47. How to communicate about controversial topics (like aliens)

Let's Talk SciComm

This week we had a fascinating conversation with Dr Graham Phillips focused on how to talk about controversial or divisive science topics – like aliens. Graham is a much-loved Australian science communicator and journalist and has plenty of experience communicating about tricky topics, especially when he was the host and a producer-reporter on ABC TV’s science program Catalyst.

Graham began his career as a scientist (he has a PhD in astrophysics) before quitting to become science journalist/broadcaster/communicator. He’s been a regular science commentator on all the free-to-air TV commercial networks, written about science for almost every major newspaper in Australia and had regular science columns in a number of them. He’s contributed to many, many hours of science on radio as both an interviewee and interviewer, and has had four popular science books published.

Graham recently wrote and produced a series on extra-terrestrial life for Amazon’s podcast arm Audible - Astronomical: looking for life beyond Earth – hence his interest in aliens!

You can follow Graham and find out more about his work here:

https://www.instagram.com/grahamphillipsscience

https://au.linkedin.com/in/graham-phillips-80b3b920

https://twitter.com/grahamp10

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/o4js