Sick Society

A prestige health and society podcast hosted by Dr. Alexis Paton and Sir Andrew Goddard. Each season explores the social, political, and economic forces shaping public health—from climate change to misinformation.

When Facts Lose: Health Misinformation, Identity, and the Algorithm (with Tim Caulfield) Sick Society

Health misinformation crops up in everyday decision-making, and it’s reshaping our trust in medicine. In Episode 3 of Sick Society, Dr. Alexis Paton and Sir Andrew Goddard are joined by Tim Caulfield, a leading researcher on health misinformation and science communication, to examine why today’s misinformation landscape feels harder to challenge than ever before, and why simply “correcting the facts” no longer works.As Tim puts it, we’re moving from fact-speaking to belief-speaking, where shared identity and emotion matter more than evidence alone.In this conversation, you’ll hear:Why modern health misinformation isn’t just louder — it’s more resilientHow medical beliefs become social and political identitiesWhy false balance makes scientific consensus look dividedHow wellness, supplements, and optimisation culture evade scrutinyWhat actually reduces harm: pre-bunking, debunking, and slowing emotional sharingWhere AI accelerates misinformation — and where it might help contain itSick Society explores how culture, power, technology, and policy shape health long before anyone enters a clinic. 🎧 A podcast by Haunted Mouse ProductionsAbout our guestTim Caulfield is a professor of health law and science policy at the University of Alberta and a leading researcher studying how misinformation shapes public trust, behaviour, and policy. Drawing on decades of research, he explains why today’s misinformation environment is fundamentally different — and how social media, political identity, wellness culture, and now AI accelerate the problem.
  1. When Facts Lose: Health Misinformation, Identity, and the Algorithm (with Tim Caulfield)
  2. When Health Goes Wrong: Anatomy of an NHS Scandal (with Shaun Lintern)
  3. How Society Shapes Health
  4. Why Health Misinformation Thrives on Guilt and Uncertainty

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