When a Scientist Takes on Politics. Conversation with Sam Wang

About this episode

The episode features a conversation with scientist Sam Wang about his transition from research to politics and the importance of data in democracy.

Recently, we have seen politicians attacking science, but what if scientist decide to flight back? In this episode, I spoke with a researcher who is stepping out of the lab and into the race for Congress. Sam Wang sees Washington not just as a political battlefield, but as a system with broken rules that need to be fixed with data and logic. He has spent his career studying the brain and the "science of political representation," and now he is ready to apply those findings in real life. Our conversation dives into the vital mechanics of our democracy—how maps are drawn and how systems can be rigged. Sam argues that our current crisis is an opportunity to ensure our government processes are protected and actually work for us. The silver lining could be that it is now easy to see the cause and effect of what happens when complex systems break down, how actions far far away have direct and almost immediate impact on people’s everyday lives. Sam thinks that new leaders will emerge from this crisis and possibly our diverse district is ready to elect a scientist again.

People in this episode

Host: Marina Rubina

Guest: Sam Wang

Topics covered

• politics
• science
• democracy
• political representation
• elections

Keywords

• science
• politics
• Congress
• democracy
• political representation
• elections
• data
• logic
• government

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Congress, Washington

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