The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott

Hosted by Al Scott

Technology Society Culture ScienceInterviews guests

Website RSS feed

Episodes

200

Latest episode

May 2026

Language

About the show

Physicist Dr. Al Scott addresses politically and socially divisive issues with insightful evidence-based analysis of the facts. Learn to apply the tools of science to discover the most rational path to an optimistic vision of the future. https://www.therationalview.ca

Listen to episodes

60 recent

May 9, 2026Episode 25537 min

Iranian schoolgirls--the latest underage victims of the President of Peace

Welcome to The Rational View, where we apply evidence and critical thinking to the biggest issues of our time. Trump declared on election night, "I'm not going to start wars. I'm going to stop wars," while warning that a victory by Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate at the time, would lead to "World War III." He has repeatedly referred to himself as the "President of Peace" and is obviously unable to deal with the fact that President Obama got a Nobel Prize. This comes as no surprise as he has been unable to follow through on his promise to end the Ukraine war on day one, and day two and all the other days of his presidency, while he threatens to forcibly annex allied countries like Greenland and Canada. Groups seeking quid pro quo favours have since showered him with second hand peace prizes including FIFA and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado who presented her 2023 Nobel Peace Prize medal to U.S. President Donald Trump during a White House meeting to recognize his support for her country's freedom hoping to trade for a return to democratic elections. After that, he sent US forces to attack Iran. What motivated the sudden change of heart and total flip flop from election promises? Today’s episode tackles this rapidly unfolding and deeply consequential question: The United States is now at war with Iran. What led to this? Is it legal? What are the claimed strategic goals and do they make sense? And—controversially—is this connected to domestic political distractions like the Epstein files? Time for A Rational View.

March 18, 2026Episode 25449 min

Corruption is in and democracy is on the way out

This podcast is my opinion on the Republican regime’s anti-democratic and corrupt behaviour. As Steve Bannon said they are going to push against all of the guardrails and flood the zone with questionable behaviour. They are doing this because they are only popular with a small minority of Americans, and if everyone voted they would be out. No surprise. Pam Bondi is slow-walking the court-ordered release of the Epstein files after Kash Patel’s FBI stopped New York Investigations into Epstein’s pedophile ring and redacted the names of the abusers rather than the victims. The president of peace and Pete Hegseth started a war with Iran to distract from his government’s blatant contempt of court orders. These people are out of their depth.

February 28, 2026Episode 25328 min

United States world police abducts Venezuelan dictator

In keeping with its Donroe doctrine, the Republican Regime recently captured the president of Venezuela and ferreted him away in a New York prison to face charges on drug trafficking and weapons possession. Open flaunting of international law is now a thing as all of the guardrails are being tested in a full court attack on democratic institutions and international law and order. Welcome to 2026! I’ve taken some time off from producing content to catch up on some personal time, to do some reading and relaxing. Every time I start to write about some completely unprecedented issue, a new and more egregious one comes up. It is difficult to stay focussed, and that is the strategy ladies and gentlemen. This move is being justified in the right wing media echo chamber using many of the same arguments used by previous republican regimes to invade Iraq and topple Sadam Hussein. They tried to portray fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, despite evidence that a negligible fraction of US fentanyl comes from Venezuela. They claim it is immoral to suffer a socialist dictator. Apparently only capitalist dictators are allowed in the Republican morality. It is widely known that Maduro fixed the election, imprisons his political opponents, and takes bribes from shady actors to enrich his family. These are all things Trump seeks to emulate. Lets dig into the spin, and the geopolitics and get a Rational View to understand what is really going on.

January 31, 2026Episode 2521 hr 20 min

Live discussion fact checking my podcast with Mike Conley on health effects of radiation

This episode was originally a live interview discussing podcast 249 with Mike Conley where we explored claims that the linear no threshold theory of radiation health effects was politically motivated and is not supported by evidence. In this podcast I speak with author Mike Conley, and subject matter experts Steve Curtis, and Dr. Stephen Boyd. Please join us for an informal discussion on an important topic.

December 13, 2025Episode 25157 min

Dr. Judd Kessler uncovers the hidden non-monetary markets that govern our lives

In this episode I want to dig into a source of injustice in the world—hidden markets—where who you know is often more important than what you know. My guest has spent his life highlighting these hidden systems that silently maintain inequity. Strap in for The Rational View on hidden markets. Judd B. Kessler is an award-winning teacher and the inaugural Howard Marks Endowed Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. In 2021, Kessler was awarded the prestigious Vernon L. Smith Ascending Scholar Prize for his path breaking scholarship. For his work on the hidden market of organ allocation, Kessler was named one of the “30 under 30” in Law and Policy by Forbes. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, Harvard Business Review, Politico, and Freakonomics, among others. He’s just published a new book, ‘Lucky by Design’.

November 29, 2025Episode 25053 min

Seth Levine knows how to fix Capitalism

In this episode I am continuing to look at pathways to save us from the slow motion economic collapse of late stage capitalism. Today we’ll be talking to an author who has a roadmap to a new system the calls Dynamic Capitalism. Let’s see if we can find a Rational View to a solution. A passionate advocate for entrepreneurship and long-time venture capitalist, Seth Levine, works with venture funds and companies around the globe. His day job is as a partner at Foundry, a Boulder, Colorado-based venture capital firm he co-founded in 2006. He is also the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of GoodBread, a small business lending platform. He has just published "Capital Evolution: The New American Economy" with co-author Elizabeth MacBride. Come find me on Facebook and add your 2 cents to the discussion.

November 15, 2025Episode 2491 hr 19 min

Mike Conley debunks the myth that there is no safe dose of radiation

In this episode I’m going to be diving into a topic of interest to everyone in the nuclear energy field. It is a scandalous expose on the history of the dreaded ALARA principle regarding radiation exposure regulations (As Low As Reasonably Achievable), based on the idea that no amount of radiation is safe. What is the scientific basis behind this idea and is it supported by the evidence, or has there been a massive multi-decadal conspiracy? My guest today has published a book that suggests the ALARA principle is a regulatory roadblock paid for by big oil, and implicitly supported by scientific review panels that may have been more intent on shutting down open air nuclear weapons testing than following the evidence. Returning guest and friend of The Rational View, author Mike Conley has lived in Japan, Hawaii, and all over the US and has backpacked through Thailand and Cambodia. As a lifelong science nerd, Mike became interested in nuclear power in 2010, and quickly saw that the field was in dire need of writers who could explain the technology to the average reader. So he joined the Thorium Energy Alliance, met dozens of scientists and engineers, and made them an offer: “You explain it to me and I’ll explain it to the world.” The first published book from this years-long effort was Earth is a Nuclear Planet. Its short companion book The LNT Report is now available. The LNT report is based on detailed investigations by Dr. Edward Calabrese into scientific misconduct underlying the history of the Linear No-Threshold radiation regulatory regime. This work brings to light a decades-long scientific scandal that helped to derail the nuclear revolution and entrench fossil fuels and climate change over the past 50 years. Support the podcast at Patron.Podbean.com slash TheRationalView

October 18, 2025Episode 24844 min

Dr. Matthew Boedy unveils plans to turn the USA into a Christian theocracy

In this episode I’m going to dig down into the roots of the religious right and show you just how long they have been planning their coup. For decades, a well-funded network of religious and political operatives has been quietly working to dismantle democracy and replace it with Christian theocracy. Matthew Boedy is a professor of rhetoric at the University of North Georgia. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of South Carolina. He researches and writes about religious rhetoric, particularly in the last few years about the rise of Christian Nationalism. Dr. Boedy is president of the Georgia conference of the American Association of University Professors. He authored three books and has appeared on CNN and MSNBC and in The New York Times, The Washington Post. He was once a crime reporter and high school teacher. Come visit me on Facebook at The Rational View group.

October 8, 2025Episode 24753 min

Dr. Henrietta Moore and Arthur Kay want us to rethink 'car culture'

In this episode I’m going to explore modern society’s car culture. We all know that the energy use that supports cars is a huge contributor to the greenhouse effect and climate change. We know that the resources society devotes to transportation are significant, and yet they are also the lifeblood of commerce. They represent freedom. The automobile manufacturing industry directly employs and sustains hundreds of thousands of people, and the surrounding industries like rest stops, motels, highway building and maintenance, towing, paramedics, speed cameras manufacturers, traffic light installers, and mortuaries are all dependent on them. Modern vehicles are the culmination of decades of development. Can we imagine a world without them? My guests today have done just that. Henrietta L. Moore is the founder and director of the Institute for Global Prosperity at University College London. Arthur Kay is an urban designer, advisor and a board member of Transport for London and the Royal Academy of Engineering. They are co-authors of Roadkill, a new book about the costs of car dependency. Let me know what you think about this episode at The Rational View Facebook group!

September 20, 2025Episode 24636 min

Dr. Troyen Brennan knows how to fix healthcare

In this episode I’m digging into the state of healthcare in the United States: the only country in the developed world that believes health care is best delivered as a luxury product. Everywhere else, people go to the doctor when they’re sick. In America, you go only if you’re sick and your credit score is feeling strong. They treat hospitals like casinos: you walk in, take your chances, and hope you don’t lose the house on the way out. Other nations pride themselves on how they treat the less fortunate. Americans think of healthcare as a benefit for capitalist success. If you can’t afford insurance and get sick you’ve been judged unworthy to live. Troyen A. Brennan is an adjunct professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. A former professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the former chief medical officer at CVS Health, he is the author of The Transformation of American Health Insurance: On the Path to Medicare for All and Just Doctoring: Medical Ethics in the Liberal State Come chat with me on Facebook at The Rational View