Why evidence matters

How can scientific evidence help us in an age of “alternative facts”?

As chief data reporter for the Financial Times, John Burn-Murdoch uses statistics and graphics to dig into the most pressing issues of the day, covering everything from the economy to climate change, social issues and healthcare. His high-profile use of visualization and data science helped audiences around the world understand the complexities of the coronavirus pandemic. He helps to inject data and evidence-based argument into what can be very polarising topics.

In her new book, Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works, science journalist Helen Pearson tells the story of the global movement championing the idea that evidence, not opinions, should guide our decisions. For many years, most medical advice was based on doctors’ opinions and conventional wisdom, not solid science. Helen Pearson describes how evidence-based medicine swept the world in the 1990s—becoming the predominant form of medicine practiced today—and how the idea that evidence should guide decisions is quietly transforming a host of other fields as well. At a time when science is under attack and questionable claims run rampant, Pearson underscores the importance of evidence in all facets of our lives, empowering each of us to sift fact from falsehood and misinformation from the truth.

From the start of his reporting on climate change more than twenty years ago, David Shukman sought to convey the scientific evidence about it as clearly as possible - to try to give audiences a sense of what’s known about the risks and what isn’t. Key to that has been finding the right language to explain complex research in intelligible ways, a task he’s continued in his new book, The Response: A Story of Fire and Flood in Britain’s New World of Extremes, published on May 7th 2026. The BBC’s first Science Editor, David now works as a speaker and consultant. Sir David Attenborough described him as ‘a leader in raising awareness of the climate emergency’.

Meet your speakers and chair

John Burn-Murdoch is a columnist and the chief data reporter for the Financial Times, for which he writes the weekly Data Points column. He is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Data Science Institute at LSE.

Helen Pearson is a journalist and editor for Nature, the world’s leading science journal. She has more than 20 years’ experience in science journalism, including five years as Nature’s Chief Magazine Editor. She has won multiple awards, including European Science Journalist of the Year 2025 and Editor of the Year 2022 at the Association of British Science Writers’ awards. She is an Honorary Professor at University College London, where she teaches science writing. Her first book, The Life Project, was named best science book of the year by The Observer and was a book of the year for The Economist. Her second book, Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works, will be published 28th April 2026. She has a degree in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in genetics from the University of Edinburgh.

David Shukman began in journalism while studying for a BA in Geography at the University of Durham, later working in local newspapers and then the BBC in 1983. He reported from Northern Ireland during The Troubles, worked as Defence Correspondent and then Europe Correspondent, based in Brussels. He went on to lead the BBC’s coverage of climate change and other environmental issues, first as Environment and Science Correspondent from 2003-2012 and then as the BBC’s first Science Editor from 2012-2021. David set out to help the public understand the state of climate science, the impacts of climate change and possible solutions, with broadcasts from as far afield as the Antarctic and the Amazon. After nearly forty years as a correspondent for BBC News, David is now working as an independent consultant, writer and broadcaster. He is a Visiting Professor in Practice in the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE.

Emily Jackson first joined the LSE in 1998. After graduating from Oxford University, she worked as a research officer at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies in Oxford. Her first teaching position was at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, and she has also taught at Birkbeck College and Queen Mary, University of London. Emily’s research interests are in the field of medical law. She has served as a member of the British Medical Association Medical Ethics Committee (2005-2022), Deputy Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (2008-2012) and a Judicial Appointments Commissioner (2014-2017). She is a Fellow of the British Academy, and in 2017 was awarded an OBE for services to higher education.

More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: How to save the planet running from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 June 2026. This year's Festival explores how existential threats including the climate crisis, conflict and AI are affecting all parts of the world, transforming the way and where we live, and how our societies function. With a series of events asking what can we be doing to save the Earth, its people and environment? Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 18 May.

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