Tucker Carlson, the FOX Network’s brightest star shines no more. He and the network have “agreed to part ways” which is an obfuscating way of saying he was fired. Why should I care? Because Carlson was a five-star general in the army of misinformants that has invaded not only the political but the scientific landscape as well. I was always of the opinion that Carlson was an actor playing a role that was created to appeal to the views of FOX’s conservative viewers, since I couldn’t believe that he actually believed the nonsense he was spewing. And now we know that this really was the case, at least as far as his political commentaries went. Emails that came to light as a result of the Dominion voting machine lawsuit reveal that his opinion of Donald Trump was very different from what he expressed on air and he recognized lawyer Sidney Powell as a looney conspiracy theorist while giving her credence about the “stolen election” on his program.
Now on to scientific matters in which Carlson also dabbled. There are no revelatory emails about his beliefs, but there is no question that a lot of nonsense gushed out of his mouth. A prime example was his bizarrely-titled documentary about “The End of Men”, which I have previously written about for our website, that was based on the premise that manhood is not what it used to be. Sperm counts are falling, testosterone levels are crashing, and men are becoming physically and mentally weaker. In the past, Carlson has suggested that eating lots of soy products and not enough meat has been a factor, with his solution being a “carnivore diet.” This in spite of overwhelming epidemiological evidence that plant-based diets are healthier
The softening of men, Carlson suggested, will lead to the collapse of society and a hardening is in order. This apparently involves blasting away at bottles with a machine gun, chopping down trees with a giant ax, flipping truck tires, guzzling raw eggs, immersing oneself in cold water, milking cows, grilling meat and grappling with others. All of this apparently has to be done naked from the waist up. And then there was the “toasting of testicles,” his actual phrase. This requires the shedding of all clothing and exposing the family jewels to red light with the claim that this will increase testosterone production, making men manlier, more “resourceful, making them strong enough to survive,” supposedly in face of a feminizing liberal onslaught. There is no scientific evidence for red light boosting testosterone production.
How did Tucker Carlson get connected to red light therapy? It seems to have come from his introduction to “bromeopathy,” a new term for me. Don’t trust mainstream science, instead trust your “bro,” those muscular tree-chopping, machine gun-toting, testicle tanning examples of manliness who are set to teach the testosterone-deprived weaklings what they can do to save society. Of course, I don’t think Tucker actually believes in “bromeopathy,” but it is a catchy term, playing upon “homeopathy,” the absurd “alternative” therapy that is often embraced by Fox viewers who grip anything that opposes mainstream.
While Carlson’s prattle borders on lunacy, it is true that there is concern about declining sperm counts and possibly testosterone levels. Environmental factors such as exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals may play a role, but obesity is a more likely candidate. Carlson does refer to the problem of excessive weight, and references President Kennedy’s campaign against childhood obesity. So, there is a tiny glimmer of light in this dark drivel that claims society is set to collapse unless men shed their clothes and take charge by chopping, grilling, milking and red-lighting their testicles.
While bathing testicles in red light is sort of benign nonsense, Tucker’s opposition to COVID vaccines that he justified with what amounts to junk science was not benign. His rants based on cherry-picked data undoubtedly made some viewers forego vaccination. For example, he highlighted the preprint of a study that supposedly showed an increase in miscarriage after COVID vaccination. That study had not undergone peer review and was based on the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) that requires no proof of any kind and is open to anyone wishing to submit a report. Basically, it is a compilation of anecdotes that experts can scrutinize to see if there is any further investigation needed. The miscarriage allegation has been scrutinized, and data collected by proper scientific methodology from a number of studies reveal no difference in the rate of miscarriage between vaccinated and non-vaccinated women.
So, all indications are that Carlson was not a “misinformant,” but even worse, he was a “disinformant.” He knew that what he was saying wasn’t true. That should be a reason for firing, but FOX has not given a reason. There may be other factors involved since the network does not seem to be averse to the spread of misinformation as long as it feeds the appetite of its viewers.
