Michael Specter

Michael Specter (born 1955) is an American journalist who has been a staff writer, focusing on science and technology, and global public health at ''The New Yorker'' since September 1998. He has also written for ''The Washington Post'' and ''The New York Times''. Since 2019, he has also been a
Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering
at Stanford University. From 2012 to 2016 Specter was
Visiting Professor of Environmental and Urban Studies
at Bard College.

Career

Specter initially covered local news at ''The Washington Post'' in 1985 but then became a national science reporter for the ''Post'' and finally the New York City bureau chief. In 1991, Specter transferred to ''The New York Times''. From 1994 to 1998, he was based in Moscow being appointed co-chief of the Moscow bureau for ''The New York Times'' in 1995. While in Russia, he covered stories such as the war in Chechnya, the 1996 Russian presidential elections, and the declining state of Russian health care. In 1998, he became a roving correspondent based in Rome covering topics as varied as Europe's demographic crisis, Michelangelo's Florentine Pietà, and the spread of AIDS in Africa.

His 2009 book, ''Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives'', explores the ways in which people in the United States and Europe have increasingly rejected scientific truths, backed by impressive data. They instead are embracing what often seem to be more comfortable fictions about issues such as the value of organic food, vaccine safety, and personal genomics. Specter delivered a TEDtalk titled "The danger of science denial" at TED 2010.

At ''The New Yorker'', he has written about the global AIDS epidemic, avian influenza, malaria, scientific efforts to resurrect extinct viruses, synthetic biology, genetically modified food, efforts to mine the human genome to fight disease, and the world's diminishing freshwater resources. He has also written profiles of many people, including Dr. Oz, Lance Armstrong, Richard Branson, the ethicist Peter Singer, P. Diddy, Manolo Blahnik, AIDS activist Larry Kramer, and PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk.

Two months prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Specter hosted a meeting at the Milken Institute School of Public Health titled "Universal Flu Vaccine" (dated October 29, 2019) with Anthony Fauci and several other government officials. In this meeting, Specter asked the attendees about the prospect of "disrupting" egg-based flu vaccine production with newer technologies. Although later debunked by Reuters, rumors spread through social media, using clips from this meeting taken out of context as evidence, that Specter and Fauci collaborated to produce a new influenza virus (in some versions of the rumor, SARS‑CoV‑2) to compel governments to adopt a universal mandate for flu vaccination. The timing of the meeting, along with soundbites of Specter asking whether we must "blow the system up" (in reference to traditional vaccine manufacturing vs developing newer manufacturing methods) or to create an "aura of excitement" and "make influenza sexy" in order to revive government funding, may have contributed to the virality of this rumor.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Specter wrote and performed ''Fauci'', an Audible-exclusive audiobook about Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Awards

In 1996, Specter was awarded the Overseas Press Club Citation for Excellence for his coverage of the War in Chechnya. In 2002, he won the A.A.A.S. Science Journalism Award. He has also twice received the Global Health Council's Annual Excellence in Media Award- for his piece about AIDS in India, "India's Plague" (12/17/01) and for one about AIDS and the population crisis in Russia, "The Devastation".

In 2009, Specter received the Robert P. Balles Annual Prize in Critical Thinking for his book ''Denialism''. The yearly award is given by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry to the author of the published work that best exemplifies healthy skepticism, logical analysis, or empirical science.

Specter received th
2014 Mirror Prize for best Profile
from the Newhouse School of Communication, for "The Operator," about Mehmet Oz
In 2015 he received a James Beard Award
for his New Yorker article “Against the Grain,’’ about America's obsessive fear of gluten.

Personal

Specter is a son of Howard and Eileen Specter. He was previously married to Alessandra Stanley, a former television critic for ''The New York Times''. They have one daughter, Emma.

Specter is a 1977 graduate of Vassar College, where he majored in English.

Bibliography

Books

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Essays and reporting

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* First published in the May 13, 2002 issue.

Audiobooks

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References

External links

Michael Specter website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Specter, Michael
1955 births
Living people
Vassar College alumni
Bard College faculty
American male journalists
The Washington Post people
The New York Times writers
The New Yorker people
Place of birth missing (living people)