Hotez asking for help in fight against anti-science aggression
Baylor College of Medicine professor Dr. Peter Hotez served the world with distinction during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing crucial information and developing lowcost vaccines for low-income countries. Now, he is asking for something in return.
Hotez wants YOU to join the campaign against disinformation because only YOU can stop anti-science aggression.
I had the honor of interviewing Hotez at the Texas Book Festival about his new work, “The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist’s Warning.” A recording is available on CSPAN’s BookTV.
While Hotez is famous for educating millions about public health and saving millions of lives through his research, his latest effort is perhaps even more far-reaching. Authoritarians are trying to turn the public against scientists specifically, and intellectuals more broadly, endangering our economic prosperity.
“We have to start drawing some lines in the sand about the attacks, not only on the science, but the scientists,” Hotez said. “So often, it’s not just words of the enemies; it’s the silence of the friends.”
Hotez gained fame defending childhood vaccines in his frequent appearances on cable news programs. Anti-vaccine activists and right wing politicians have turned Hotez into a lightning rod. His enemies range from presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. to Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to Elon Musk.
His alleged crime is explaining how proven biomedical technology has saved perhaps a
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