Bill Nye’s new Netflix show promises to save the world. It’s kind of great.
Image from "Bill Nye Saves the World"/Netflix.
The show, with the delightfully boastful name "Bill Nye Saves the World," isn’t a continuation of his popular 1990s kid’s show. The new show is aimed at now-grown millennials and mixes the original show’s enthusiasm, humor, and wonky green-fluid-in-a-beaker experiments with "Daily Show"-style field pieces and "Penn and Teller: Bullshit!"-style takedowns of, well, bullshit.
I’ve had the time to sit down and watch a few of the episodes and — as a science guy myself — I have to say, I’m liking it. When correspondent Karlie Kloss visits Venice to see the gigantic pontoon system designed to keep the city above water, I was legitimately fascinated. When Nye demonstrated how carbon dioxide changes the pH of water by blowing down in a straw into a flask, it was like being 8 years old again.
The show is funny, interesting, and educational. It’s also bluntly — and unapologetically — opinionated.
Moderated talks are a recurring segment of the show. Image from "Bill Nye Saves the World"/Netflix.
When it comes to hot-button issues, such as climate change or alternative medicine, Nye is not shy about calling out politicians and conspiracy theorists. He's obviously fed up, and the anger in his voice is real. It's incredibly cathartic — if you agree with him.
As much as I enjoyed the show, I did find myself wondering if Nye’s brashness, as entertaining as it is, might actually end up driving away the viewers Nye seems to most want to convince.
Take the field pieces, for example. They're incredibly fun to watch, but there are a few moments — such as the one in which Joanna Hausmann visits a "sound therapist" who yells at her kidneys — where the show feels like it's veering away from reporting and more into outright mockery of its subjects. "How did you keep a straight face?" Nye asks Hausmann afterward.
But maybe an outspoken, opinionated science guy is OK. In fact, Nye might just be exactly the voice we need right now.
Image from "Bill Nye Saves the World"/Netflix.
For a long time, scientists and science communicators strove to be apolitical, either from a healthy sense of self-doubt or from fear of being accused of bias. As the belief in science has become more and more of a contentious issue, there has been an understandable push toward keeping science un-opinionated.
But maybe this feeling is part of the problem. By staying out of the public discourse, science has let media personalities and politicians pick up the narrative and run with it. Pseudoscience and myths have grown like weeds in an unattended lawn.
Scientists who act more like Nye — embracing their voices and not being afraid to outright disagree with people who disregard facts and data — might just be part of the solution. Admitting that they have opinions (backed by data) can help scientists look more like the actual thinking, breathing humans they are. Science backs me up on this, too: A recent study suggested that scientists don’t lose credibility when they take stands on issues.
No matter how scientifically inclined you are, Nye's show is nothing if not entertaining and informative.
While I still feel like there are parts that could benefit from a lighter touch or a bit more nuance, the show is still on the whole surprising, informative, and quite funny. It's a worthy successor to the original series and definitely worth checking out.
All 13 episodes of the first season of "Bill Nye Saves the World" are available on Netflix as of April 2017. You can watch the trailer below.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."