How we grade, and why you can trust it.
Whalespan is an editorial publication. These are the standards that govern every verdict we publish — independent of any contract or policy.
§ 1Fair commentary on public claims
We comment on claims made publicly by named individuals in podcasts, videos, posts, and papers. Our analysis is fair commentary on matters of public concern — longevity science and public health — and is grounded in independently verifiable evidence. We name speakers because they spoke publicly; we cite papers because the papers are public.
§ 2We audit claims, not people
A Whalespan verdict applies to a specific proposition stated at a specific time. It does not apply to the speaker as a person. A speaker can be well-calibrated in one domain and poorly calibrated in another; our Evidence Score for a speaker reflects the rolling literature-fit of their claims, not a judgment of their character.
§ 3No financial relationships
Whalespan does not accept supplement-company sponsorships, affiliate links, or paid placements. We do not sell supplements, protocols, or any product whose adoption depends on a verdict. The only revenue model is subscription access to the audit corpus. A verdict is never for sale, and no advertiser can influence one.
§ 4Verdicts evolve as the literature evolves
A verdict reflects the best available evidence at the time it was published. When the evidence shifts — a larger trial, a failed replication, a new meta-analysis — we re-grade. A changed verdict is a feature, not an embarrassment: it means the science moved and we followed it.
§ 5Speaker review
If you are a speaker whose claim has been audited and you believe the verdict is incorrect, write to corrections@whalespan.com with the claim ID, the verdict, and your specific evidentiary objection. We route every objection through the human review queue. If you show us better evidence, we re-grade and publish the change. If we disagree, we explain why. We will not remove a verdict because a speaker dislikes it — but we will always re-grade one if the evidence warrants it.
§ 6Corrections
If we get something wrong, we fix it. Corrections are published with the same prominence as the original verdict, and the change is recorded in the claim’s history so the record stays honest.