Uploaded August 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This is part of my series of video interviews with the speakers scheduled to appear at CSICon 2024. This conference is run by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and will take place in Las Vegas from October 24–27. (You can find all the details and register right here.)
For this episode, my guest was a CSI fellow, the 2020 Balles Prize for Critical Thinking recipient, and Member of the Order of Canada, professor Timothy Caulfield. He is a professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health and research director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. Caulfield’s interdisciplinary research on topics such as stem cells, genetics, research ethics, the public representations of science, and public health policy has allowed him to publish almost 400 academic articles.
He is the author of two national bestsellers: The Cure for Everything: Untangling the Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness and Happiness and Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong about Everything? His most recent book is Relax, Dammit!: A User’s Guide to the Age of Anxiety. Caulfield is also the host of the 2017 Netflix documentary series A User’s Guide to Cheating Death.
Caulfield’s upcoming CSICon presentation is titled “The New Wellness BS? Manly, Optimizing, Science-y-ish, Longevity Woo!” and here is a summary:
Will the stream of science-free wellness nonsense ever stop? A recent and ubiquitous trend: the rising “longevity” industry, which includes everything from consumption of hundreds of supplements to “young blood” infusions to testicle tanning.
Influencers in this space, who often have impressive credentials, often use the language of real science—a tactic I call “scienceploitation”—to give their claims legitimacy. And many lean into the growing “manosphere,” that growing and ideologically charged echo chamber where traditional masculine norms are celebrated and framed as a required element to a healthy lifestyle. These characteristics of the longevity business can make it more difficult to debunk. But debunk we must!
In the interview, Caulfield and I discussed a wide range of topics in addition to his upcoming presentation, including his latest book Relax, how he utilizes both his legal and scientific training in his work and public outreach, and how he stays motivated despite the ongoing uphill battle to bring reality to the public.
We also discussed the unexpected correlation apparent in certain populations regarding non-mainstream beliefs (if you're anti-vax in the United States, you're also likely to back Russia in its invasion of Ukraine), and he revealed what he thinks is currently the most dangerous conspiracy belief.
I also followed up on some of the topics we covered two years ago (the 2020 interview is available here), including the ongoing problem that is Gwyneth Paltrow, her Goop company, and the overabundance of others hawking ineffective products and treatments of all types to unwary consumers.
I hope you enjoy this interview. Perhaps it will even make you consider attending this year’s CSICon where you can meet and mingle with Caulfield and the other speakers in person. If you do come, make sure to stay for the Sunday Morning Papers session, which I will be cohosting and will feature six short presentations on a wide variety of interesting skeptical topics! (If you are unfamiliar with the Sunday Morning Papers, you can learn all about this in an article I published on the topic, right here.) Also, be aware that next year will be a year off for CSICon, so keep that in mind when contemplating travel plans!
You can find my other interviews with this year’s CSICon speakers, including Neil deGrasse Tyson, in my online column. And, if you are interested in watching any of my interviews with speakers from previous CSICons, including Bill Nye, Eugenie Scott, Richard Wiseman, Susan Gerbic, Melanie Trecek-King, and Penn & Teller, you can find those there as well.
This is part of my series of video interviews with the speakers scheduled to appear at CSICon 2024. This conference is run by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and will take place in Las Vegas from October 24–27. (You can find all the details and register right here.)
For this episode, my guest was a CSI fellow, the 2020 Balles Prize for Critical Thinking recipient, and Member of the Order of Canada, professor Timothy Caulfield. He is a professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health and research director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. Caulfield’s interdisciplinary research on topics such as stem cells, genetics, research ethics, the public representations of science, and public health policy has allowed him to publish almost 400 academic articles.
He is the author of two national bestsellers: The Cure for Everything: Untangling the Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness and Happiness and Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong about Everything? His most recent book is Relax, Dammit!: A User’s Guide to the Age of Anxiety. Caulfield is also the host of the 2017 Netflix documentary series A User’s Guide to Cheating Death.
Caulfield’s upcoming CSICon presentation is titled “The New Wellness BS? Manly, Optimizing, Science-y-ish, Longevity Woo!” and here is a summary:
Will the stream of science-free wellness nonsense ever stop? A recent and ubiquitous trend: the rising “longevity” industry, which includes everything from consumption of hundreds of supplements to “young blood” infusions to testicle tanning.
Influencers in this space, who often have impressive credentials, often use the language of real science—a tactic I call “scienceploitation”—to give their claims legitimacy. And many lean into the growing “manosphere,” that growing and ideologically charged echo chamber where traditional masculine norms are celebrated and framed as a required element to a healthy lifestyle. These characteristics of the longevity business can make it more difficult to debunk. But debunk we must!
In the interview, Caulfield and I discussed a wide range of topics in addition to his upcoming presentation, including his latest book Relax, how he utilizes both his legal and scientific training in his work and public outreach, and how he stays motivated despite the ongoing uphill battle to bring reality to the public.
We also discussed the unexpected correlation apparent in certain populations regarding non-mainstream beliefs (if you're anti-vax in the United States, you're also likely to back Russia in its invasion of Ukraine), and he revealed what he thinks is currently the most dangerous conspiracy belief.
I also followed up on some of the topics we covered two years ago (the 2020 interview is available here), including the ongoing problem that is Gwyneth Paltrow, her Goop company, and the overabundance of others hawking ineffective products and treatments of all types to unwary consumers.
I hope you enjoy this interview. Perhaps it will even make you consider attending this year’s CSICon where you can meet and mingle with Caulfield and the other speakers in person. If you do come, make sure to stay for the Sunday Morning Papers session, which I will be cohosting and will feature six short presentations on a wide variety of interesting skeptical topics! (If you are unfamiliar with the Sunday Morning Papers, you can learn all about this in an article I published on the topic, right here.) Also, be aware that next year will be a year off for CSICon, so keep that in mind when contemplating travel plans!
You can find my other interviews with this year’s CSICon speakers, including Neil deGrasse Tyson, in my online column. And, if you are interested in watching any of my interviews with speakers from previous CSICons, including Bill Nye, Eugenie Scott, Richard Wiseman, Susan Gerbic, Melanie Trecek-King, and Penn & Teller, you can find those there as well.
