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Interview with Dan Wilson from Debunk the Funk *UNEDITED* (Video) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-01-31 12:38:24
Edited:
2022-02-03 07:05:32
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

We have an extended discussion with Dr. Dan Wilson about his excellent channel debunking Covid misinformation on Youtube, the trials and tribulations of debunking content, the need for more effective science communication, and the origin of his amazing afro!

Was a great pleasure to speak with Dan and we engage in that IDW style back-patting because we genuinely feel his content deserves the praise. Recommend anyone who enjoyed our McCullough and Malone episodes check his channel out.

The video is unedited so includes some talk about editing but that's the cost of getting the episode the day it is recorded! Audio to follow soon. 

Files

Interview with Dan Wilson from Debunk the Funk *UNEDITED*

We discuss Dan's excellent channel debunking Covid misinformation on Youtube, the trials and tribulations of debunking content, and the origin of his amazing afro!

Comments

Rasterisk

Along with you guys, Conspirituality, Merseyside Skeptics & others, Dr. Wilson has been instrumental in getting me through the misinformation shitstorm of these last 2 years. So excited for this epic mashup, thank you!

Sian Gibby

Matt and Chris: You two are the hardest-working men in the guru-sphere! No kidding, you just keep churning out stuff! How are you finding time to teach, entertain your wives, provide moral structure for your progeny??? Forget the Patreon perks; I feel like I owe you a massive check just for your beyond-the-call human-hours. Many thanks for so much quality and quantity output.

Jenny

Another great interview! I stumbled upon Dr Campbell when I was in Italy over Christmas silently stewing and panicking over omicron, fearing I would get it and not be able to return home due to quarantine regulations (I didn't get it and I did return home), and Dr C made me feel better about it in general. The more I watched him, though, and read the comments section, the more I realized that there was something conspiratorial about him, and I'm glad to have that confirmed by you smart folks. I have long since unsubscribed to his channel, and now I'm happily subscribed to Debunk the Funk (as well as to TWiV). Thanks for all the reality-based, quality info! Glad to have found my epistemic trust network

Ciaran Mullan

That was a great conversation, thanks for putting it up. You should pull a Sam Harris and release it as a PSA!

Karen

Wondering why my comment was removed ...

Karen

I love both the DTG and the DTF podcasts. That said, and at the risk of repeat censorship: Racaniello of TWIW downplays the severe risks of gain-of-function-research-of-concern (GOFROC), which plausibly played a role in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Downplaying or denying the risks of GOFROC puts us at grave peril, particularly given the global proliferation of BSL-4 labs (as pointed out in Feb 2019 by Lynn Klotz https://thebulletin.org/2019/02/human-error-in-high-biocontainment-labs-a-likely-pandemic-threat/#:~:text=Incidents%20causing%20potential%20exposures%20to,Biosafety%20Level%203)%20and%20BSL4.&text=Such%20releases%20are%20fairly%20likely,now%20carrying%20out%20this%20research. ) Marc Lipsitch, a prominent epidemiologist, in 2016: "GOF is undeniably a valuable technique for microbiological research, including applied research with direct benefits for public health. This fact is accepted by most, if not all, critics of GOFROC or potential pandemic pathogen research. When weighing the benefits of GOFROC against those of alternative approaches [25], the issue is not whether GOF can be useful, which it often can be, but whether the risks of GOFROC are justified by unique benefits that cannot be achieved by safe approaches. Of the examples of public health or clinical benefits cited by Kilianski et al, some are not the result of GOFROC. Of those that are, the surveillance benefits at least can and have been achieved through alternative, safer means." https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/214/8/1284/2218764?login=false

Louise

Superb interview. Very grateful that the misinformation that has been circulating on social media for the last two years is being refuted with reliable data that is being highlighted and shared by scientists such as Dr Wilson. Very difficult to determine the tragic impact that the misinformation and scaremongering around the vaccines has had upon people, which is why interviews such as this one really do help. Thank you Chris, Matt and Dr Wilson for taking the time to combat the misinformation.

Tom Allison

This was a terrific conversation! I've been following Dan Wilson for awhile, so I think I'll stick with that take for more than 5 minutes ;). I wanted to hone in on the 101:15 mark where Matt crystalizes the point about the potential corrupting influence of having an online persona and message as ones main gig when it comes to guru-ing. Do you think this is already covered by the Gurometer -- or do you think there is some way of working it in/adding it to it? I definitely think its a rich area of analysis and look forward to your working it out as you continue.

Tom Allison

Quick note on the impromtu "top 5" misinformation topics discussion: it struck me while listening to the subsequent discussion that there may be a missed opportunity in not distinguishing more (and adapting messaging to separately) the OG anti-vaxxers and the newly minted Covid anti-vaxxers. I realize that a lot of frustration surrounds spokespeople and others swimming in those waters trying to hide the true implication of their messaging (just asking questions, not anti-vaxx, just anti-mandate, etc.), but I do think that many, many people are *not* against the standard childhood vaccines -- not against the practice of vaccination but have still been swept up -- maybe largely based on political affiliation? -- into the anti-vaxx army around Covid. Maybe this is obvious, but I would like to think a divide-and-conquer messaging strategy that strongly makes the point that *only if you are generally against the very idea of vaccines* (one of the clear medical miracles of the last century or so) does it make any sense for you to be against the Covid vaccine. If you agree that vaccines in general are good (extremely hard to argue against based on evidence) then you are being had by a politically-driven propaganda campaign if you think the Covid vaccine is an exception. IF you think vaccines, in general, are bad, then so be it -- there is no arguing with magcial non-evidence-based thinking -- but I suspect it is an extreme minority position.