MythInformed Science Thu, 21 May 2026 06:05:15 -0400 https://www.buzzsprout.com/2615831 en-ca © 2026 MythInformed Science yes 4c18f640-3e74-538d-9536-06fa29393099 PodCraft Productions episodic false Misinformation isn’t just a problem for governments and health systems. For all kinds of organisations, misinformation erodes trust, derails communication strategies, and undermines hard-won credibility. It can also drive a wedge between families and friends. 


MythInformed Science is for leaders and communicators on the front lines of that fight. Each episode, hosts Jamie Brehaut and Justin Presseau sit down with leading experts to have conversations about misinformation: where it comes from, how it spreads, and what actually works to counter it. 


Jamie is a psychologist focusing on implementation science, the science of effecting real change in healthcare systems. Justin is basically the same thing, but a newer, better-looking model. Both are senior scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and professors in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa.


This show talks to top people wrestling with the very real problems caused by misinformation. It provides practical intelligence to those responsible for protecting their organizations against an increasingly complex information environment. Every episode ends with clear ideas about how to combat misinformation more effectively.


Produced in collaboration with PodCraft Productions and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute



]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) PodCraft Productions https://storage.buzzsprout.com/9ve821qp2a32gquzth6521kwont7?.jpg MythInformed Science Silence Is Not a Strategy | Dr. Ami Palmer Silence Is Not a Strategy | Dr. Ami Palmer Silence is one misinformation strategy — it's just the wrong one. And when organizations do speak up, they often make the same mistake: assuming that better information changes minds. Dr. Ami Palmer, clinical ethicist and health misinformation researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Centre, has a more useful framework, and it starts with showing up in the information environments where your audience actually forms its beliefs.

The conversation covers why frequency matters as much as accuracy, why organizations need to be present in the spaces where misinformation is already circulating, and why targeting the extremists is a waste of resources. The people worth reaching are the ones in the middle, still open to evidence, who just need a clear, respectful, data-backed counter to the talking points they are already hearing. Palmer also explains why changing someone's mind is rarely about giving them better information.  And what organizations need to understand about how beliefs are actually formed.


]]> Silence is one misinformation strategy — it's just the wrong one. And when organizations do speak up, they often make the same mistake: assuming that better information changes minds. Dr. Ami Palmer, clinical ethicist and health misinformation researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Centre, has a more useful framework, and it starts with showing up in the information environments where your audience actually forms its beliefs.

The conversation covers why frequency matters as much as accuracy, why organizations need to be present in the spaces where misinformation is already circulating, and why targeting the extremists is a waste of resources. The people worth reaching are the ones in the middle, still open to evidence, who just need a clear, respectful, data-backed counter to the talking points they are already hearing. Palmer also explains why changing someone's mind is rarely about giving them better information.  And what organizations need to understand about how beliefs are actually formed.


]]> PodCraft Productions Buzzsprout-19130994 Thu, 21 May 2026 06:00:00 -0400 2734 full false Treating Misinformation Like a Public Health Crisis | Dr. Trevor Arnason Treating Misinformation Like a Public Health Crisis | Dr. Trevor Arnason Ottawa's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Trevor Arnason, joins Jamie and Justin to reflect on what five years of COVID has taught public health units about misinformation. He shares how Ottawa Public Health responded in real time to a false claim about a child's death at CHEO, why the legacy of COVID has made vaccine hesitancy harder to address, and why his team now treats misinformation as a public health issue in its own right rather than a problem tied to any single virus or vaccine.

The conversation covers what actually worked during the pandemic: building a trusted social media presence, the underappreciated role of timeliness in countering false claims, and the growing importance of community engagement with populations that don't show up in surveys or on social media. 

Book recommendation:
Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, by Yuval Noah Harari


]]> Ottawa's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Trevor Arnason, joins Jamie and Justin to reflect on what five years of COVID has taught public health units about misinformation. He shares how Ottawa Public Health responded in real time to a false claim about a child's death at CHEO, why the legacy of COVID has made vaccine hesitancy harder to address, and why his team now treats misinformation as a public health issue in its own right rather than a problem tied to any single virus or vaccine.

The conversation covers what actually worked during the pandemic: building a trusted social media presence, the underappreciated role of timeliness in countering false claims, and the growing importance of community engagement with populations that don't show up in surveys or on social media. 

Book recommendation:
Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, by Yuval Noah Harari


]]> PodCraft Productions Buzzsprout-19130959 Thu, 07 May 2026 06:00:00 -0400 2246 Science, misinformation, research, communications, education 1 1 full false