Podcast Episode 100: Communicating Science in a Modern Media Environment – Dietram Scheufele

“Even if we’re highly informed and agree on the same information – that information means different things to each of us and we prioritize it differently. We [health educators] should get in touch with our inner ‘non-expert’ because we are all ‘non-experts’ in most areas and I think that’s how we could be better communicators and educators.” – Dietram Scheufele

Welcome to episode 100! It’s amazing to reach such a milestone and I have my wonderful guests and loyal listeners to thank for it. This is a very special episode. My guest this week is doing some truly amazing work in the field of science communication. His research examines how we all make decisions about emerging technologies that we often know little about.

Dinner with the Danes in Copenhagen

Introducing Dietram A. Scheufele, the John E. Ross Professor in Science Communication and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in the Morgridge Institute for Research. Dietram has been a tenured faculty member at Cornell University and has held fellowships or visiting appointments at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the Technische Universität Dresden, and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. His consulting experience includes work for the Public Broadcasting System, the World Health Organization, and the World Bank. Dietram’s research focuses on public attitudes and policy dynamics surrounding emerging science.

Tune in as Dietram explains why information doesn’t change hearts and minds, how the current media environment affects our decision making and why language matters (and doesn’t matter).

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• Why information doesn’t change hearts and minds.
• How the current media environment affects our decision making.
• Why public outrage serves as a heuristic.
• How framing works.
• Why language matters.
• What confirmation bias is and what disconfirmation bias is.
• Why splits occur among public perception of everything from vaccines to GM foods.
• Why we don’t (but do) pay for news.

Listen to the Full Episode:

Featured on the Show:

• Dietram: Website | Twitter | Facebook
• Dietram’s research
• Melissa’s Sound Science Toolkit
• The Righteous Mind – Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt 
• Sound Bites Podcast Episode 84: The Freakonomics of Food – Jayson Lusk 
• Sound Bites Podcast Episode 92: Celebrities, Pop Culture & Pseudoscience – Timothy Caulfield
• A User’s Guide to Cheating Death – Timothy Caulfield’s show on Netflix
• Melissa’s Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner Resource Kit

Sound Bites is collaborating with Today’s Dietitian! Stay tuned for updates on the podcast, blog and newsletter!

Save the Date! Today’s Dietitian Spring Symposium 2019 is in Scottsdale, Arizona May 19-22!

Music by Dave Birk

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