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Science Uprising — In the Year of the Mask

David Klinghoffer
Halloween

My family knows that I’ve always been a fan of Halloween, with its pumpkins, spiders, and masks. That 2020 has been the Year of the Mask only slightly cools my affection for the day. I’m stunned, though, to think about the irony that 2019 was, in such a very different sense, a Year of the Mask for us at the Center for Science & Culture, as we debuted the extremely popular Science Uprising season. An icon of the series, from episode to episode, is a masked character. Why a mask? And why that particular design? I explained the meaning in a post, “What’s Up with the Science Uprising Mask?“:

The mask is a reference to the 2005 film V for Vendetta, inspired in turn by the historical English rebel Guy Fawkes, and a comic by David Lloyd, who is right when he says it has become “an icon of popular culture,” “a common brand and a convenient placard to use in protest against tyranny.” The ape is of course a reference to evolutionary schemes that insist on human beings as no more than clever apes. Is “tyranny” too strong a word here? No, it’s not.

That was in June 2019. The trailer is here:

If you haven’t seen all six episodes, you should do so by going to the program’s website now. It is of course free. The series is aimed at reaching Generation Z. And wow, not least in this year of isolation, worry, and conflict, do young people need it! The hunger for meaning has never been greater, and the intersection between science and culture has never seemed more vital. I surely did not realize in 2019 how timely Science Uprising would turn out to be.

David Klinghoffer

Senior Fellow and Editor, Evolution News
David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and the editor of Evolution News & Science Today, the daily voice of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, reporting on intelligent design, evolution, and the intersection of science and culture. Klinghoffer is also the author of six books, a former senior editor and literary editor at National Review magazine, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Commentary, and other publications. Born in Santa Monica, California, he graduated from Brown University in 1987 with an A.B. magna cum laude in comparative literature and religious studies. David lives near Seattle, Washington, with his wife and children.

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Center for Science & CultureconflictcultureDavid LloydepisodesGeneration ZGuy FawkesholidaysisolationmaskspumpkinsscienceScience UprisingspiderstyrannyworryYear of the Mask