Thread by @doctorow

This week on my podcast, I read "I Quit," a column I wrote for @medium that connects the dots between smoking cessation, tobacco denial, climate inaction, and anti-maskers.

doctorow.medium.com/i-quit-9ae7b60…

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Specifically, it's about how the cancer denial playbook has been iterated and sharpened by successive generation of corporate murderers and their enablers in the Paltrow-Industrial Complex.

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The goal of science deniers isn't necessarily to convince you that covid isn't real, or that vaccines are bad for you, or that privacy is overrated, or that there isn't a climate emergency - their goal is to convince you that these things just CAN'T BE KNOWN for sure.

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It's a form of weaponized skepticism and it has deep roots, going all the way back (at least) to Darrell Huff's famous HOW TO LIE WITH STATISTICS a book I held in high esteem...

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Until I read @TimHarford's brilliant THE DATA DETECTIVE and learned that Huff was a paid shill for Big Tobacco and his major motive wasn't to debunk bad stats, it was to obscure the link between tobacco use and cancer.

pluralistic.net/2021/01/04/how…

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When I quit smoking 17 years ago, a wise doctor counselled me that if I was going to resist cravings, I needed a more immediate reason than "I won't get cancer in 40 years." My answer: "I spend two laptops per year on a product whose makers want to murder me and my friends."

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More importantly: "These companies invented the science denial techniques that are on track to render my species extinct."

I wrote this column at the urging of my friend @drrimmer, in honor of #worldnotobaccoday2021.

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It's never too late to quit smoking. See your doctor. And if you want a catchy, profane anthem to see you through the hard times, check out Allen Ginsburg's incredible "Put Down Your Cigarette Rag (Don't Smoke)."



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Here's the podcast episode:

craphound.com/articles/2021/…

and here's a direct link to the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the @InternetArchive; they'll host your stuff for free, forever):

archive.org/download/Cory_…

and here's my podcast feed:

feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podca…

eof/

ETA - If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2021/06/07/fir…