Exploding Stars, Dead Dinosaurs, Steve Levitt, and Econtalk

I am currently reading Andrew Root's book "Exploding Stars, Dead Dinosaurs, and Zombies: Youth Ministry in the Age of Science (Science for Youth Ministry)." Reading it made me notice this comment in the Econtalk Podcast:
"But, for a long time, people have been using science as a weapon to control[?] things they don't like, even when it has little to do with science."