BBC Radio Podcasts from How They Made Us Doubt Everything

How They Made Us Doubt Everything

Talc Tales: 5. Talc on trial

When we send off make-up for testing, the lab finds an asbestos fibre.

Talc Tales: 4. ‘Time for more confusion’

When talc might be listed as a carcinogen, the industry assembles a ‘talc task force’.

Talc Tales: 3. ‘We may have problems’

Could companies clean up their talc?

Talc Tales: 2. Never 100% clean

In the 1970s, a scientist discovers asbestos fibres in talcum powder.

Talc Tales: 1. Asbestos in my make-up?

After a cancer diagnosis, Hannah Fletcher asks if her make-up contained asbestos.

Introducing Talc Tales

Is there asbestos in make-up?

The Tobacco Playbook: 10. Leaving the Tribe

Our story ends at the very top, with a fax to the White House.

The Tobacco Playbook: 9. Deep Pockets, Useful Allies

Oil money is pumped to scientists and think tanks in the bid to make it a culture war.

The Tobacco Playbook: 8. Jerry gets ‘duped’

A climate change sceptic realises he’s been getting it wrong

The Tobacco Playbook: 7. The Opponent

In the battle for public opinion, the scientists were no match for a well-oiled PR machine

The Tobacco Playbook: 6. From Fact to Theory

‘Unless climate change becomes a non-issue…there may be no moment we can declare victory’

The Tobacco Playbook: 5. Big Oil's Big Group

As the world’s scientists agree on man-made climate change, oil companies form a coalition

The Tobacco Playbook: 4. Tobacco in the Dock

As the evidence against tobacco mounts, the court suits mount up. Tobacco keeps winning.

The Tobacco Playbook: 3. The White Coats

The tobacco industry’s white coats are ready, the battle of science vs science begins.

The Tobacco Playbook: 2. ‘Doubt is our product'

In 1953 PR and tobacco execs draw up a plan to fight claims that smoking causes cancer.

The Tobacco Playbook: 1. Big Oil’s Big Crisis

From climate change to smoking and cancer, this is the story of how to manufacture doubt.

Welcome to How They Made Us Doubt Everything: The Tobacco Playbook

From climate change to smoking, this is the story of how doubt has been manufactured.