Matt Ridley, 5th Viscount Ridley

Science writer, journalist.

Matt Ridley, 5th Viscount Ridley, is a broadcaster, businessman and one of Britain’s top science writers. Alongside his career as a journalist for such publications as The Economist, The Times and the Wall Street Journalist, he has written several best-selling popular science books, the latest of which - Birds, Sex and Beauty: The Extraordinary Implications Of Charles Darwin’s Strangest Idea - was published in March.

Why did we invite him on?

It’s no secret that we love people who speak out, and Matt represents an unapologetic, unflinching voice in his field. In a time where 'top-down control seems to be the only response to problems in climate, the economy, and science, Matt provides a necessary counterargument.

4 years ago, we had Matt come on to discuss COVID’s shadowy origins and the hysterical shutting-down of any prospecting that cut against the established narrative. Today, we see what that censorship has wrought - a wholesale suspicion of science itself. We wanted to talk about that,

That’s where the conversation starts, but that’s not where it ends.

What did we talk about?

”In my view, writing a scientific paper that states the opposite of what you actually think in private is the definition of scientific misconduct.”

It’s impossible to overstate the effects of COVID. While day-to-day life has largely returned to normalcy, Matt considers this one of the most devastating consequences of the pandemic - an insidious shift in how we perceive experts that might never be undone.

”This is a point I struggle to get across to my scientific friends. They think it’s the fault of RFK and anti-vaxxers that people have turned against vaccines, but I say: ‘Look in the mirror!’ … Why did [RFK’s] numbers shoot up? Because you made claims about vaccines that we were way overblown. Giving out genuine misinformation and not saying ‘Sorry, we were wrong’, it leads people to say: what else are you wrong about?”

A scientist himself - a man with a self-evident deep love for the practice - Matt finds himself suspicious of his peers. He admits that, when news of a scientific breakthrough or panic comes, he reacts with hesitancy. This, to him, is proof of how badly things have soured. In his words, ”There isn’t a mirror big enough for scientists to say the damage they’ve done.”

”Science is in real danger of turning in on itself, of believing it doesn’t need to hear from the concerns of the public or concerned critics. I don’t think that’s healthy.”

These wrongs should be put right, but we can’t keep looking back - to some extent, what’s done is done, we need to look ahead. So that’s where the conversation goes next. Another field of science that Matt has found himself smeared as a heretic in is ‘climate science’, and in 2025, there are few smears more damning than that. “Blacklisted from the BBC” and unable to get published, it sounds like he’s got some radical, Pagan beliefs to share. What does he really think is happening?