Matt Motta

March 2025. I talk with NPR about how negative attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination have “spilled over” to other vaccines, and made us less prepared for future infectious disease outbreaks. 

March 2025. I discuss the actions that RFK Jr. has taken to undermine vaccine confidence and access during his first month in office as HHS Secretary. 

February 2024. I discuss the public health dangers associated with raw milk consumption, and the possibility of expanded access to raw dairy products.

November 2024. I discuss our research on canine vaccine hesitancy, and the public health risks it may introduce. 

October 2024. I write about the policy consequences of declining trust in experts – as detailed in  my new book Anti-Scientific Americans – and what we can do to restore faith in science. 

October 2024. I discuss data from the State Vaccine Policy Project (SVPP) on the rise in anti-vaccine legislation in state houses across the US. 

September 2024. I discuss my research on the politicization of Americans’ attitudes toward scientific experts, and its public health and policy consequences, with the New York times. 

July 2024. I talk about the impact of the 2024 Election (and recent coverage surrounding the attempted assassination of Donald Trump) on Americans’ mental health, and the health of our democracy.

May 2024. I talk about how health policy shortcomings and government motivate some people choose to drink “raw milk” (despite its health risks), and discuss how health communicators can encourage pasteurized milk consumption. 

January 2024. I discuss our recent work on the prevalence, origins, and public health consequences of Americans’ negative attitudes toward vaccinating their pets, as well as our recently published work on the "spillover" of negative attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination to other forms of vaccines.

January 2024. I discuss our recent work on the prevalence, origins, and public health consequences of Americans’ negative attitudes toward vaccinating their pets.

November 2023. I discuss our recent work on the prevalence, origins, and public health consequences of Americans’ negative attitudes toward vaccinating their pets.

October 2023. Our recent work on the prevalence, origins, and public health consequences of Americans’ negative attitudes toward vaccinating their pets was referenced in a joke on the program's Weekend Update segment.

September 2023. I discuss our recent work on the prevalence, origins, and public health consequences of Americans’ negative attitudes toward vaccinating their pets.

August 2023. I discuss our recent work on the prevalence, origins, and public health consequences of Americans’ negative attitudes toward vaccinating their pets.

Also featured in: The Hill; Ars Technica, The Daily Beast, NY Post, The Daily Mail, Newsweek, The Boston Globe, and Others.

August 2023. I discuss our recent work on COVID-19 vaccine “spillover” effects, and how negative feelings toward the COVID vaccine might adversely impact public intentions to receive new Lyme Disease vaccines. 

June 2023. I discuss how Members of Congress are misusing data from VAERS to support talking points that cast doubt on COVID-19 vaccine safety. 

October 2022. Dom Stecula and I discuss our recent research at Journal of Communication on Oz's persuasive power, and how his campaign represents a missed opportunity advocate for vaccine uptake on the ideological right.

April 2022. I talk with Monica Potts about the social, psychological, and political sources of anti-intellectual attitude endorsement, as well as its policy consequences. 

March 2022. I talk with KTUL (ABC) about why politicians strategically sponsor bills that they might expect have no realistic chance of being enacted into law.

March 2022. I talk with BBC 4's The Ditigal Human about what medical folk wisdom is, where it comes from, and its impact on public health. 

February 2022. I talk with The Atlantic about our research on how negative media coverage of COVID-19 vaccination is influencing vaccine uptake, and consider its potential public health implications. 

December 2021. Our work (with Dom Stecula) on the usage of adverse event reporting data as a measure of public anti-vaccine sentiment was referenced in a New Yorker piece on how anti-vaccine activists use VAERS data to sew doubt about vaccine safety

October 2021. Our work on the prevalence, correlates, and consequences of anti-vaccine social identity was featured in outlets like The Atlantic and Newsweek (pictured).

September 2021. Our work published in PLOS ONE, where my co-author and I offer new evidence that a discredited study is at least partially responsible for MMR vaccine hesitancy in the US, was named The Weeds' (Vox) "Paper of the Week" in its first September newsletter.

August 2021. I talk with Bloomberg about a recent study, published in PLOS ONE, where my co-author and I offer new evidence that a discredited study is at least partially responsible for MMR vaccine hesitancy in the US.

July 2021. I talk with Bloomberg about the politics of vaccine hesitancy, the potential impact of J&J adding new side effect warnings to its COVID-19 vaccine, and other topics related to vaccine uptake.

July 2021. Work with Steven Webster & Adam Glynn on partisan schadenfreude featured in a NYT Opinion essay on affective polarization and partisan animosity in American politics.

May 2021. I compare the mask-wearing intentions of vaccinated and unvaccinated people, following revised CDC recommendations in mid-May.  

May 2021. I talk about my research on the psychology of vaccine-related decisionmaking, and how the unprecedented amount of choice Americans have for COVID-19 vaccination might influence expectations in the future. 

May 2021. We discuss the impact of Joe Rogan's anti-vaccine comments on his listeners' intentions to vaccinate against COVID-19.

April 2021. I discuss why some people are motivated to accept anti-vaccine misinformation, and what science communicators can do to address it.

March 2021. Peter Hotez discusses our research on the social and political correlates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and why the former President's decision to vaccinate in private represents a missed opportunity to combat hesitancy on the ideological right.

January 2021. I discuss my recent research (at Social Science & Medicine) regarding the possibility that Americans’ preferred COVID-19 vaccine attributes might not line up with the choices we have the opportunity to get. 

January 2021. I discuss how to have productive conversations with friends and family who hold anti-vaccine views, based on recent social science research. 

December 2020. I discuss the possibility that -- while more Americans are indicating that they are willing to vaccinate against COVID-19, these trends tend to be stronger on the ideological left.

December 2020. I describe my recent research on the partisan dynamics of COVID-19 vaccine uptake intentions, and discuss why recent public vaccination efforts could help neutralize partisan disagreement.

December 2020. I discuss why the Vice President’s decision to vaccinate on television could help mitigate COVID-19 vaccine skepticism on the ideological right, and what Pres. Trump can do to further address skepticism.

December 2020. I chat with The New York Times about why some Americans are reluctant to vaccinate, and how to address vaccine hesitancy. 

December 2020. I chat with Bob Garfield from WYNC's (NPR) On the Media about why some Americans are reluctant to vaccinate, and how to address vaccine hesitancy. 

November 2020. I discuss my research on the electoral success of candidates with STEM backgrounds who have run for Congress in the past, and apply those insights to understanding their performance in 2020.

November 2020. I discuss the challenges facing the incoming Biden administration regarding vaccine uptake, and communicating the benefits of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

October 2020. I talk about why scientific journals, professional organizations, and others made the decision to endorse Joe Biden for President in 2020, and discuss the potential consequences those decisions could have on public opinion about science. 

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Op-ed available here.

October 2020. I chat with The Atlantic about why some people believe conspiracy theories and misinformation about the possibility  that mask-wearing can cause them to become sick. 

October 2020. I chat throughout the day with local news stations about the electoral, political, and governing implications of the presidents' COVID-19 diagnosis. 

September 2020. I talk with Brian Resnick from Vox about the prevalence, potential causes, and consequences of skepticism toward a vaccine for COVID-19. I also discuss the role that social science research can play in encouraging vaccine uptake, drawing on some of our recent research.

August, 2020. ​I, and several other panelists from around the city, discuss local races, ballot initiatives, and the nationalization of Tulsa's mayoral race. The video below is part of a three-part series. A follow-up segment from 8/26 can also be found on KJRH's YouTube channel.  

August, 2020. I chat with the BBC about the upcoming virtual DNC, and what it might imply for the 2020 Election.

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July 2020. From the piece: “Even though many Americans accept misinformation about the origins of Covid-19 (e.g., that it was created in a lab), belief in the ‘Plandemic’ conspiracy has largely been relegated to only the most ardent conspiracy theorists. That’s in part due to the relatively swift action social media companies took to remove the video from their platforms,” he wrote. “Sinclair’s decision to air this interview without challenging its claims risks pushing some of these extreme views into the mainstream.”

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July 2020. From the piece: "In the face of those headwinds, the high levels of trust in scientists are remarkable. “I haven’t seen much evidence that trust in scientists or trust in the scientific community has eroded,” said Matt Motta, an assistant professor of political science at Oklahoma State University, who studies the intersection of politics and science. But he said he was still concerned about the future, particularly if a vaccine is approved, which would require widespread adoption to protect a community."