Time to Question the Science? A Conversation with Subhadra Das

Future Learning Design Podcast

One of the things that I enjoy doing on the podcast is problematising various ’school subjects’. In previous episodes, with various guests we’ve questioned maths, languages, economics, history, physical education. But we haven’t yet taken a critical look at science itself, which is not only a set of disciplines, but also an approach and methodology that underpins a lot of the logic of how many like to imagine that we direct education, through evidence-based practice and the sciences of learning. Apparently it tells us ‘what works’ in inverted commas… doesn’t it?

This week, it’s a massive pleasure to be chatting with the delightful and funny Subhadra Das a historian, writer, broadcaster, comedian, curator, researcher and storyteller who looks at the relationship between science and society. She specialises in the history and philosophy of science, particularly the history of scientific racism and eugenics, and for nine years, was Curator of the Science Collections at University College London. She was also Researcher in Critical Eugenics at the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism and Racialisation. Subhadra has also appeared on radio and TV as a stand-up comedian. In this conversation we talk about her fantastic recent book, Uncivilised: Ten Lies that Made the West.

Subhadra Das (https://www.subhadradas.com/) is a historian, writer, broadcaster, comedian, curator, researcher and storyteller who looks at the relationship between science and society.

She specialises in the history and philosophy of science, particularly the history of scientific racism and eugenics, and what those histories mean for our lives today. For nine years, Subhadra was Curator of the Science Collections at University College London, where she was also Researcher in Critical Eugenics at the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism and Racialisation.

She’s also a prolific writer, broadcaster on radio and TV and stand-up comedian. In this conversation we talk about her recent book, Uncivilised: Ten Lies that Made the West In which she brings the lens of the history of science to bear on Western tropes such as ‘knowledge is power’, ‘time is money’ and ’justice is blind’.