How They Made Us Doubt Everything

When we send off make-up for testing, the lab finds an asbestos fibre in two of the samples. Brunel University’s Experimental Technique’s Centre says they need to find at least 3 fibres to confirm the asbestos fibre...

When talc might be listed as a potential carcinogen, the industry assembles a ‘talc task force’. It’s the year 2000 and the talc industry has heard something big is coming its way. The US government agencies tasked with...

Could companies clean up their talc? In the 1970s, talc companies worked out a plan to check their product for asbestos fibres. The problem was, mineralogist Sean Fitzgerald says the testing method they chose wasn’t...

In the 1970s, a scientist discovers asbestos fibres in talcum powder. After Mineralogist Arthur Langer discovered asbestos fibres in the lungs of normal people in New York, he set out to investigate the source. How...

After Hannah Fletcher’s cancer diagnosis, she investigates whether her make up contained asbestos. She was just 41 when she was diagnosed with mesothelioma – a rare cancer that’s very hard to treat. The average life...

Is there asbestos in make-up? If you look through your make-up bag, you might have a blusher, eye shadow or face powder that contains the ingredient talc. But there are questions about its safety. Women diagnosed with...

Our story ends at the very top, with a fax to the White House. The campaign to spread doubt about climate change was so successful, it infiltrated the White House. In 2007, a House of Representatives Committee...

Following the oil money as it’s pumped to contrarian scientists and think tanks. As millions of dollars flow from oil companies to researchers looking into ‘solar variation’ or picking holes in the temperature record...

As climate change goes prime time, a super star climate change sceptic wins his last TV debate. Jerry Taylor was working at CATO, a free market think tank and was regularly on TV putting forward contrarian arguments...

How do you win a battle, if you’re fighting in the wrong arena? A look at how the virtues of science were being used against the scientists. Uncertainty is an inherent part of climate change science, but the word means...

‘Unless “climate change” becomes a non-issue…there may be no moment when we can declare victory’. We reveal the communications plans drawn up by energy groups to make us doubt climate change. From targeting ‘older...

As the world’s scientists agree on man-made climate change, the oil companies come together to form their own coalition. They aren’t just focused on the science, though. From climate change to smoking and cancer, this...

As the evidence against tobacco mounts, the court suits keep coming. Tobacco keeps winning. ‘Due to favourable scientific testimony, no plaintiff has ever collected a penny from any tobacco company in lawsuits even...

The tobacco industry’s white coats are ready, the battle of science vs science begins. The battle for public opinion will be played out in the media. In this episode we hear how the tobacco industry chose to fight...

At a secret meeting, a plan is drawn up to fight claims that smoking causes cancer. In 1953, the tobacco industry was hit by a major storm. ‘Salesmen in the industry are frantically alarmed and the decline in tobacco...

From climate change to smoking and cancer, this is the story of how doubt has been manufactured. In this episode we take you to an oil company’s boardroom as they plan their response to the ‘crisis mentality’ that was...

From climate change to smoking and cancer, this is the story of how doubt has been manufactured. This 10 part series will explore how powerful interests and sharp PR managers engineered doubt about the connection...