47. Bad Influencer: Can you spot pseudo-scientific health claims?
Belle Gibson, an Australian influencer, documented her journey of healing terminal cancer via clean eating until people noticed that her posts didnβt add up.
In 2009, Belle Gibson shared on her blog that she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and had only four months to live. She then began documenting her journey of healing via clean eating. When Instagram launched a year later, she quickly amassed a following of 200,000 people, becoming one of the very first wellness influencers. But was she just taking advantage of people's wishful thinking?
In this episode of Bad People, Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen discuss how βwellnessβ has been conceptualized as a concept that remains forever out of reach, why the veneer of credibility can be so hard to break through, and the famous sceptic Barry Beyersteinβs advice on how to identify pseudo-scientific health claims.
Warning: This episode includes descriptions of cancer treatment, and mentions a threat of suicide.
CREDITS
Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen
Producer: Simona Rata
Music: Matt Chandler
Editor: Rami Tzabar
Academic Consultants for The Open University: Lara Frumkin and James Munro
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Commissioning Assistant Producer: Adam Eland
Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins
Bad People is produced in partnership with The Open University and is a ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Audio Science Production for ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds.
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Bad People
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