The Trump administration, led by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, has proposed sweeping cuts to spending on science research here in the US, in particular at the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. I explain a little about what is being cut and why these funds are important to scientific progress. I try, for what it's worth, to provide these explanations in a way that would be informative to those who generally favor cutting government waste in dramatic fashion.

Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/02/12/bonus-cuts-to-science-funding-and-why-they-matter/

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Indirect costs primer
Cuts to NIH indirect costs
Appropriated funds are mandated by statute
Proposed NSF cuts
Elon Musk doesn't understand indirect costs
Bribing foreign officials
Deleting NSA web pages
Executive Orders are not laws
History of impoundments

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Bonus | Cuts to Science Funding and Why They Matter

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas