On Science, Hope, and Humanity | Matt Kaplan

On Science, Hope, and Humanity | Matt Kaplan

From The Courageous Life by Joshua Steinfeldt

April 27, 2026 · 53 min · Season 6 · Episode 178

About this episode

Matt Kaplan discusses his experiences covering science and the themes of his latest book on scientists who faced ridicule and adversity.

For two decades, Matt Kaplan has covered science for The Economist. He’s seen breakthroughs often occur in spite of, rather than because of, the behavior of the research community, and how support can be withheld for those who don’t conform or have the right connections. In his latest book, I Told You So! Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled and Imprisoned… For Being Right, Matt shines a light on some of these cases, both past and present. From Galileo being thr...

People in this episode

Host: Joshua Steinfeldt

Guest: Matt Kaplan

Topics covered

  • science
  • humanity
  • research community
  • breakthroughs
  • book discussion

Keywords

  • science
  • research
  • breakthroughs
  • Matt Kaplan
  • I Told You So
  • Galileo
  • humanity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Economist

Books & works: I Told You So! Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled and Imprisoned… For Being Right

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