Method

How the book checks things, and how you can check it

The method is short: sourced claims, checked evidence, applied as consistently as I could make it.

Sources

Every claim that isn't the author's own experience is sourced in the Sources section, organized by chapter, with author and year. All of it comes from public sources you can find and read yourself. The full list, by chapter, is on the Sources page, along with a further-reading list for anyone who wants to go deeper.

Who paid for it

Funding is disclosed wherever it bears on a finding, and the same standard is applied to everyone: advocacy groups, industry groups, universities, government agencies and the author. A funder being named is not treated as proof a result is wrong. The book looks for whether independent checks reach the same answer.

Reader tips are accepted through the Buy me a coffee link. They're voluntary, come with no influence over content, and the book takes no sponsors, advertising or paid placement.

Benchmark, not verdict

The book was finished in autumn 2026 using the best evidence available that month. Some measures in it got better over time and some got worse, and it doesn't force a tidy conclusion where the data doesn't support one. Some of what's in it will be overturned someday. The book says that too.

Limits and known gaps in the evidence are stated in the chapters where they occur, and the Author's Notes at the back of the book say what has and has not been verified.