“This is an unbeatable podcast for people interested in science, or even in just thinking through issues deeply and rigorously. That said, I wish the host applied that same rigor to his choice of advertising partners. I completely understand the need to monetize the podcast given the incredible amount of work that must go into it. However, given the podcast’s emphasis on the importance of empiricism and scientific inquiry, I have to say that there have been empirical studies that show BetterHelp and similar text-based therapy platforms demonstrate no benefit to their users (or exceedingly small benefits), especially when you compare them with traditional mental health providers. I get that it’s difficult to ever fully live your values in a capitalistic system, but I do wish scientific podcast hosts (and Carroll is not the only scientific podcast host who has BetterHelp as a sponsor) would apply the same rigor they apply to everything else to their sponsors. I worry that people might take their BetterHelp ads as endorsements of the product, a product they likely wouldn’t make if they took the time to review the empirical evidence in this area.”
Literroy via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
04/08/24