/12/c...

Yep. Scholars Must Recognize the Role of Affect and Emotion in Disinformation www.techpolicy.press/scholars-mus... "The tactics of digital emotional manipulation are many and varied, but many of the most prominent exploit frustration and rage." We can't let rage win.

🚨Grifter Superband Alert!👇 Science-free. Wellness-woo. Exploitive. Criminal. Yep, very on-brand! MAHA Is Embracing Elizabeth Holmes. Here’s Why. politi.co/47UB70F via @politico

Pressure to publish is rising as research time shrinks, finds survey of scientists www.nature.com/articles/d41... "68% of respondents said the pressure to publish their research is greater than it was two to three years ago..." This fuels poor quality pubs! #ScienceMatters

The rise of sports betting is a growing public health crisis www.statnews.com/2025/11/11/s... via @statnews "Today 90% of bets are placed on phones, not at casinos or racetracks." "It is now impossible to watch a broadcast without being pushed to bet."

Sum: Nah. Gut #microbiome tests are everywhere. Should you get one? medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11... #GutHealth - Little evidence to support use - Often associated with sale of unproven supplements - And even if worked, probably wouldn't change approach (healthy diet, exercise, sleep)!

Leading the charge against health misinformation www.royalcollege.ca/en/news/lead... Such a special event. Thank you, @royalcollege.bsky.social! 🙏

This can't be said enough: MAGA media IS THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA! It has been for years. The right dominates online influencers, engagement, news coverage, etc. "Liberal MSM bias" a myth. Lies rule. reuters.com/investigatio...

Ridiculous. So maddening. Yes, complex. But there is NO doubt that antivaxx misinformation big part of problem. Canada loses measles elimination status after three decades, health agency says www.reuters.com/business/hea...

🚨Again, Tylenol ≠ > risk of autism, etc. "Existing evidence does NOT clearly link maternal paracetamol use during pregnancy with autism or ADHD in offspring." Study: Maternal paracetamol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy and risk of autism www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Dark Age 2.0 "God is an anti-vaxxer, and he needs you to speak up." Inside the conference celebrating RFK Jr.’s rise wapo.st/49HVH6S Reality: "Dozens of studies have shown that vaccines do not cause autism..." #VaccinesWork

The power of political identity...👇 Older adults share more political misinformation. Here's why www.colorado.edu/today/2025/1... "...older people are more likely to believe as true and to share information that aligns with their party, whether that information is true or not."

The diff in tone of the responses to my manspreading post on X and Bluesky? So predictable. To be clear: ZERO anatomical justification for manspreading! Perhaps those who feel the need to manspread should request an accommodation from gov to help with this fragile condition?

A good example of how an arbitrary (conceptually incoherent) wedge issue can emerge from ether... "...the ostriches had become symbols of defiance — and the farm a destination for conspiracists, fringe media, and animal lovers." www.msnbc.com/news/news-an... by @brandyzadrozny.bsky.social

How a childhood virus can contribute to dementia later and what you can do wapo.st/4qQVFzK “Both versions of the vaccine — one with a version of the live virus and one without — reduce those reactivations and the risk of dementia, the study found.” #VaccinesWork

SEC football game yesterday! Fantastic experience! 🏈 Was a Manspreading Fest! And I got to sit next to the Manspreading Master! Lucky me.

Politics and lies. A long history. Tudor disinformation? Yep. wapo.st/47QBqcR "...a more than 400-year-old disinformation campaign surrounding the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth I and her successor to the throne." "...obvious resonance for us today, as we witness the spread of fake news..."

Longevity? Needed...👇 Equity. Justice. Access. Eduction. Wealth. Luck. "....greater wealth was associated with lower mortality, and the association between wealth and mortality appeared to be more pronounced in the United States than in Europe." www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Not long ago... Chemtrails were a comical marker of being totally off the rails. Tinfoils hats et al. Now? Example of the legitimization & embrace of hardcore bunk. States ban them & RFK Jr wants a "task force"? Dark Age 2.0 Chemtrails www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Another example "nocebo" effect (expectation of bad response) driving a diet trend? 👇 Who Is the Low-Histamine Diet Really For? www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/... by @jonathanjarry.bsky.social The justifications for diet "hits a wall when people get tested in a blinded fashion."

Longevity influencer BS ≠ longevity. Socioeconomics. Equity. Justice. Education. Social Determinants of Health & Cancer Prevention Guideline Behaviors jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... "...demographic, socioeconomic, and geographical factors are associated with health behaviors..."

How long does covid booster protection last? wapo.st/3JwuBFj "The results reaffirm the benefit of staying current with covid vaccination." At 4 wks "reduced the chances of infection by about 45%..." "Strongest protection was against hospitalization and death" (57%).

Weightlifting outmuscles running for blood sugar control, study finds medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11... "...when it comes to preventing diabetes and obesity, pumping iron might have the edge..." #Move! #Lift! #TeamConfirmationBias!

NO "turbo cancer" associated with nRNA vaccines, but possible "turbo" benefits? mRNA covid vaccines may “turbo charge” cancer immunotherapy, research suggests bmj.com/content/391/... Patients with mRNA vaccine "... gained significant benefit in terms of survival & disease progression..."

📅 Happening soon! Join us Nov. 18 for the IRPP Fall Lecture with @caulfieldtim.bsky.social, one of North America’s leading voices on health and science misinformation. An evening of ideas, dialogue, and networking with Canada’s policy community. 🎟️ Register now: irpp.org?p=20841

Wellness influencers often use misinformer tactics to persuade. We’ve already discussed 4 tactics in a previous post, but here are 4 more 👇 scienceupfirst.com/misinformati... #ScienceUpFirst

The Blue Jay fan’s guide to dealing with feelings of despair theconversation.com/the-anguish-... "Fans, meantime, will use the off-season to emotionally steel themselves for, potentially, another wild ride. Spring, after all, is the season of hope when anything seems possible." #GoJays! ❤️

Shadow scholars: inside Kenya’s multibillion-dollar fake-essay industry www.nature.com/articles/d41... "...a hidden multibillion-dollar industry: contract cheating." "...students in the wealthy, industrialized countries of the global north outsource coursework to “shadow scholars'"

COVID "...increased the risk of heart inflammation, blood clots & bleeding disorders among children..." "...vaccinated had a lower risk of myocarditis than those who were unvaccinated..." COVID & heart issues in children: www.newscientist.com/article/2502... #VaccinesWork

The Global Spread of Contraceptive #Misinformation Online www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianou... "...a flood of misinformation that favours 'natural' contraceptive methods..." "...only 10% of the analysed videos were created by qualified health professionals."

Health misinformation ain't new! Centuries of Black Death misinformation started with a poem www.popsci.com/health/black... "Centuries of Black Death misinformation started with a poem."