My latest Science Progress column is up: It makes the case that Stephen Colbert is the heir to Johnny Carson in terms of talk show promotion of science.
It also includes various lame and stupid talking points that I made up and didn't use on the show, such as the following hypothetical Q&A responses:
Didn't scientists start the "war" in the first place? Didn't they commit acts of aggression?
Yes, if you mean by learning things.
Why should I care about science?
Because America is really good at it--much better than France.
Is there really a "war" on science? Where are the bodies?
Well, there haven't been heads spitted on pikes--but there has been the equivalent of torture. Scientific studies have been confined in dark places for long periods of time. And they've been put on the rack and twisted until they can be made to say anything.
Of course, the best hypothetical Colbert question that I heard while preparing for the show came from Eric Roston: "Why do hurricanes hate America?"
You can read the full column here.
Eric Roston's book The Carbon Age is very readable and I think you will like it.
I did like how Colbert cut Chris off after the mention of "monkey business." Don't even go there....