Bonus | Cuts to Science Funding and Why They Matter

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
• Shrimp treadmill story
• Bribing foreign officials
• Deleting NSA web pages
• Executive Orders are not laws
• History of impoundments