Talking with professor Alan Levinovitz about pseudoscience and the myth of “natural”

Today I spoke with Professor Alan Levinovitz, author of Natural: How Faith in Nature’s Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science. We talked about the myth of the natural, pseudoscience, neurodiversity and post-pandemic life.

Listen to the podcast on the audio link below. Also available on Spotify, Stitcher or iTunes.

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Bio

Alan Levinovitz is associate professor of religious studies at James Madison University. He specializes in classical Chinese thought, as well as the intersection between religion and science. His most recent book, Natural, explores how the mistake of worshipping nature can lead to pseudoscience and injustice. We’re going to talk about the book today, in the context of neurodiversity, and also about the ideas of “natural immunity” and “natural medicine” that arose in response to the pandemic.  

Link
Natural: How Faith in Nature’s Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science.

Eating in the 4th Dimension: Interview with Alan Levinovitz

alan photo
I had a great conversation with Alan Levinovitz about how the desire for empowering rituals around food can be twisted by marketers to sell a product or a plan, such as the GAPS, DAN or MAPS diets. We talked about the negative impact of restrictive diets on individuals, the problem with proxy consent and more. Alan also discussed food restrictions within the framework of world religions and the commodification of rituals: incredibly interesting!

Listen to the episode by clicking the audio link below, on Stitcher here on iTunes here.
Read the transcript below the audio.

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Transcript by Julie Ann Lee: transcript_Noncompliant_Alan_Levinovitz

Bio
Professor Alan Levinovitz is an associate professor of religious studies at James Madison University. He specializes in classical Chinese philosophy and the relationship between religion and science. In addition to scholarly articles, he is the author of The Gluten Lie: And Other Myths about What You Eat –and The Limits of Religious Tolerance. He has also appeared on the Netflix series A User’s Guide to Cheating Death.

Links
Interview with Alan Levinovitz

The Gluten Lie