Examining the rise of the anti-science movement

Climate scientist Michael Mann joins CBS News' The Takeout to discuss Science Under Siege, the book he co-wrote with vaccine scientist Peter Hotez. Mann, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is best known for the "hockey stick" graph of global temperatures and has spent decades on the receiving end of organized attacks on climate science.

What the interview covers

• Criticism that U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Trump administration are pushing an anti-science agenda
• The book's argument that the threat goes beyond government, to the wealthy interests, fossil-fuel states, propagandists and media that amplify anti-science
• Why attacks on climate science and on vaccine science follow the same playbook

Why it matters

Mann and Hotez come from different fields, climate and public health, but describe the same pattern: manufactured doubt, personal attacks on scientists, and policy decisions that ignore the evidence. Seeing the common tactics makes them easier to recognize and counter, whichever field they target.

Related reading: Political Interference in Science, RFK Jr. and American Health Science and Antiscience Lobbyists.