Vaccines: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN recommends it as an accessible, funny explanation of why vaccines matter.
What it is
John Oliver's Last Week Tonight segment on vaccines, arguing that the benefits far outweigh the minuscule risks and discussing why some parents still doubt their safety.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2018 to 2021.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec rahuldottech · 2020-01 · on “DR Congo measles: More than 6k dead in world's worst outbreak”
Last Week Tonight has a nice episode on Vaccines: [this video] It explains why vaccines are important, why "taking it slow" with vaccines is a bad approach, and other important stuff. Please vaccinate yourself and your kids.
Recommends hjek · 2018-08 · on “Ask HN: What is going on?”
Yes, sometimes explanations and reasonable arguments can just derail conversations completely. For preventing that, I find David Burns' disarming technique[0] really useful. It is about "finding truth in what the other person is saying, even if it seems blatantly wrong, or illogical, or exaggerated." His podcast is amazing. Perhaps part of what your room mate is saying is that she is concerned about the well-being of her (future) children? Surely that's truly good. She's also interested in avoiding certain medical treatments that are excessive or unnecessary, which is also good. Don't know about the Holocaust-denying colleague, but sometimes xenophones have a fear of losing their job to some
Cites MattGaiser · 2021-06 · on “Surfside official told residents building was safe, despite engineer's warning”
Would that normally be in such a document? Plenty of engineering type documents I have read don't lay out threats in plain English nor do they try to add emotional urgency to them. Reminds me of this comment about how scientists sometimes understate how certain they are: [this video] .