Dr. Joe Schwarcz can’t stop debunking wellness gurus, antivaxxers and psuedoscience

The CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner

Montreal professor Joseph Schwarcz doesn’t actually have a medical degree, but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming a popular public figure in the Canadian media landscape as a reliable face of science. Schwarcz, 76, actually has a doctorate in chemistry from McGill University, where he has been based for more than four decades. In that time, he’s hosted a long-running weekly science radio show, penned a newspaper column for the Montreal Gazette, starred in YouTube videos and written over a dozen books on making science accessible to mainstream readers. Recently, McGill held an anniversary celebration to mark Schwarcz’s 25 years as director of the university’s Office for Science and Society. To help ring in the anniversary, Dr. Joe joins _The CJN Daily _ to explain why he can’t retire while witnessing a flood of unscientific wellness advice, from celery juice to anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists.

What we talked about:

• Learn more about Joe Schwarcz and sign up for his weekly newsletter
• Buy his new book, Superfoods, Silkworms and Spandex: Science and Pseudoscience in Everyday Life, from ECW Press
• Watch his 25th anniversary lecture at McGill, hosted by journalist Josh Freed
• Read our coverage of Dr. Joe in The CJN archives from 2014.

Credits:

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me.