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Past Present Future

Past Present Future

Forensics on Trial

Aug 16, 2026 · 1h 1m

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About this episode

In today’s episode David talks to forensic anthropologist Sue Black about what happens when forensic science and forensic expertise end up on trial in the courtroom. When and how did scientists get involved in the business of criminal prosecution? What changed with the advent of DNA testing? Is the adversarial system the best way of testing scientific evidence? Can a jury distinguish between good science, bad science and junk science? And what might have gone wrong in the case of Lucy Letby? Sue Black’s An Expert Witness is available now wherever you get your books https://bit.ly/45hcTge Out now on PPF+: a final bad ideas bonus episode in which geneticist and science writer Adam Rutherford…