Gary Taubes
Born: April 30, 1956 – Rochester, New York, United States
Gary Taubes is an American science journalist and author who focuses on nutrition, obesity, and the evidence behind conventional dietary advice. He is best known for Good Calories, Bad Calories, Why We Get Fat, and The Case Against Sugar. His work has significantly shaped debate over low-carbohydrate diets and sugar’s role in chronic disease.
Biography & Author's Journey
Gary Taubes built his career at the intersection of science, skepticism, and narrative. Educated first in the sciences and then in journalism, he earned an S.B. in applied physics from Harvard in 1977, an M.S. in engineering from Stanford in 1978, and an M.S. in journalism from Columbia in 1981. His earliest books, Nobel Dreams and Bad Science, were not about diet at all; they examined the culture of scientific discovery and error. In the early part of his career he wrote across disciplines for Discover, Science, and The New York Times Magazine, before shifting in the mid-1990s toward public health, nutrition, and obesity. A major turning point came with his 2001 Science article “The Soft Science of Dietary Fat” and his 2002 New York Times Magazine piece “What If It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?,” which made him a prominent public voice in the modern diet debate. ((https://garytaubes.com/biography/))
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A paradigm-shifting examination of obesity, challenging conventional wisdom and offering a new perspective on diet and health.
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Community Voices
"Gary Taubes is a brave and bold science journalist who does not accept conventional wisdom"
— The New York Times
"Gary Taubes is a science journalist and historian, and his books on nutrition are deep and thorough"
— Family Medicine
"Once again, the brilliant Gary Taubes manages to make a complex scientific subject easy to understand"
— Gretchen Rubin
"On Sunday, July 7, science writer Gary Taubes created a big fat splash"
— The Washington Post
"No one in this country has worked harder on or better understood the role of sugar in our diet than Gary Taubes"
— Mark Bittman
"Gary Taubes deserves a national science medal for helping to raise the critical question of why the food we eat is killing us"
— Kevin Schulman
"Gary Taubes's meticulous, science-based work makes him the Bryan Stevenson of nutrition"
— The Guardian
"In making the case against sugar, Gary Taubes details the often insidious efforts by the sugar industry to hide how harmful it is"
— Katie Couric
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From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
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"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
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"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
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"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
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"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
