BBC
The Diary of a CEO host Steven Bartlett is amplifying harmful health misinformation on his number one-rated podcast, a BBC investigation has found.
Recent claims from guests – including that cancer can be treated by following a keto diet, rather than proven treatments – have been accepted by the Dragons' Den star with little to no challenge. Experts told us it's dangerous not to question these disproven claims because it creates distrust of conventional medicine.
In an analysis of 15 health-related podcast episodes, BBC World Service found that each one contained an average of 14 harmful health claims that went against extensive scientific evidence.
Flight Studio – the podcast production company owned by Mr Bartlett – said guests were offered “freedom of expression” and were “extensively researched”.
The podcast launched in 2017 focuses on entrepreneurship and business. It gained popularity when figures such as influencer Molly Mae and Airbnb founder Brian Chesky shared their tips for success.
But over the past 18 months, Mr Bartlett has focused more on health, with guests billed as leading experts in their field. Their opinions are little contested.
The interviews are also posted on Mr. Bartlett's YouTube channel, which has seven million subscribers. Since this content change last year, its monthly views have increased from nine million to 15 million.
Mr Bartlett told The Times in April that he expected his podcast to make £20 million this year, mainly from advertising.
YouTube
Mr Bartlett's production company said the podcast welcomed a wide range of guests.
We reviewed all 23 health-related episodes aired between April and November this year, fact-checking – with four medical experts – 15 of them contained potentially damaging claims.
The experts we spoke to were cancer research professor David Grimes, healthcare professor Heidi Larson, NHS diabetes advisor Dr Partha Kar and surgeon Dr Liz O'Riordan.
We recorded harmful claims as advice that, if followed, could have negative health consequences.
During this eight-month period, some guests billed as health experts shared accurate information, but most spread misleading claims. These included:
Anti-vaccine conspiracies, claiming Covid was an artificial weaponPolycystic ovarian syndrome, autism and other disorders can be 'reversed' with diet. Evidence-based medications are “toxic” to patients, minimizing the success of proven treatments.
Podcasters may claim to share information, but they are actually sharing damaging misinformation, says Professor David Grimes of Trinity College Dublin.
“It's a very different and disempowering thing. It actually puts our entire health at risk,” he says.
In the UK, podcasts are not regulated by media regulator Ofcom, which sets rules for accuracy and impartiality. Thus, Mr. Bartlett is not breaking any broadcasting rules.
In a July episode, Mr. Bartlett spoke with Aseem Malhotra, a doctor who rose to prominence during the pandemic for spreading misinformation about Covid vaccines.
In the episode, Dr. Malhotra claims that “the Covid vaccine was a net negative for society.” Analysis by the World Health Organization shows it saved many lives during the pandemic.
At the end of the episode, Mr Bartlett, who has no background in healthcare, justified airing discredited views, saying he aimed to “present one side of the other side”, because “the truth usually lies somewhere in between.”
He added that: “The ideas of the suffragettes, Gandhi and Martin Luther King were also received in an equally horrible way…so we must be humble because an idea that may be important can trigger us, but it cannot not be censored.”
In response to our inquiry, Dr Malhotra told the BBC that he “totally accepts that there are still people who disagree with (his views)” and said that “that doesn't mean that they have been demystified.
Professor Grimes says doctors warn patients against restricting their diet during cancer treatment.
In many podcast episodes, guests claimed to know a simple solution to health problems that they believed traditional institutions were hiding from the public. They often advertised their products on the podcast as well.
Cancer researcher Dr. Thomas Seyfried appeared on the podcast in October. He is a proponent of using the ketogenic diet, a low-carb, high-fat diet, to treat cancer.
But Professor Grimes told us that doctors had warned patients against restricting their diet during cancer treatment.
“You could potentially and very realistically get very, very sick and have a much worse health outcome than if you followed the advice recommended by your oncologists,” he said.
In the podcast, Dr Seyfried also suggested that radiotherapy and chemotherapy only improved patients' lifespans by one to two months, comparing modern cancer treatments to “medieval remedies”.
Mr Bartlett did not react to this assertion.
Statistics from Cancer Research UK show that cancer survival in the UK has doubled over the past 50 years. In the United States, the cancer mortality rate has decreased by 33% since 1990, thanks to modern treatments.
Dr. Thomas Seyfried told us he “stands by the statements he made in the interview.”
The solutions offered by these guests are attractive to listeners because they seem tangible and do not have the side effects of pharmaceutical drugs, says Professor Heidi Larson, an expert on public trust in health care.
“But they (guests) go out of their way a lot. It pushes people away from evidence-based medicine. They stop doing things that might have side effects, even though it might save their life.”
Cécile Simmons of the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, a think tank specializing in research on disinformation, believes that this type of content can help increase audiences.
“Health-related clickbait content with scary headlines works really well in line with the algorithm amplifying that,” she said.
Cécile Simmons says Mr Bartlett's investments could influence his choice of guests
Mr. Bartlett has previously made dubious health claims.
In January, on BBC Two's Dragons' Den – where budding entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to five multi-millionaire investors, including Mr Bartlett – he invested in “Ear Seeds”, acupuncture beads placed in the ear which falsely claim to cure chronic fatigue, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).
After complaints, the BBC has since added a disclaimer in the episode and on iPlayer, stating that “Ear Seeds” are not intended to be a cure and that medical advice should be followed for ME.
He is also an investor in Huel, a meal replacement company, and Zoe, which sells a personalized nutrition program involving the use of glucometers.
“He has financial interests in health and wellness companies. And once you have a financial interest, then you have an additional interest in focusing on health and nutrition,” Ms. Simmons says.
Two Facebook adverts featuring Mr Bartlett were recently banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for promoting two products Huel and Zoe without revealing he was an investor.
The founders of both companies have previously been invited as guests on The Diary of a CEO podcast.
A spokesperson for Flight Studio, Mr. Bartlett's production company, said: “The Diary of a CEO (DOAC) is a long-form and open-minded conversation…with individuals identified for their distinguished and distinguished careers and/or their substantial life experience. »
They heard a range of voices, they said, “not just those that Steven and the DOAC team necessarily agree with.”
The BBC's investigation focused on a “limited proportion of guests” from around 400 shows broadcast to date, they added.
A BBC spokesperson declined to comment.
