As a scientist-turned-cartoonist, John Cook has always been driven to combat climate change misinformation. With a background in physics and psychology, he's uniquely positioned to help people think critically about environmental issues. But what sparked his resolve was the argumentative nature of his father-in-law - and the realization that effective communication is key to countering misinformation.
As a university professor, textbook author, and cartoon strip creator, John sensed that his research on climate change denial could have real-world consequences. The idea behind Cranky Uncle is to "inoculate" the public against climate change misinformation by exposing people to weakened forms of misinformation - making them immune to the "misinformation virus." And what better way to do this than with a spoonful of humor?
John acknowledges that airing absurd views in his cartoons can be thorny, but if you want to spot someone cheating at cards, you have to learn to cheat at cards. This approach caught the attention of Goodbeast's Kurt Roberts, who sees the value in using humor to educate people about environmental issues.
However, reaching a mainstream audience wasn't always easy - and climate change denial was on an irrefutable rise despite near-universal research consensus that humans are the primary cause of our warming planet. Turning his Cranky Uncle cartoons into a book was a rejuvenating first step, but John wanted to take it to the next level.
With the help of Goodbeast, a targeted Facebook campaign raised engagement levels by using John's cartoons to debunk climate change misinformation. The publication of Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change in February 2020 marked John's entrance into the public conversation around climate change.
John then wanted to step out of traditional book confines and broaden his reach. He had a hunch that going digital would give his efforts an exponential boost - and that's exactly what happened. A multi-level crowdsourcing campaign led by Goodbeast blew past fundraising goals, opening the door for not only a Cranky Uncle app in English but also a multilingual edition.
John and Goodbeast's Kurt Roberts designed a gamified version of the popular cartoon, imbuing it with their own belief in the project and the power of technology to fuel it. They utilized open-source tools like Vue.js and Capacitor backed by Amazon's AWS Cloud Computing platform to build a flexible application deployed to both iOS and Android from one content base.
The final product took John's little doodles in the margins of his academic notebooks and turned them into a full-scale immersive experience. It was different than anything he imagined - the ultimate bridge between the research world and the world of everyday people.
By actively navigating the app and playing the Cranky Uncle game, users learned to spot faulty tenants of climate change denial without feeling like they were in a classroom. Suddenly, absurd but persistent arguments against global warming came to life almost as quickly as John's cartoons took them to task.
In the end, the Cranky Uncle app empowered John to make good on the promise of his life's work: cutting through conspiracy theories and false narratives to reorient the way people understand the world around them. And all while having a good laugh.