Principal Instigators Podcast
@scienceforhaters.bsky.social
A science podcast for the haters. Find us on all your favorite podcast apps at https://link.chtbl.com/principalinstigators
Pinned
pca.st
Today on Principal Instigators Liv forsakes her physical, mental, and emotional well-being to explain why space datacenters are never going to work but everyone is wrong about the reasons why.
Listen on Pocket Casts:
pca.st/episode/73e1...
Listen on Pocket Casts:
pca.st/episode/73e1...
September 18, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Lol, lmao even
Also nice image choice 😉
Also nice image choice 😉
Stop whatever you're doing and read @bryce.lol on Morgan Stanley's coverage of SpaceX: www.ft.com/content/09a6...
The space bit of SpaceX is worth $9 a share, says Morgan Stanley
You miss all the moonshots you don’t take
www.ft.com
July 7, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Lol, lmao even
Also nice image choice 😉
Also nice image choice 😉
They're calling us the most vindicated science podcast in history
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/u...
July 6, 2026 at 3:26 PM
They're calling us the most vindicated science podcast in history
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/u...
Principal Instigators Tracklist
Playlist · dbssaber · 47 items · 6 saves
open.spotify.com
June 30, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Principal Instigators Podcast
Today on Principal Instigators Liv forsakes her physical, mental, and emotional well-being to explain why space datacenters are never going to work but everyone is wrong about the reasons why.
Listen on Pocket Casts:
pca.st/episode/73e1...
Listen on Pocket Casts:
pca.st/episode/73e1...
pca.st
June 30, 2026 at 5:04 AM
Today on Principal Instigators Liv forsakes her physical, mental, and emotional well-being to explain why space datacenters are never going to work but everyone is wrong about the reasons why.
Listen on Pocket Casts:
pca.st/episode/73e1...
Listen on Pocket Casts:
pca.st/episode/73e1...
Today on Principal Instigators Liv forsakes her physical, mental, and emotional well-being to explain why space datacenters are never going to work but everyone is wrong about the reasons why.
Listen on Pocket Casts:
pca.st/episode/73e1...
Listen on Pocket Casts:
pca.st/episode/73e1...
pca.st
June 30, 2026 at 5:04 AM
Today on Principal Instigators Liv forsakes her physical, mental, and emotional well-being to explain why space datacenters are never going to work but everyone is wrong about the reasons why.
Listen on Pocket Casts:
pca.st/episode/73e1...
Listen on Pocket Casts:
pca.st/episode/73e1...
Principal Instigators: more popular than the Washington Post
May 13, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Principal Instigators: more popular than the Washington Post
Reposted by Principal Instigators Podcast
The science impacts were near-apocalyptic and if you want to hear about that we talked about it on @scienceforhaters.bsky.social but every aspect of it was awful and crucially. WE ALL KNEW IT WOULD BE LIKE THAT AT THE START
May 8, 2026 at 1:58 PM
The science impacts were near-apocalyptic and if you want to hear about that we talked about it on @scienceforhaters.bsky.social but every aspect of it was awful and crucially. WE ALL KNEW IT WOULD BE LIKE THAT AT THE START
We released 2 episodes last year and even we deserved a Pulitzer nomination more than "The Protocol"
This is embarrassing
May 4, 2026 at 9:21 PM
We released 2 episodes last year and even we deserved a Pulitzer nomination more than "The Protocol"
Does this mean we have to release episodes more regularly?
Out today! The Bimbos are joined by
@shookegg.bsky.social to learn about the methods and limitations of weather forecasting and discuss the internal politics of the flat earth movement.
@shookegg.bsky.social to learn about the methods and limitations of weather forecasting and discuss the internal politics of the flat earth movement.
April 26, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Does this mean we have to release episodes more regularly?
We're proud to unlock our inaugural March Sadness episode, where we celebrated Liv by getting her to rank the brain damage she's suffered from the world's best* and smartest** political pundits!
pca.st/episode/7f75...
pca.st/episode/7f75...
March Sadness [UNLOCKED FOR NON-PATRONS]
On this very special (unlocked) episode, Sandra and Dan(i) shepherd Liv through the listener-created March Sadness™ bracket, and witness apotheosis
pca.st
April 11, 2026 at 2:54 AM
We're proud to unlock our inaugural March Sadness episode, where we celebrated Liv by getting her to rank the brain damage she's suffered from the world's best* and smartest** political pundits!
pca.st/episode/7f75...
pca.st/episode/7f75...
Happy New Year, listeners! We resolve to release at least one episode in 2026
January 1, 2026 at 12:36 AM
Happy New Year, listeners! We resolve to release at least one episode in 2026
Hello everyone! You may have noticed some episodes missing from our feed in addition to the extended radio silence. We at Principal Instigators LLC can neither confirm nor deny any fair-use policy issues with our hosting platform but we are happy to announce that all our episodes are back online!
September 30, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Hello everyone! You may have noticed some episodes missing from our feed in addition to the extended radio silence. We at Principal Instigators LLC can neither confirm nor deny any fair-use policy issues with our hosting platform but we are happy to announce that all our episodes are back online!
Reposted by Principal Instigators Podcast
My friend and colleague Remco Heesen once told me study of social epistemology of science made him "less trusting of any particular scientific paper but more impressed by science as a whole." I honestly think that's the right lesson to draw. But I think holding both attitudes doesn't come naturally.
The most important thing about science the public needs to remember is that the set of experimental and theoretical methods we refer to as "science" is the best, most reliable way of knowing we currently have.
It's rough around the edges but it works way better than anything else.
It's rough around the edges but it works way better than anything else.
Watching people not realize this about his work, and then seeing it weaponized against climate policy, sent poor old Bruno Latour into a full-blown case of abyss gaze.
June 24, 2025 at 5:38 AM
My friend and colleague Remco Heesen once told me study of social epistemology of science made him "less trusting of any particular scientific paper but more impressed by science as a whole." I honestly think that's the right lesson to draw. But I think holding both attitudes doesn't come naturally.
Friendly reminder that LLMs are overhyped and can cause tremendous harms, but we shouldn't automatically trust science/tech reporting just like we shouldn't automatically trust AI companies. 🧵
June 6, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Friendly reminder that LLMs are overhyped and can cause tremendous harms, but we shouldn't automatically trust science/tech reporting just like we shouldn't automatically trust AI companies. 🧵
The people who die are still dead
Whether we elect a Democrat in 2028 does not currently matter. It could matter, but for it to matter so many things would need to have started changing before 2028.
We no longer have a functioning weather service, air traffic control, or CDC, to name just a few agencies gutted by Trump.
We no longer have a functioning weather service, air traffic control, or CDC, to name just a few agencies gutted by Trump.
May 19, 2025 at 1:58 AM
The people who die are still dead
Also we should note that we recorded this in February and things have only gotten worse since, but everything we said is still true and relevant
On this quarter's episode of Principal Instigators we discuss the Trump administration's unprecedented attacks on science, which are so wide-ranging and indiscriminate that they threaten our society's basic ability to "do science" in any meaningful sense.
Happy Saturday!
pca.st/episode/5d3c...
Happy Saturday!
pca.st/episode/5d3c...
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pca.st
May 17, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Also we should note that we recorded this in February and things have only gotten worse since, but everything we said is still true and relevant
On this quarter's episode of Principal Instigators we discuss the Trump administration's unprecedented attacks on science, which are so wide-ranging and indiscriminate that they threaten our society's basic ability to "do science" in any meaningful sense.
Happy Saturday!
pca.st/episode/5d3c...
Happy Saturday!
pca.st/episode/5d3c...
Web Player - Pocket Casts
Listen to your favorite podcasts online, in your browser. Discover the world's most powerful podcast player.
pca.st
May 17, 2025 at 1:04 PM
On this quarter's episode of Principal Instigators we discuss the Trump administration's unprecedented attacks on science, which are so wide-ranging and indiscriminate that they threaten our society's basic ability to "do science" in any meaningful sense.
Happy Saturday!
pca.st/episode/5d3c...
Happy Saturday!
pca.st/episode/5d3c...
A special issue of a prestigious medical journal with "more research" on vaccines & autism would be an excuse for every paper in that special issue to cite all the others - and the papers in that special issue would be well-positioned to gobble up citations from future papers on this topic.
According to a former editor of JAMA, we need more studies on whether or not vaccines cause autism.
What mistakes does he make?
🧵
What mistakes does he make?
🧵
March 9, 2025 at 6:30 PM
A special issue of a prestigious medical journal with "more research" on vaccines & autism would be an excuse for every paper in that special issue to cite all the others - and the papers in that special issue would be well-positioned to gobble up citations from future papers on this topic.
tfw ALAB series has a faster release schedule than you
March 9, 2025 at 1:39 PM
tfw ALAB series has a faster release schedule than you
24
What can you even say
What can you even say
January 2, 2025 at 7:47 PM
24
What can you even say
What can you even say
Reposted by Principal Instigators Podcast
This is exactly why we have to keep NIH and NCI publicly funded research. A cancer cure will cost them billions. Why would they do that? Republicans always cut research budgets and years of progress are lost. Many stem cell biologists left the USA when GW Bush severely limited cell access. Morons!
This article highlights why more “crazy motherfuckers”are likely going to kill more extremely wealthy, “heartless, motherfuckers.”
Society has reached the tipping point on inequities. Especially those leaving the masses to suffer and die.
www.cnbc.com/2018/04/11/g...
Society has reached the tipping point on inequities. Especially those leaving the masses to suffer and die.
www.cnbc.com/2018/04/11/g...
Goldman Sachs asks in biotech research report: 'Is curing patients a sustainable business model?'
Goldman Sachs warns sales from the most successful disease treatments are difficult to maintain.
www.cnbc.com
December 18, 2024 at 4:56 PM
This is exactly why we have to keep NIH and NCI publicly funded research. A cancer cure will cost them billions. Why would they do that? Republicans always cut research budgets and years of progress are lost. Many stem cell biologists left the USA when GW Bush severely limited cell access. Morons!
Reposted by Principal Instigators Podcast
Listen to the @scienceforhaters.bsky.social podcast for more on this nightmare of a human
December 11, 2024 at 3:54 AM
Listen to the @scienceforhaters.bsky.social podcast for more on this nightmare of a human
Scheduling a recording session this week like
November 4, 2024 at 6:52 PM
Scheduling a recording session this week like
If we ever end up on one of these lists something has going horribly wrong
www.vulture.com/article/new-...
www.vulture.com/article/new-...
The Best Podcasts of 2024 (So Far)
Including a look into the checkered history of the New York Police Department and a tech podcast with an alt-weekly bent.
www.vulture.com
October 10, 2024 at 5:57 PM
If we ever end up on one of these lists something has going horribly wrong
www.vulture.com/article/new-...
www.vulture.com/article/new-...