conspiracy theories

Christina Pagel: “You have to accept that people will attack you and you cannot defend yourself”
Interview with Christina Pagel, Professor of Operational Research (a branch of applied mathematics) at University College London (UCL) and Director of the UCL Clinical Operational Research Unit. Since May 2020, she has been a member of Independent SAGE, a group of scientists working together to provide independent scientific advice on how to support Britain’s recovery ...

Pia Lamberty: “This is the price you pay, but I still think it’s worth it”
Interview with Pia Lamberty, social psychologist and co-director of the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy (CeMAS). As a psychologist, she has been researching why people believe in conspiracies and what consequences this worldview entails. Her non-fiction book “Fake Facts - How Conspiracy Theories Determine Our Thinking”, published with Katharina Nocun in May 2020, was ...

Scientists under fire: threats and attacks after speaking in public
When scientists speak out publicly on Covid-19 counter-measures, they expose themselves to online and real-life attacks, threats and abuse. Some have developed very different coping strategies.

Michael Butter: “Education can help against conspiracy theories”
Michael Butter is Professor of American Studies at the University of Tübingen. He is the author of The Nature of Conspiracy Theories (Polity, 2020) and Principal Investigator of the ERC-funded project Populism and Conspiracy Theory. This year you co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories along with Peter Knight. Can you talk about some of ...

Interview with Philipp Schmid on science denialism, misinformation & the importance of public confidence in the safety & effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine
Dr. Philipp Schmid is a scientific researcher at the Department of Psychology at the University of Erfurt (Germany). Philipp’s research aims at analysing the psychological reasons of science denialism. He is the lead author of the WHO guideline on how to respond to vocal vaccine denier in public and a co-author of the Debunking Handbook ...

ESMH Press Review – October 7, 2020
Conspiracy theoris, Green Deal & research integrity: check out the ESMH selection of 16 science & tech news published in the last weeks on the web. Pick your favourite from the most popular topics in the mainstream media!

Interview with Stephan Lewandowsky, cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol
Stephan Lewandowsky is a cognitive scientist with an interest in computational modelling. Recently, he has become particularly interested in how people update their memories if things they believe turn out to be false. This has led him to examine the persistence of misinformation and spread of “fake news” in society. He has become particularly interested ...

Coronavirus : a pandemic scare turning into an infodemic
Pandemics have the potential to exacerbate underlying social tensions. And at times of crises — when emotions run high — online rumours spread particularly wide and fast.