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ihaveaquestion

(4,871 posts)
Thu Jun 11, 2026, 11:30 AM 5 hrs ago

This Scientist Saved Lives During COVID. Now She Needs Your Help - Rebecca Watson (Skepchick)



From the transcript:

Hey there. Bit of a change of pace today. Uh, normally on this channel, I make videos that are relatively short and scripted, and today's video is neither of those. I wanted to tell the story of my friend Dr. Susie Wilds. And I realized that the absolute best way to do that is to have her tell you her own story in her own words.

So, the bulk of this video is a conversation that Susie and I had about what she's been through in the past few years. And I think it's
a fascinating and necessary conversation um about science communication and harassment and uh the rights of workers. It kind of goes all over the place. So, I I really hope that you watch the entirety of this video, but I did want to give you the TLDDW here at the start because I know that you don't normally come to this channel to watch an hour and a half long conversation.

So, uh basically Susie was the most visible science communicator in New Zealand in 2020. So she became the uh face of taking precautions against CO and she helped guide the country through CO 19 developing educational tools that ended up being used worldwide. So not only did she absolutely save lives in New Zealand, but she also helped save lives throughout the rest of the world.

Much like what happened here in the United States with conspiracy theorists targeting Dr. Anthony Fauci, Susie became the target of an avalanche of harassment and threats. At the same time, her university refused to provide her with any kind of help to deal with that harassment and so she ended up fighting them in court.

She has just won an important precedent setting judgment that will protect public-facing employees in every field uh not just science um science communication. But despite the fact that she won, she still lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

And so now that her case is over, she has started a crowdfunding effort that uh will hopefully help her recoup some of her costs. So here's the page. If you have a few dollars to contribute, if you don't, that is totally fine. I have already made a donation on your behalf simply for you watching, liking, and sharing this video. So thank you so much. I hope you stick around and listen to Susie tell her own story in her own words.
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This Scientist Saved Lives During COVID. Now She Needs Your Help - Rebecca Watson (Skepchick) (Original Post) ihaveaquestion 5 hrs ago OP
Siouxsie Wiles progressoid 4 hrs ago #1
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