The Geek Manifesto: media roundup

Some great coverage for The Geek Manifesto in the media this week. Here are a few highlights, plus links to a couple of pieces by me.

David Aaronovitch gave the book, and the ideas behind it, a fantastic write-up in his Times comment column on Thursday: Enough placebo politics, vote for the geeks. There’s a paywall’s but it’s worth it.

A choice quote:

The geeks represent, for me, one of the most encouraging recent developments in British public life. In towns and cities up and down the country, groups are being formed of scientists and others who meet (often in a pub) and discuss ideas, policy, books and campaigns. Broadly, the impulse is to bring the scientific method to bear on national debates — a method that has been lacking.

Equally impressive is Martin Robbins in the Guardian: Geeks, rise!

A choice quote:

What I desperately want is a move toward an evidence-based culture in politics. Politicians are free to say: “I think people on drugs should be punished because drugs are immoral.” That’s a moral call, albeit a rather stupid one in my opinion. What they shouldn’t do is say: “I want to reduce drug use, and sending all users to prison is the most cost-effective way to achieve that.” That’s not at moral call, it’s a factual statement; as such it should be evidence-based, or else the person making it should shut the hell up.

Martin also did a long podcast interview with me for the Guardian and Strange Quarks.

My Guardian piece expressing “grave reservations” about the Science for the Future coffin protest against EPSRC funding policies

Tom Chivers in the Telegraph on video games. violence and political evidence abuse

An interesting review in the Carbon Brief: Hail to the Geeks

A piece by me for the Observer about the need for more randomised controlled trials in public policy

Though neither mentions the Geek Manifesto, both Simon Kuper and Tim Harford tackle RCTs in today’s FT — in the contexts of international development and business respectively