248 | Facts vs Opinions

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David and Helen talk with Jonathan Shainin, Head of Opinion at the Guardian newspaper, about the challenges of political journalism in a deeply polarised age.  Is it possible to hold the line between news and comment?  Are the arguments about Covid a rerun of Brexit?  What can scientists and historians add to political analysis?  Plus we discuss how American journalism has changed the way it talks about race and
violence and what that means for the current moment.

243 | Ebola, COVID and the WHO

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David and Helen talk this week with Amy Maxmen, senior reporter at Nature. Amy has covered the Ebola epidemic in Western Africa and now COVID-19 in the US.  Does she see comparisons between the two?  What explains the failures of the US response?  Can the WHO still make a difference?  Plus we explore the implications of the growing politicisation of science.  When did data become so divisive?