What happens to science once it leaves the lab?

Not as a body of knowledge, but as something that moves through institutions, markets, and public discourse, where evidence is filtered, shaped, and sometimes contested.

Ben Goldacre begins with the foundation: the evidence itself. When data is incomplete or selectively reported, what we call “truth” is already unstable. Dorothy Roberts shows how scientific frameworks can carry social assumptions, revealing how race-based medicine reflects not just biology, but bias embedded in the system. Elizabeth Marincola examines what happens when science intersects with money and access, where transparency becomes a point of tension rather than a guarantee.

As science moves outward, interpretation becomes just as critical as discovery. Francis Shen explores how neuroscience is translated into narrative, shaping how ideas about the brain are understood and applied. Leana Wen brings that translation into the clinical encounter, where what is said, and what is withheld, directly affects patient decisions. And Katherine Eban exposes how global systems of production and oversight can quietly compromise the integrity of medicine itself.

Across these perspectives, a pattern emerges: scientific truth is not only discovered, it is mediated. It is shaped by who controls information, how it is communicated, and where power sits in the system.

Together, these Talks trace the path of science as it enters public life, showing how evidence becomes action, and how trust is built, challenged, or lost along the way.

Explore where science meets power, and what happens when truth is no longer self-contained.