The Microbiome as TED Knows It: Popular Science Communication and the Neoliberal Subject

• Published in: Canadian journal of communication Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 157 - 174
• Main Author: Ironstone, Penelope
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Toronto University of Toronto Press 01.01.2019
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Citizen participation; Citizenship; Communication; Conventions; Crowdfunding; Crowdsourcing; Cultural anthropology; Cultural studies; Culture; Democratization; Disease; Drug resistance; Ecologists; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Genomics; Ideology; Microbiota; Neoliberalism; Precision medicine; Public health; Science; Scientists; Subjectivity; Tomes, Nancy; Universe; United Kingdom > UK

Background Although criticized for a variety of reasons, TED platforms and conventions have been engaged, often uncritically, as tools for popular science communication. This article critically examines four TED Talks that engage the relatively recent biomedical concept of the human microbiome. Anal...