The Studies Show

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com [https://www.thestudiesshowpod.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] Some scientific controversies are quite surprising (why would the shape of the Earth be controversial, for example?). But some aren’t. The controversy surrounding circumcision—which involves disputed medical science, bodily autonomy, children, disease, religion, sex, tradition, family, and, of course, genitalia—is about as fiery as it gets. In this paid-only episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart discuss the very sensitive issue of circumcision, covering the health benefits or lack thereof, the alleged risks, and the unbelievably bitter scientists who are battling it out over this unlikely topic. If you’re not a paid subscriber, you’ll just hear the very tip of the show—you’ll need to go to www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe [https://www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe] to read the show notes and hear the whole thing.

Don’t forget THE STUDIES SHOW LIVE—on 9 May in London! You can buy tickets at this link [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-studies-show-live-with-jesse-singal-tickets-1295602585209], or by going to bit.ly/tss_live [https://bit.ly/tss_live]. What’s going to be the next pandemic? For a long time you might’ve seen news stories about the current threat of H5N1 bird flu, but you probably haven’t paid much attention. In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart try and work out how worried we should be. Are COVID-scarred people freaking out over nothing? Or are we at the start of something much scarier? The Studies Show is brought you by Works in Progress [https://worksinprogress.co/] magazine [https://worksinprogress.co/], a beautifully-produced magazine about science and technological progress. In the current issue you can read articles about new fertility technologies, land value tax, and the one we mentioned in the show, about prehistoric psychopaths. Find it all at worksinprogress.co [https://worksinprogress.co/]. Show notes * The UK’s “Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/213717/dh_131040.pdf]” * “Of course the UK had a herd immunity strategy [https://lessonsfromthecrisis.substack.com/p/its-bizarre-that-this-needs-saying]” * Tom’s article on “the men who failed Britain [https://unherd.com/2021/10/the-men-who-failed-britain/]” * The CDC on types of influenza virus [https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses-types.html] * 2025 Harvard Medical School article [https://hms.harvard.edu/news/are-we-cusp-major-bird-flu-outbreak] on H5N1 bird flu * Article on the wild animal deaths [https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/how-bird-flu-affecting-animal-populations] caused by bird flu in the current outbreak * And the same for domestic animals [https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/mammals.html] * Egg prices! 1 [https://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-the-real-reason-eggs-so-expensive-2025-4], 2 [https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/eggs-us] * 2011 paper [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3028872/pdf/1822-10.pdf] on haemagglutinin in avian flu viruses and its infectiousness to humans * Pigs as the “mixing vessel [https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/oc/br/H1N1/pdf/MaZooPubHlthv56p326y09.pdf]” for flu viruses * And the potential for cows [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.03.592326v1.full.pdf] to be the same * The controversial 2012 [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4810786/]Science [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4810786/]paper [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4810786/] that modified a blue flu virus to be more infectious * The WHO’s seeming low level of concern [https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/influenza/human-animal-interface-risk-assessments/updated-joint-fao-who-woah-public-health-assessment-of-recent-influenza-a(h5)-virus-events-in-animals-and-people.pdf?sfvrsn=273b9244_1&download=true] about the bird flu outbreak * Pasteurised milk [https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/more-evidence-pasteurization-inactivates-h5n1-avian-flu-virus-milk] and its effects on bird flu transmission * The Swift Centre’s forecasts [https://www.swiftcentre.org/publicforecasts/bird-flu-human-pandemic-unlikely-but-will-poultry-and-cattle-farmers-take-action] for the bird flu outbreak * Scott Alexander’s big piece on bird flu [https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/h5n1-much-more-than-you-wanted-to] * The evidence for the effect of antivirals on bird flu [https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/study-suggests-earlier-us-licensed-h5n1-vaccines-prompt-antibodies-current] * DOGE cuts to a programme that monitored bird flu in dairy products [https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/fda-suspends-program-improve-bird-flu-testing-due-staff-cuts-2025-04-03/], and to animal monitoring [https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/usda-lose-bird-flu-response-employees-source-says-2025-04-09/] Credits We’re very grateful to Claire Wang for her help with researching this episode. The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions [https://www.yada-yada.net/]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe [https://www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

While you here do snoring lie, Open-eyed conspiracy His time doth take.If of life you keep a care, Shake off slumber, and beware: Awake, awake! …or so said William Shakespeare—about whom there are quite a few conspiracy theories, now we come to think of it. In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart do their best to waken you from your own slumber and open your eyes to the psychology of conspiracy theories. Why do people believe them? How do you even define a conspiracy theory? And is there anything we can do to shake people out of their mad “Truther” beliefs? The Studies Show is sponsored by Works in Progress [https://worksinprogress.co/] magazine [https://worksinprogress.co/]. In the most recent issue you’ll find fascinating articles on subjects as wonderfully diverse as the land value tax, prehistoric psychopaths, and (as mentioned in this week’s episode) the history of the pineapple, the King of Fruit. Find it all for free at worksinprogress.co [https://worksinprogress.co/]. Show notes * Loose Change [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loose_Change], the viral 9/11 Truther video * 2023 conspiracy theory review [https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031329] in Annual Review of Psychology * Tom’s review of How to Talk to a Science Denier [https://unherd.com/2021/08/how-not-to-talk-to-a-science-denier/] * Iran-Contra [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair]; the Invasion of Poland [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Himmler]; the Invasion of Manchuria [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukden_incident] * The UK infected blood scandal [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-69037200] * Kemi Badenoch accused of giving credence to a “conspiracy theory” about the Netflix show Adolescence * First study [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/acp.1583?saml_referrer] using the specific-conspiracy-list measure of conspiracy belief * 2013 study proposing a broader questionnaire [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00279/full] on conspracies * 2022 meta-analysis of the correlates of conspiracy belief [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092656622000423] * Theory of the psychological motivations [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0963721417718261] behind conspiracy theories from 2017 * Associated meta-analysis [https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/rxjqc_v2] from 2022 * Paper proposing that there are “psychological benefits [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X22000719]” of conspiracy theories * New York Times article on left-wing conspiracy theories [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/03/technology/left-wing-misinformation-conspiracy-theories.html] during the 2024 election campaign * 2021 paper on left- vs. right-wing conspiracy belief [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pops.12681] * 2022 paper with cross-country data [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01258-7] on conspiracy belief * 2024 [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq1814]Science [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq1814] paper [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq1814] on how talking to GPT-4 reduces conspiracy theory belief by 20% * David Aaronovitch’s book Voodoo Histories [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/408963/voodoo-histories-by-aaronovitch-david/9780099478966] Credits The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions [https://www.yada-yada.net/]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe [https://www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Studies Show LIVE! Get your tickets for our live show in London on Friday 9 May at this link [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-studies-show-live-with-jesse-singal-tickets-1295602585209\\]. Blaze it up! It’s time for an episode on cannabis. And just to be clear, not “on cannabis”, but “on, as in about, cannabis”. What’s the evidence that this incredibly popular drug will lower your IQ? What about the question of whether it causes psychosis? In this toked-up episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart try to find out—and gracefully refrain from any “drug humour” while doing so. The Studies Show is brought to you by Works in Progress magazine [https://worksinprogress.co/]. Why does all that steam come out of the ground in New York City? Why are pineapples the greatest fruit? What on Earth was the Hanseatic League? All of these questions and more are answered in their most recent issue, available 100% free at www.worksinprogress.co [https://worksinprogress.co/]. Show notes * A summary of the endocannabinoid system [https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-endocannabinoid-system-essential-and-mysterious-202108112569] * 2015 review of the evidence [https://core.ac.uk/reader/73981575?utm_source=linkout] on the psychological effects of cannabis * Famous 1987 study [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2892048/] of Swedish soldiers on cannabis and psychosis * The NEMESIS study [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21363868/] * 2007 systematic review of longitudinal studies [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17662880/] of cannabis and psychosis * 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10317818/] with results on dose-response * Study finding earlier use [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33617756/] predicts higher psychosis risk * 2023 study on sex differences [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/ociation-between-cannabis-use-disorder-and-schizophrenia-stronger-in-young-males-than-in-females/E1F8F0E09C6541CB8529A326C3641A68] in the cannabis-psychosis relation * Example of a Mendelian Randomisation study [https://www.nature.com/articles/mp2016252] on cannabis and psychosis * Data on cannabis exposure over time in the UK [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7aaff9e5274a34770e66a6/acmd-cannabis-report-2008.pdf] * Dunedin Cohort study on cannabis and IQ [https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1206820109] * And a response to some controversy over the data [https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1300618110] * 2021 systematic review [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7893511/] of IQ decline after smoking cannabis Credits The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions [https://www.yada-yada.net/]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe [https://www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Studies Show. Live. In London. With Jesse Singal. Talking about controversial science. Friday 9 May 2025. What more need we say? Well actually, we say a bit more in this brief podcast. Get your tickets HERE! [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-studies-show-live-with-jesse-singal-tickets-1295602585209] Or go to bit.ly/tss_live [http://bit.ly/tss_live]. See you there! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe [https://www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]