Merchants of Doubt

Inspired by the acclaimed book by Harvard historian Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, Merchants of Doubt is a satiric yet serious examination into the heart of conjuring American spin. Filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the curtain on a secretive group of charismatic pundits-for-hire and pseudo-scientists, paid for by multinational energy businesses, who present themselves in the media as scientific authorities -- yet have the contrary aim of spreading maximum confusion about well-studied threats ranging from smoking and toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals and, in recent years, climate change. By fabricating false arguments, they work to muddle the scientific debate on global warming to slow the cause of progress and defer public action for as long as possible.

Join New America NYC and the Environmental Defense Fund for a screening of Merchants of Doubt, followed by a conversation with leaders in the science, environmental, and media communication fields to discuss the state of our environment in the era of polarized politics.

This screening of Merchants of Doubt is courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics, Participant Media and Omidyar Network.

Participants:

Robert Kenner
Director and Producer, Merchants of Doubt and Food, Inc.

Nathaniel Keohane
Vice President for International Climate, Environmental Defense Fund

Debika Shome
Deputy Director, The Harmony Institute

Michael Oppenheimer
Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton University
@ClimateOpp

Gabriel Sherman
Contributing editor, New York Magazine
Author, The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News -- And Divided A Country
Former Bernard L. Schwartz Fellow, New America
@gabrielsherman