Alan Bernstein

So first, David, it's a pleasure to be on the show with you. First of all, backing up a little bit and just saying how important science has been to America's success. I think people don't quite appreciate that, but it goes back to actually World War II. And Harry Truman, when he was president, realized that in one way, science kind of won the war. It wasn't just the atomic bomb.

So first, David, it's a pleasure to be on the show with you. First of all, backing up a little bit and just saying how important science has been to America's success. I think people don't quite appreciate that, but it goes back to actually World War II. And Harry Truman, when he was president, realized that in one way, science kind of won the war. It wasn't just the atomic bomb.

So first, David, it's a pleasure to be on the show with you. First of all, backing up a little bit and just saying how important science has been to America's success. I think people don't quite appreciate that, but it goes back to actually World War II. And Harry Truman, when he was president, realized that in one way, science kind of won the war. It wasn't just the atomic bomb.

It was penicillin, it was radar, it was sonar. And so he asked a guy called Vannevar Bush, I don't think it's a relation to the other Bushes, to make some recommendations about what America should do. And he wrote what's a famous book in scientific circles called Science, the Endless Frontier.

It was penicillin, it was radar, it was sonar. And so he asked a guy called Vannevar Bush, I don't think it's a relation to the other Bushes, to make some recommendations about what America should do. And he wrote what's a famous book in scientific circles called Science, the Endless Frontier.

It was penicillin, it was radar, it was sonar. And so he asked a guy called Vannevar Bush, I don't think it's a relation to the other Bushes, to make some recommendations about what America should do. And he wrote what's a famous book in scientific circles called Science, the Endless Frontier.

And in that book, Bush recommended that America invest heavily in science, and particularly in American universities, because it would lead to economic well-being, it would lead to power in the world, it would lead to security for America. And I don't know that anybody at that time appreciated just how right he was.

And in that book, Bush recommended that America invest heavily in science, and particularly in American universities, because it would lead to economic well-being, it would lead to power in the world, it would lead to security for America. And I don't know that anybody at that time appreciated just how right he was.

And in that book, Bush recommended that America invest heavily in science, and particularly in American universities, because it would lead to economic well-being, it would lead to power in the world, it would lead to security for America. And I don't know that anybody at that time appreciated just how right he was.

Because if you look at the growth of the American economy and the growth of American well-being and health outcomes, anything you want to measure, the numbers are anywhere between 20 to 40 to 50 percent of America's well-being, if you will, and growth in GDP and all those things was due to science and innovation.

Because if you look at the growth of the American economy and the growth of American well-being and health outcomes, anything you want to measure, the numbers are anywhere between 20 to 40 to 50 percent of America's well-being, if you will, and growth in GDP and all those things was due to science and innovation.

Because if you look at the growth of the American economy and the growth of American well-being and health outcomes, anything you want to measure, the numbers are anywhere between 20 to 40 to 50 percent of America's well-being, if you will, and growth in GDP and all those things was due to science and innovation.

Today, as we're witnessing kind of the destruction of the institutions behind American science, It's hard to believe that any administration would do this. All right. Well, destruction is a dramatic word. How severe is the damage? I think it's very severe. And it's not just my own personal view. I was talking to a close friend at Stanford, actually.

Today, as we're witnessing kind of the destruction of the institutions behind American science, It's hard to believe that any administration would do this. All right. Well, destruction is a dramatic word. How severe is the damage? I think it's very severe. And it's not just my own personal view. I was talking to a close friend at Stanford, actually.

Today, as we're witnessing kind of the destruction of the institutions behind American science, It's hard to believe that any administration would do this. All right. Well, destruction is a dramatic word. How severe is the damage? I think it's very severe. And it's not just my own personal view. I was talking to a close friend at Stanford, actually.

And she was talking, even though Stanford has not been hit by one of the sort of things that Columbia or NYU, the East Coast elite universe, so-called elite universities have been hit by it. They no longer are guaranteeing salaries for PhD students who enter into the graduate program at Stanford. Stanford is a wealthy university.

And she was talking, even though Stanford has not been hit by one of the sort of things that Columbia or NYU, the East Coast elite universe, so-called elite universities have been hit by it. They no longer are guaranteeing salaries for PhD students who enter into the graduate program at Stanford. Stanford is a wealthy university.

And she was talking, even though Stanford has not been hit by one of the sort of things that Columbia or NYU, the East Coast elite universe, so-called elite universities have been hit by it. They no longer are guaranteeing salaries for PhD students who enter into the graduate program at Stanford. Stanford is a wealthy university.

So they're kind of circling the wagons and harvesting, you know, harboring their funds in case the Trump administration goes after them. So I think it's hard to overstate how serious this is. And I think the thing we should all keep in mind is by going after the institutions of science, so I would say there's several categories, the funders of science.

So they're kind of circling the wagons and harvesting, you know, harboring their funds in case the Trump administration goes after them. So I think it's hard to overstate how serious this is. And I think the thing we should all keep in mind is by going after the institutions of science, so I would say there's several categories, the funders of science.