Over the last few weeks, we have seen a very strong reaction from the scientific community in response to the Joe R*gan podcast with RFK Jr. Much of it frustration (justifiable!) and hot-takes. Both RFKJr and JR have chequered histories when it comes to vaccines and conversations about science, which is presumably why the outrage is so strong. But I’d like to unpack some of the potential unintended consequences from these responses, and consider it from a science communication lens