Welcome to Season 2! As the new year gets underway, we’re looking inside America’s exam rooms. We’ve brought together a group of traditional, allopathic doctors across multiple specialties and a group of MAHA supporters. With breaking news about changes to the childhood vaccine schedule and the dietary guidelines, this felt like the right moment to convene an honest conversation between physicians and patients about how the relationship is working.Trust in doctors remains high—but it’s drifting downward. And we know from countless conversations that a negative experience with a doctor—over a diagnosis, treatment plan, or vaccine recommendation—can fuel mistrust in the entire medical system. Why do some patients leave these interactions feeling dismissed, and where do they turn next? What is it actually like to be a doctor in America right now? What financial pressures and systemic constraints are they operating within? How do they view their time with patients? And finally, how might this week’s changes reshape trust, care, and those exam-room conversations?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Nancy Fuller, MAHA supporter, former Kennedy campaign volunteer, from OhioDr. Craig Spencer, ER physician Providence, RI; professor at Brown University School of Public HealthLen Arcuri, MAHA supporter, host of podcast Autism Parenting Secrets Dr. Keisha Callins, OB/GYN Jeffersonville, GA; professor at Mercer University School of MedicineDaniel DeLuca, MAHA supporter, bar and restaurant owner, political consultantDr. Jamie Loehr, family doctor from Ithaca, NY. Former ACIP memberDr. Ross England, infectious disease pediatrician, Children's Hospital of PhiladelphiaThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

**This will be our last episode in 2025! We will be back in early January 2026! Have a happy holiday season and a huge thank you for listening!!**Are our schools making our kids sick? Not because of moldy buildings or bad cafeteria food, but because of what the modern school day has become.From increased screens in the class and shrinking free time to teachers and administrators forced to focus more and more time on prep for standardized testing, schools today would be nearly unrecognizable to many parents. So, too, are the soaring rates of ADHD, anxiety, and depression among children.In this episode, we’re joined by New York Times reporter Jia Lynn Yang to discuss her provocative piece, “America’s Children Are Unwell. Are Schools Part of the Problem?” We examine what impact a school day increasingly organized around screens, metrics, and test prep is having on children’s mental health and even childhood itself. At a moment when a great deal of attention is focused on how social media and phones are impacting teen mental health, Yang argues it’s time to scrutinize the place where kids spend most of their week: school.Could this be a rare area where MAHA and public health actually agree?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Jia Lynn Yang, Senior Ideas Writer, The New York Times, author of the recent article, "America's Children Are Unwell. Are Schools Part of the Problem?"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/magazine/youth-mental-health-crisis-schools.htmlThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Welcome to a new era for public health. In the wake of RFK Jr.’s ACIP committee making its first major change to America’s childhood vaccine schedule—ending the universal Hepatitis B birth dose—we break down what this means, and what it doesn’t. Much of the mainstream public-health world is sounding alarms, calling the move dangerous, unscientific, and the opening salvo in a broader campaign against childhood vaccines. So today we ask some tough questions: Is this a reckless break from science—or a reasonable correction? Is this really about one dose of one vaccine, or the future of the entire childhood schedule? And now that ACIP is in the driver’s seat, is traditional public health's doom messaging the right and only course of action? Or should they rally around a different strategy? To help us sort it out, we’re joined by our own “fantasy ACIP” panel: Dr. Michael Mina, Dr. Rachael Bedard, and Dr. Craig Spencer.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Dr. Rachael Bedard is an internist, geriatrician, and palliative-care physician whose work focuses on health, human rights, and justice. She teaches, advocates, and writes, you’ll find her work in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and a popular substack called The Argument. Dr. Craig Spencer is an emergency medicine physician and an Associate Professor at Brown University School of Public Health. He focuses on frontline preparedness in the U.S. and around the world and has written for various news publications, including the Atlantic and the New York Times.Dr. Michael Mina is an epidemiologist and immunologist and physician. Over the course of his career, he’s been an associate professor at Harvard Medical School as well as the TH Chan School of Public Health. In the height of the pandemic, he led America’s Test to Treat program, which connected home testing to treatment options. Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

It’s a newsy week for public health and medicine, with potential changes to the childhood vaccine schedule and a senior health agency official raising alarming doubts about the safety of the COVID vaccine for children — claims public health veterans are calling irresponsible and baseless. Against that backdrop, we sit down with a group of 8 people who care deeply about both health and faith, but who come from opposite sides of our health culture war. We ask how they see this moment, and how we might pull ourselves back from the brink of our division.How does their spirituality and faith shape the way they understand this moment of rapid change in health and science — from vaccines and global aid to mRNA technology, chronic illness, and scientific expertise itself?And ultimately, could grace — and a shared sense of faith — be part of rebuilding trust?Hosts;Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:1. Jacqueline Capriotti, a mother of two adults with cystic fibrosis, patient rights advocate. She is a health-policy strategist, works on initiatives within the MAHA movement, and was the Director of Chronic Illness Outreach and Healthcare Reform for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign. She is the co-founder of Doctors for America First.2. Dr. Francis Collins, the former head of the National Institutes of Health during Operation Warp Speed, under three U.S. presidents; co-discovered the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis and led America’s effort to map the human genome; author of The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust.3. Jennifer Galardi, Senior Policy Analyst for Restoring American Wellness at The Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center. Her writing has appeared in The Federalist, Epoch Times, Washington Examiner, and The Blaze, and she frequently appears in media to discuss cultural & policy shifts tied to the MAHA movement.4. Dr. Marc Siegel, Clinical Professor of Medicine at NYU Langone Health, a practicing internist, and the Senior Medical Analyst for Fox News. He is the author of several books, including a brand new one titled: The Miracles Among Us: How God's Grace Plays a Role in Healing.5. Elizabeth Frost, works with MAHA Ohio and is a co-founder of Independent Force Consulting. Prior to this, Elizabeth was the Ohio State director for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign.6. Mackenzie Isaac, a Rhodes Scholar pursuing her doctorate in Population Health at Oxford University, where she got her MS in Modeling for Global Health. She earned a master’s degree in Health Education from Teachers College, Columbia Uni. Her work focuses on health equity and community health education in Black and Brown communities.7. Rev. Wendy Silvers, a Minister, author, and Transformational Life Coach supporting mothers & families; created The Awakened Mother series, founded the Million Mamas Movement, and hosts The Awakened Mother Podcast and Million Mamas Rising radio show. She was invited to be the faith engagement lead for the Kennedy presidential campaign in 2024.8. Emily Smith, an Assistant Professor at Duke University focusing on children’s global surgery, health-systems strengthening, and global health policy. She has conducted extensive research in Africa, and her work has been featured in TIME, NPR, The Washington Post, and Christianity Today.Resource: https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

**We taped this episode earlier this week. Happy Thanksgiving. ***On this Thanksgiving, we each reflect on an episode that struck us. We are so grateful to you, our listener community. We all care about our health, our country and our families so much. We hope you all get to spend today surrounded by people you love. Thank you and a very Happy Thanksgiving to all. Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Today, we’re talking about a different kind of health: the health of our media and information diet. What information we consume, how we consume it, and whether today’s social media ecosystem has become so toxic that it threatens not only our well-being, but the health of our democracy itself.It’s no secret that trust in mass media has plunged to an all-time low, with the old top-down model of journalism—where a handful of outlets controlled the flow of information—losing its authority. So we’ve invited three major voices who operate on the front lines of this shift: Astead Herndon, formerly of The New York Times and now at Vox; Emily Jashinsky, of Breaking Points and now part of Megyn Kelly’s media offerings; and Eliot Higgins, founder of the investigative collective Bellingcat, who warns that in this fractured landscape where we can’t even agree on basic facts, democracy isn’t just wobbling; it’s breaking down.Today we ask: Are we in a crisis? If so, what will it take to secure the “information supply chains” that a functioning democracy depends on? And finally, if we can get things back on the rails, could this new, more democratized media ecosystem with individuals, not institutions, driving the flow of information, possibly lead us to a better, more trusted place?We talk Iraq War, 2016 and 2024 Elections, Covid, Epstein, and so much more. HostsBrinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie Bartlett (off this week)Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (off this week)Guests: Eliot Higgins, founder,  Bellingcat, an open source investigative journalism networkEmily Jashinsky, host, After Party; Megyn Kelly wrap-up show; co-host Breaking Points; writes for UnHerdAstead Herndon, editorial director and host, Vox; former national political reporter The New York TimesSource:Verification, Deliberation, Accountability: A New Framework for Tackling Epistemic Collapse and Renewing Democracyhttps://demos.co.uk/research/verification-deliberation-accountability-a-new-framework-for-tackling-epistemic-collapse-and-renewing-democracy/Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

In the final installment of our series from the Children’s Health Defense conference in Austin, we sit down for candid, face-to-face conversations with attendees. They share their life stories, talk about their thoughts on vaccines, on why RFK Jr. resonates with them, and why they came to Austin.We also reflect on our own experience: Why did we go? What did we learn about the MAHA movement and the extent of the mistrust in science and medicine today? And, ultimately, what have we learned about both the potential and limits of opening up a dialogue across our great health divide today? Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Audrey Trepiccione, midwifeTina Siemens, founder, West Texas Living Heritage Museum, https://wtlhm.com/Len Arcuri, host Autism Parenting Secrets podcast and a Strategic Parenting AdvisorAutismParentingSecrets.comElevateHowYouNavigate.comThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

In part two of our three-part series from the Children’s Health Defense conference in Austin, we sit down with one of the most influential figures in the MAHA movement: Del Bigtree.A longtime ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Bigtree is a singular presence—an expert communicator, storyteller, and filmmaker with a reach of tens of millions. To fans and supporters, he’s a charismatic fighter taking on the chronic illness crisis and exposing corruption. His critics say he is a spreader of anti-vaccine misinformation.We discuss politics, the future goals of MAHA, America's vaccine policies, bodily autonomy, and activism. It is a free-wheeling, occasionally raucous, but respectful conversation with one of the most important voices in MAHA today. Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest host: Elizabeth Frost, MAHA Ohio; Independent Force ConsultingGuest:Del Bigtree, founder and head of Informed Consent Action Network; former director of communications for Robert F Kennedy Jr's presidential campaign; founder, host High WireThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

We’re on the road this week, coming to you from Austin, Texas, at the Children’s Health Defense 2025 conference. Yes, that Children’s Health Defense: the influential organization founded and once led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now the country’s top health official. Critics say CHD is one of the most outspoken anti-vaccine groups in America and a major source of misinformation. Supporters say it is fighting to eliminate toxic exposures and protect kids in an era of rising chronic disease. Our central question: Is there any space—any at all—for common ground? Or are the chasms simply too deep?In the first of a series of episodes from the conference, we sit down with two of its most influential voices: Dr. Bret Weinstein, evolutionary biologist, author of A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century, and host of the DarkHorse Podcast, and Dr. Pierre Kory, critical care and pulmonary specialist, and author of The War on Ivermectin.We have an honest, no-holds-barred conversation about the breakdown in trust on all sides; what it means to live in a world of competing “facts” and data; whether standards of care help or hinder doctors; and, most importantly, whether respectful dialogue can help rebuild trust in one another. We bring them together with doctors from more traditional public health with more CHD/MAHA supporting doctors. Take a listen.  Guests:Dr. Craig Spencer is an emergency medicine physician and public health professor at Brown University.  He worked on front lines during the COVID outbreak in New York City and now focuses his work on global health, humanitarianism, pandemic preparedness and the impact of COVID-19 on health systems.Link: https://vivo.brown.edu/display/cspenc10Dr. Pierre KoryDr. Pierre Kory is a physician trained in pulmonary and critical care medicine who gained national attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for his advocacy of off-label treatments, including ivermectin. He now runs The Leading Edge Clinic where he works as a Certified Tribal Practitioner where he focuses on long COVID and post- vaccine injury.Link: https://drpierrekory.com/Brett Weinstein, PhDBrett Weinstein, PhD, is an evolutionary biologist, author, and co-host of the podcast, The DarkHorse, which aims to explore science, culture, and human nature with a goal of making scientific thinking more accessible for everyone.Link: https://www.bretweinstein.net/about-bret-weinsteinThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

School vaccine requirements have long been the backbone of America’s public health, keeping vaccination rates high for decades. Every state mandates that children be up to date on routine vaccinations to attend public school, and every state allows medical exemptions—most also allow religious or philosophical ones. But just weeks ago, Florida—and now Idaho—said “no more,” insisting parents must have ultimate control over what goes into their child’s body. Are these the first dominoes to fall?Today, we’re having an honest—and yes, uncomfortable—conversation about why some parents are questioning the vaccine schedule and the mandates. Should public health hold the line? Is there a way to respect individual choice without dismantling a system that’s protected us for generations? And can these mandates survive a movement that sees them as an affront to parental rights?Joining us is Jennifer Reich, author of Calling the Shots: Why Parents Reject Vaccines, who explores why some parents are seeking an individualized approach to vaccination and what that means for the community.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Jennifer Reich; sociologist, Professor of Sociology University of Colorado-Denver; author Calling the Shots: Why Parents Reject Vaccines. Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

It’s Election Day in parts of the country, so we thought it was time to talk politics.Dr. Craig Spencer, from Brown University’s School of Public Health, penned a Substack last week that stopped us cold. In it, he makes a bold case that public health needs to get more political—not partisan, but political in the sense of organizing, mobilizing, and demanding what people say they value: cleaner air, safer food, prevention that actually gets funded.It’s a striking call at a moment of profound change — what some call a reimagining, others a dismantling — of public health itself. But if you look at the polling across Republicans, Democrats, and the MAHA “curious,” there’s surprising common ground right in public health’s wheelhouse.It’s time, Spencer argues, for public health to step into the political arena to fight for change or watch the system unravel.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark Abdelmalek (off today)Guest:Dr. Craig Spencer, an emergency medicine physician; Associate Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy and Practice at Brown University School of Public Health. Craig's Substack article referenced:https://craigaspencer.substack.com/p/when-public-health-forgot-how-toThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

East Palestine, Ohio, became a national symbol of fear and mistrust after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed, resulting in a massive black plume filling the sky. Two years later, how are residents of this small community faring? Is their soil, air, and water truly safe?In this episode, we meet two women who chose collaboration over conflict: Elizabeth Frost of MAHA, Ohio, and Dr. Nicole Deziel of the Yale School of Public Health. The pair met through our podcast and teamed up — Elizabeth working on the ground to connect with residents, and Nicole, along with partners including Ohio Valley Allies, securing an NIH grant to study East Palestine’s water as part of a larger research effort led by the University of Kentucky. Joining the conversation is Stuart Day, an area resident, member of Ohio Valley Allies, and community partner on the research team.How are a grassroots MAHA advocate and a Yale public health scientist bridging the divides that define so much of our nation’s health debate today? And most importantly, what are researchers discovering that could help address residents’ concerns and help East Palestine move forward?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonDr. Maggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Elizabeth Frost: grassroots organizer for the MAHA movement in Ohio; the Ohio State director for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign;  is a co-founder of Independent Force ConsultingDr. Nicole Deziel: Associate Professor in Environmental Health Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health & co-Director of the Yale Center of Perinatal, Pediatric, & Environmental Epidemiology.Stuart Day: community partner with Ohio Valley Allies; co-creator and executive producer of Exposure Podcast, investigating environmental health issues in the region (Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exposure/id1765728709)John Klar: a former attorney who now operates a small farm in Vermont, is a writer for The MAHA Report, a popular newsletter, and a big supporter of Secretary Kennedy’s visionParticipants in the East Palestine research:The Yale-based proposal was led by Dr. Nicole Deziel and Professor Michelle Bell from the Yale School of the Environment, and involved a broad team of researchers and community partners. The awarded NIH grant formally includes Nicole Deziel, Michelle Bell, Dr. James Saiers, a hydrogeologist at Yale, and Ohio Valley Allies (led by Jill Hunkler and Stuart Day).At Yale, Drs. Deziel, Bell, and Saiers will assess water quality impacts using advanced hydrological modeling in partnership with Ohio Valley Allies and other community stakeholders such as MAHA Ohio.The work is part of the newly formed East Palestine Investigation Consortium (EPIC), which will be led by the University of Kentucky (Dr. Erin Haynes) and also includes the University of Pittsburgh.Resources:https://research.uky.edu/news/uk-lead-federal-research-effort-on-east-palestine-health-impactshttps://www.epa.gov/east-palestine-oh-train-derailmenthttps://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/programs/east_palestinehttps://www.ohiovalleyallies.org/campaigns Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

They’re the invisible forces steering what we see every day and shaping what we trust.Algorithms, now supercharged by AI, don’t just feed us information. They feed us emotion — suspicion, outrage, validation — and, maybe most dangerously, only the content they think we want to see.Today, we’re talking with an expert about how we got here and where we’re heading.With trust in institutions, public health, and science under constant attack, how much of that is the algorithm’s fault? And how much is on us?How are memes, ricocheting through our media ecosystems, changing the very nature of political communication?And as user-facing AI begins to learn from these same algorithms, will it start tailoring its answers to match what it thinks we want to hear?If that’s our future, how do we hold on to what little remains of our shared facts and shared reality?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Claire Wardle, co founder of the Information Futures Lab at Brown University as well as the non profit First Draft, meant to study and navigate what she calls “information disorder." Claire is currently an associate professor of communications at Cornell University.Definition, from Oxford Language DictionaryDVD: a type of compact disc able to store large amounts of data, especially high-resolution audiovisual material.Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

On this special episode—the latest in our series of conversations that bring together people who rarely talk to each other—we hear from different perspectives on autism in a no-holds-barred discussion about this pivotal moment.Joining us are two MAHA moms raising children with autism, Science editor-in-chief Holden Thorp—who was diagnosed with autism as an adult—and Dr. Rachael Bedard, a physician and science communicator. President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have made finding a cause a top issue, putting autism—and the families living with it—squarely in the national spotlight. They’ve pointed to Tylenol use during pregnancy as a possible cause, sounding big alarm bells and triggering backlash.Today, we move past the politics and the noise to ask some bigger questions: Is Kennedy disrupting the status quo—or distorting it? And is this the kind of change that autistic people and parents actually want?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Jennifer Phillips, MAHA mom, has a daughter living with autism, founder Make a Stand 4 AutismHolden Thorp, editor in chief, Science; was diagnosed as being on the ASD spectrum as an adultApril Robinson, MAHA mom, has a son living with autism; works with Voice for ChoiceDr. Rachael Bedard, physician, journalist, works with caregivers managing serious illness Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

It’s been just over a year since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood before a raucous Arizona crowd and asked, “Don’t you want a president who’s going to make America healthy again?”-- and with that, the MAHA era began.Now, for the first time, we have data showing how big this movement really is--and how much of America agrees with it. A brand-new national poll reveals what’s fueling MAHA’s rise: from food and fitness to vaccines, chemicals, and pesticides.How has MAHA reshaped MAGA — and how has MAGA reshaped MAHA? Which MAHA issues resonate most with the rest of the country? And how much do vaccines really factor into the movement’s identity?We’ll dig into the numbers with Erica Seifert of Navigator Research. Joining the convo is MAHA supporter Aaron Everitt, who is a friend of the show.If you’ve been tempted to write MAHA off as a small, fringe movement…you're gonna want to sit down for this one.  Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Aaron Everitt, MAHA supporter, former Kennedy campaign volunteer, video journalist and writer for Besides the Revolution and for prominent MAHA influencer Jessica Reed Kraus' House InHabit newsletter. Erica Seifert, polling expert and senior director at Navigator Research, a progressive polling firmLinks to the Navigator Poll:https://navigatorresearch.org/maha-americans-and-health-and-wellness/https://navigatorresearch.org/maha-the-policies-and-messages/Global Strategy Group conducted a public opinion survey among a sample of 1,000 registered voters from September 4-September 8, 2025. 100 additional interviews were conducted among Hispanic voters. 100 additional interviews were conducted among African American voters. 75 additional interviews were conducted among Asian American and Pacific Islander voters. 100 additional interviews were conducted among independent voters. For more on the poll, please visit www.navigatorresearch.orgThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Today, we’re exploring the new world of health and science communication now that the old playbook is dead. The days of publishing a study and expecting to reach the public with it through legacy media or pointing people to health institutions and medical associations for guidance are over. Millions no longer trust the science, the guidance, or the messenger. Meanwhile, the Make America Healthy Again movement is finding new ways to communicate and harness the enthusiasm of its followers.So what now for traditional public health? On today’s episode, we talk with Katelyn Jetelina of Your Local Epidemiologist and Jessica Steier of Unbiased Science—two innovators navigating this new communication landscape. They’re working to cut through the noise and connect evidence to people’s lives, even as traditional institutions struggle to keep up.We’ll ask how they’re adapting, what’s working, and whether the scientific establishment is giving communicators like them the support they need in this moment of upheaval.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Katelyn Jetelina, founder, author Your Local Epidemiologist; data scientist and epidemiologist; named Time 100 Most Influential People in HealthJessica Steier, data scientist, doctor of public health, founder and CEO of UnBiased Science site and podcast; has written recently about autism studies for  the New York Times. Your Local Epidemiologist: https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/UnBiased Science: https://www.unbiasedscience.com/Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Coleman Hughes is a thinker, writer, podcaster, and author. You may know him from his Conversations with Coleman podcast with The Free Press, from appearances on CNN, Joe Rogan, and The View, or from his recent book, in which he argues that America should strive toward colorblindness, treating people and designing public policy without regard to race.In addition to that, what interests us is that he’s an independent, unorthodox voice—someone who doesn’t follow the political script his critics assume he should. That speaks to something we think about a lot here: too often, we take our cues from our “side” and stick to the script, seeking approval from our team, instead of engaging with compelling versions of an opposing view. That dynamic can be just as true among public health institutions as it is among supporters of MAHA.So today, we ask Coleman: What has he learned from being that unorthodox voice—challenging the side that thought he was one of their own? And, ultimately, how does he think we can bridge divides and rebuild trust?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Coleman Hughes, host of Conversations with Coleman produced by the Free Press; author, The End of Race Politics: The Argument for a Colorblind AmericaThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

In our latest big conversation bringing together individuals who don’t always see eye to eye, we sit down with Gen Zers who care deeply about the nation’s health. Some are launching careers in public health, others are inspired by the MAHA movement. Together, we talk politics, race, philosophy, and shared values. What do they make of the profound changes reshaping American health today? The group of twenty-somethings explore the rise of individualism in public health, what expertise means and when it deserves deference, how to reach their generation, and whether the MAHA and MAGA era represents reform or a dismantling of America’s public health and science infrastructure. Finally, we discuss how dialogue around these issues is impacted by the tragic killing of Charlie Kirk.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark Abdelmalek (off this week)Guests: Rotimi Kukoyi: is a Truman Scholar, Jeopardy Champion, and the Senior Class President at UNC-Chapel Hill. He’s studying health policy and management on the premed track and wants to be a physician-policymaker at the state and national levels. Elizabeth Frost: Works at MAHA Ohio, ran grassroots for Sec. Kennedy's presidential campaign; runs Independent Force Consulting; has been on our pod several times!Maesa Vicente: Maesa works with the The Touch Grass Collective as the Director of Policy Research and Strategy. She is now located in Pamplona, Spain, for a year where she is an English Teacher. MacKenzie Isaac: an Indianapolis-based health educator and final-year PhD candidate at the University of Oxford, where’s she’s studying the bioethical nuances of mental health treatment pathways for Black adolescents. She’s a 2022 Rhodes Scholar and the resident Health Equity Hygienist for global science communication collective, Those Nerdy Girls. Hunter Ryerson: a student at the University of Michigan and a journalist at Pirate Wires, a leading publication on technology, politics, and culture. He writes about the MAHA movement and the advancement of human health for Pirate Wires has written for the Michigan Daily Nathaniel Mamo: a Program Coordinator at NYU's Division of Medical Ethics working on issues in vaccine ethics.Dorian Johnson: a public health communicator and board certified health and wellness coach who tackles big public health issues for little people; works to make public health topics digestible for families through storytelling. You can find him at @PHUncleAdnan Alkhalili: Adnan Alkhalili is a young citizen scientist, student of metabolic health, and founder of the Touch Grass Together movement. A junior at Rutgers University, his work focuses on metabolic fatalism and aims to restore human connection in an era of hijacked biology, digital disconnection, and cultural division. Links:Those Nerdy Girls, creators of Dear Pandemic: https://thosenerdygirls.org/Touch Grass Collective - Get Outside. Get Human.: https://touchgrasstogether.com/Hunter Ryerson, Author at The Michigan Daily: https://www.michigandaily.com/author/hryerson/The PHuncle | Where Public Health Hits Different: https://thephuncle.com/Rotimi Kukoyi named Truman scholar | UNC-Chapel Hill: https://www.unc.edu/posts/2025/04/21/rotimi-kukoyi-named-truman-scholar/Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

On today's episode, a remarkable moment in the Make America Healthy Again era. From the White House, the president urged pregnant women not to take Tylenol, saying it was linked to autism, before launching into a discourse on his personal fears and advice on autism rates, vaccine safety, and when parents should vaccinate their children. For many MAHA supporters, it was cathartic to see a president speak from instinct rather than the strict limits of a body of scientific work they do not trust. For public health veterans, the press conference was full of confusing and unfounded advice that could result in dangerous consequences. Where does that leave parents, pregnant women, and their doctors? We unpack the science, the politics, and the fallout — with voices from both sides, including a pregnant mother of a child with autism and a pediatrician on the front lines.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Brooke Blanke, mom to a 4 yo son with autism; respiratory therapist living in New JerseyDr. David Higgins, pediatrician, preventative medicine specialist; assistant professor of pediatrics at the Colorado School of MedicineResource:CDC Vaccine Schedule: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/imz-schedules/index.htmlThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

It’s the very first shot a newborn gets—just hours after birth. Today, Secretary Kennedy’s new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Committee is reviewing whether it should remain so. We’re talking about the Hepatitis B “birth dose,” the starting point of America’s childhood vaccine schedule since 1991.But for some parents today, it’s the starting point of their vaccine hesitancy. They ask: “Why give a vaccine against a virus mostly spread through sex or IV drug use to a brand-new baby?” That question has fueled broader mistrust of the government’s vaccine message.Supporters counter that childbirth itself is a major risk if the mother carries Hep B—and testing is far from foolproof. They point to the thousands of babies infected each year before the birth dose became universal, and cases plummeted.What would delaying that first shot until later in childhood mean? Is it a way to rebuild public trust or a risky rollback that could put more kids in danger?We explore these questions with two leading voices in vaccines, Dr. Paul Offit and Dr. Michael Mina, who don’t totally see eye to eye on the "birth dose".Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Dr. Paul Offit, a leading pediatrician and infectious disease specialist, co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, was on the FDA’s Vaccine Advisory Committee, director of the Vaccine Education Ctr at the Children Hospital of PhiladelphiaDr. Michael Mina, an epidemiologist, immunologist, and physician. Former associate professor at Harvard Medical School & TH Chan School of Public Health, led America’s test-to-treat program during the pandemic; has served as a scientific advisor for health start-ups. Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

On today's episode, we are heading to the farm, which is where one of America's biggest debates is taking place over food, health, and who and what we trust.Modern agriculture feeds the nation and the world, but its tools raise tough questions about long-term impacts on our health, not to mention our land. You'll hear from farmers, journalists and advocates -- some aligned with MAHA and others not -- as we dig into how we grow and harvest our food, the pressures on the population and on the planet, what we know and don't know about the harms of pesticides, and their take on the new MAHA Commission report on the topic of pesticides. And we will ask: would some in MAHA even break with the GOP if Congress moves to shield pesticide makers from lawsuits?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark Abdelmalek (off this episode)Guests:Stephanie Nash, a fourth-generation dairy farmer who lives and works in Tennessee. On IG, @nofarmsnofoodJohn Klar, operates a small farm in Vermont, and is an author for the MAHA Report, a popular newsletter; he is a supporter of Sec. Kennedy and MAHA's vision. Michelle Miller, a popular presence on social media, @thefarmbabe, former corn and soybean farmer, she says she spends her time traveling the country unearthing the truth about modern farming and supporting farmers. Erin Martin, founded Fresh RX Oklahoma, which prescribes local, regeneratively grown food to reverse  food linked chronic disease in Oklahoma; co-lead Oklahoma Food is Medicine policy; frequent supporter of MAHA vision.Michael Grunwald, who is a journalist focused on the climate, agriculture and author of a new book:  "We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate.” He is a contributor to the New York Times opinion page and a former staff writer for the Washington Post, Time and Politico Magazine.Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

It's been 24 hours since we learned about the shooting and murder of famed conservative activist and leader Charlie Kirk. We wanted to bring together some friends of the show, people we engage with frequently on the pod, to discuss what happened to Charlie, and to get into how we as a society can disagree better, whether getting to yes or even trying to bring ourselves into the same room together these days is worth it. The answer is: yes. We must. Now more than ever. Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonGuests:Elizabeth Frost, MAHA Ohio, Kennedy organizerAaron Everitt, substacker, video journalist, Besides the Revolution, Kennedy volunteerDr. Craig Spencer, ER physician, Associate Professor at Brown School of Public Health, works also w Doctors Without BordersThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

**We recorded this episode on Wednesday early morning. **The big MAHA report is out, a roadmap for how Kennedy and the Trump administration plan to tackle the chronic disease crisis impacting America's children. It’s a bold attempt to turn the federal government toward confronting the dire state of our health.In this episode, we break down what’s in the plan, what’s missing, and how both the MAHA movement and the public health community are responding.Joining us is Dr. Michael Forde, a public health leader working to reduce health inequity and inequality. At a moment when MAHA has moved chronic disease to the center of the national conversation, does the Black community feel included in their plan? And how do recent cuts to food programs, Medicaid, and diversity-focused health research square with the mission of making all communities healthier?Finally, we ask, how can medicine, science, and public health build trust with a community that has profound reasons to mistrust them?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonDr. Maggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Dr. Michael Forde, a public health leader focused on public health equity. He is the director of health equity for a Fortune 500 health company, where he works within the state of Maryland to improve access to care, with a focus on Medicaid.Follow him on IG, YouTube and TikTok, @MichaelHForde, where he breaks down the history, stories and facts about the Black American experience with our health system. Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Americans today are engaging in a great Rorschach Test over public health–and its results may determine our future.Are radical changes at the CDC and beyond moving us in the right direction for a healthier nation, or dangerously backwards?Are we undoing the very system that has protected us for decades (from infectious disease)? Or upending a system that has made us sicker (chronic disease epidemic)?Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) has succeeded in putting that question front and center. The movement encourages us to research for ourselves and make health decisions based on our unique family's needs. The days of lining up and getting your shot, no questions asked, are done. The days of trusting the experts appear to be winding down, too. That theme became clear in our conversation with the CDC leaders who recently resigned in protest. They tendered their resignations in defiance over RFK Jr.’s management of the agency, including the the firing of his handpicked director Dr Susan Monarez. It was a fascinating conversation, where we explored the role of the CDC, the Covid response, vaccine mandates, and the role of government in general. Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, former director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDCDr. Debra Houry , the CDC's former Chief Science and Medical OfficerDr. Dan Jernigan, former Director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at CDCElizabeth Frost, MAHA Ohio, ran Kennedy grassroots in OhioAaron Everitt, video essayist, substack Besides the Revolution, frequent contributor to House InHabitTracy Hollister, former Deputy Elector Director for Kennedy campaign, public policy researcher, MAHA advocateTravis Tripodi, consultant in the health technology industry; libertarian; MAHA and Kennedy supporterThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Our guest today, researcher Anna Gilmore, recently went viral with a provocative revelation: just four products cause at least a third of all deaths worldwide. But behind the attention-grabbing headline is her deeper mission--exposing a complex, corporate-driven system that fuels poor diets, worsening health, and our chronic disease crisis. To avoid regulation and keep government subsidies flowing, Anna says industry bankrolls and skews scientific research, while working to convince us that our poor health is all our fault. With MAHA’s momentum and focus on food, what’s her advice for the movement? Will MAHA’s current approach of calling for voluntary changes be enough? Ultimately, is capitalism incompatible with health?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark Abdelmalek (off this week)Guest;Anna Gilmore, professor of Public Health and Director of the Tobacco Control Research Group and the Co-Director of the Center for 21st Century Public Health at the University of Bath in England.Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

His voice reaches millions of Americans who many in mainstream science and public health just don’t reach these days.He is Dr. Marc Siegel, the senior medical analyst for FOX News who recently argued that President Trump should be given the Nobel Peace Prize for leading Operation Warp Speed – the rapid development of mRNA vaccines that was given to millions during the covid pandemic. The Fox News medical correspondent is outspoken on mRNA technology as the Trump administration cancels promising mRNA research.We’ll ask him what’s behind that provocative argument and what lessons he has for all of public health and science as they try to rebuild trust. Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom Johnson (off this week)Maggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Dr. Marc Siegel, Senior Medical Analyst, Fox News; medical director for Doctor Radio on SiriusXM, and he is a primary care internist and professor of medicine at NYU Langone, in New York City. He has a book coming out in November called The Miracles Among Us which will be published by Harper Collins - Fox News Books.Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Our guest today is David Kessler, the former FDA commissioner who once devised a strategy to take on Big Tobacco. Now, he’s back with a bold game plan for MAHA and President Trump to challenge the makers of ultra-processed foods.While making food healthier is central to MAHA’s mission, critics say its early wins, like persuading companies to remove certain food dyes, are a positive first step but won’t significantly improve public health. Kessler argues that RFK Jr.’s FDA already has both the scientific evidence and the legal authority right now to require food makers to prove that the ingredients in processed foods are safe.It’s a plan that would force a confrontation with Big Food. Is Kessler calling Kennedy’s bluff or handing him a powerful tool? Could this strategy survive legal and political pushback? And if it did, what would our supermarket shelves look like then?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Dr. David Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug AdministrationThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

In this special episode of Why Should I Trust You?, we're taking on the all-important topic of food with members of the Make America Healthy Again movement, along with a panel of seasoned experts in food and nutrition science, including Kevin Hall, the former NIH nutrition scientist. We set out to talk about nutrition, the food industry, and politics--but the conversation quickly took off in directions we never expected. What does the group make of the administration's early "wins" on food dyes? Is there agreement that the carrot-not-regulation approach with the food industry is the way to go? Is MAHA's alliance with MAGA proving successful or limiting? And finally, if all sides worked together, what real solutions could be achieved to help Americans eat healthier? We also ask the groups to reflect on the violent attack on the CDC last week. Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests: Elizabeth Frost: head of MAHA grassroots in Ohio, former OH state director for the Kennedy campaign, co-founder, Independent Force ConsultingJacqueline Capriotti: MAHA Mom, Patient Advocate, Substack: Health Revolution USA, Chronic Disease Outreach for the Kennedy CampaignErin Martin: founder and director of FreshRX Oklahoma, and a clinical gerontologist; advocate for regenerative farmingJohn Klar: lawyer, farmer, writer The MAHA Report, advocate for regenerative farmingAaron Everitt: Writer and video essayist at Substack: Besides The Revolution, frequently contributes to House InHabit a major MAHA influencer Jessica Reed Kraus' newsletter; Kennedy campaign volunteerKevin Hall:  who until this spring was at the NIH as a nutrition scientist, focusing a lot of his research on ultra processed foods and the causes of obesity, book coming out Food Intelligence, The Science of How Food Both Nourishes Us and Harms Us: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/671334/food-intelligence-by-julia-belluz-and-kevin-hall-phd/Tashara Leak: Registered Dietitian, Associate Professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, and Associate Dean in Human Ecology at Cornell University.Susan Mayne: former director of Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the FDA; currently a professor at Yale School of Public HealthDr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis: an infectious disease specialist who until very recently was the head of the Dept of Health for the city of St LouisThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Welcome to a special episode of Why Should I Trust You?  We’re joined by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy. There may be no more recognizable figure in science today than Tyson: astronomer, author, public thinker, and the guy who’s done more than just about anyone to make science accessible. Today, our focus is less on the cosmos and more on us humans—and why we’re losing trust in the very science Tyson represents. The pair have released two timely films: Shot in the Arm, about vaccines, and Food Evolution, which explores genetically modified food. With the rise of MAHA, both topics couldn’t be more front and center.We talk about anecdotes versus data, empathy for diverging points of view, why humans struggle with probability, how imprecise communication—whether about a novel virus or a UFO sighting—breeds mistrust, and why, as a species, we need to figure out this trust thing, fast.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Neil Degrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, author, director of Hayden PlanetariumScott Hamilton Kennedy, Oscar-nominated filmmaker, Shot in the Arm, Food EvolutionThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Is the CDC finally being fixed—or intentionally dismantled?Wherever you fall on that divide—long-overdue reform or something more alarming—seismic changes are underway at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is implementing dramatic cuts and a reorganization that he says will help focus the CDC on its core mission: fighting communicable diseases. As part of the overhaul, he’s also reshaping the agency’s role in setting vaccine policy for all Americans.Supporters see this as a chance to streamline an agency weighed down by competing agendas and bureaucratic gridlock. Critics call it a five-alarm fire, warning that these changes threaten to dismantle the very public health infrastructure that has long protected Americans, especially the most vulnerable.To help us understand what’s at stake, we’re joined by not one, but two former CDC directors: Dr. Tom Frieden and Dr. Mandy Cohen. What do they think the CDC got wrong during the pandemic? Where does their old agency need to change today? What of the current reforms makes sense or puts the health of Americans at risk? And most importantly, how can the CDC regain the trust it once commanded?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Dr. Mandy Cohen, former director of the CDC, former HHS secretary for the state of North Carolina; national advisor Manatt HealthDr. Tom Frieden, former director of the CDC, author, 'The Formula for Better Health: How to Save Millions of Lives—Including Your Own'.  President and CEO of Resolve to Save LivesThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

We are joined by Zen Honeycutt, the founder of Moms Across America and a leading voice in the MAHA movement. She’s an outspoken force of nature on a range of issues that she sees as negatively impacting the health of children.  There are many directions our conversation could take (and many things to debate), but we focused on a question we hear frequently from our listeners: How is MAHA responding to all the recent developments at the Environmental Protection Agency and the efforts to roll back regulations? Does she see these changes as undermining MAHA’s mission to curb toxic exposure and improve Americans' health?Along the way, we also ask her how she is processing the massive cuts to scientific research, and finally, what her message is to the MAHA community at this pivotal moment (Hint: Her eyes are squarely on the Midterms).Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark Abdelmalek (off today)Guest:Zen Honeycutt, Founder & Executive Director, Moms Across America, which is a 501c4 (it was mistakenly identified as a 501c3 in the recording); an influential leader within Make America Healthy Again movementThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

With the Jeffrey Epstein saga dominating the conversation for weeks now, it feels like we’re roasting in a summer of conspiracy theories.And given how conspiracy and cover-up play a recurring role in the story we’re exploring about the breakdown of trust in public health and medicine, this week felt as good as any to take on the topic.So, what’s fueling today’s conspiracy theories? And -- hold that thought -- do we as a society even LIKE the phrase conspiracy theory any more? Where’s the line between healthy skepticism and something more destructive? And couldn’t we come up with a better term for the beliefs of people who say they feel dismissed by an establishment that labels their good-faith suspicions as conspiratorial?To help us unpack all this, we’re joined by two Wall Street Journal reporters, Aruna Viswanatha and Joel Schectman. Back in June, they published a major investigative piece that dove into the godfather of all conspiracy theories: the claim that the U.S. military has been secretly studying alien spacecraft for decades.What these reporters uncovered wasn’t what anyone expected and is our jumping-off point for a conversation about conspiracy theories, legitimate suspicion, and how investigative journalism might hold a key to not only getting at the truth, but also rebuilding trust.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Joel Schectman, Wall Street Journal ReporterAruna Viswanatha, Wall Street Journal ReporterAuthors, The Pentagon Disinformation That Fueled America's UFO Mythology https://tinyurl.com/mrxsxxrpResources:Why People Believe Conspiracy Theorieshttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/misguided/202506/why-people-believe-conspiracy-theoriesI Was Just About To When My Grant Was Cuthttps://substack.com/home/post/p-169548794MAHA Supporters Weigh in on Kevin Hall Episodehttps://whyshoulditrustyou.substack.com/p/maha-supporters-weigh-in-on-kevinThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Kevin Hall is regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on the impact of food on our health. A former NIH scientist, he led some of the most eye-opening studies on the connections between ultra-processed foods and overeating, obesity, and chronic disease (Spoiler alert: It's not pretty.). So when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again movement took the reins at HHS, with gobs of energy and focus on tackling food, you’d think this would be Kevin Hall’s moment. Instead, in a stunning move, Hall walked away. He says that his earliest interactions with the new team left him feeling censored and worried that he'd no longer be able to conduct unbiased science.  So, what made one of America’s leading nutrition scientists see red flags as the MAHA-backed team got to work on the very issue that he's laser-focused on? And now, with a little time and distance, what does he think MAHA is getting right, getting wrong, and what its followers should be demanding from their leaders to truly make America eat healthier?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Kevin Hall, nutrition and metabolism scientist, formerly NIH; co-author Food Intelligence, coming out Sept 23, 2025. Available to pre-order here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/671334/food-intelligence-by-julia-belluz-and-kevin-hall-phd/Let's keep the conversation going! Join us on Substack:https://whyshoulditrustyou.substack.com/Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

What happens when you bring a group of MAHA advocates together with journalists and public health communicators and ask: When it comes to the media, who do you trust for your information and why? What about doctors? What about Sec. Kennedy? This week, we found out.The result is an intense, surprising, sometimes funny, often confounding conversation about trust, Big Pharma, censorship, facts, “misinformation” (one voice says, stop using that word, another asks, well, then what do we call it?), bias, doctors, plumbers, and what truth even means anymore.In this special episode, we dig into how we might be able to rebuild trust when so many of us only listen to our own carefully curated echo chamber.Joining us was a group of MAHA supporters: Elizabeth Frost (MAHA Ohio) Mark Harris (MAHA Ohio), Nancy Fuller (MAHA Ohio), Jacqueline Capriotti (Health Revolution USA, director of outreach during Kennedy campaign), and Aaron Everitt (Besides the Revolution Substack, contributor to House InHabit).  From the science communication side: Jessica Grose (opinion writer, New York Times), Kristen Panthagani (You Can Know Things), Dr. Mati Davis (former health director, St Louis), Dr. Craig Spencer (Brown Univ, Doctors without Borders, columnist), Chelsea Cipriano (former deputy PIO for Dept of Health in NYC)We launched a substack!! Want more reflections from the WSITY team on our conversations with public health and MAHA? Guest essays from diverse perspectives? Videos where we discuss what we thought after a particular podcast episode? Sign up for free or premium paid content now!https://substack.com/@whyshoulditrustyouThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

On today’s episode, we’re joined by Dr. Francis Collins, the former head of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Collins has spent his career pushing the frontiers of science — from discovering genes linked to deadly diseases to leading the historic Human Genome Project. And during COVID, he helped steer the government’s public health response, including the rapid development of the COVID vaccine — work that still puts him in the hot seat with communities who feel science betrayed their trust.Now, as the Trump administration and the Make America Healthy Again movement tackle America’s chronic health crisis with a radically different approach, what does he make of what he’s seeing, from the sweeping shift in priorities to widespread cuts in research funding? Does he see common ground with the MAHA movement’s goals? And, after a lifetime devoted to advancing science and health, what does he believe is the best way to rebuild trust and make America healthier?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonDr. Maggie BartlettDr.Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Dr. Francis Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health, author The Road to WisdomThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

When COVID hit, public health leaders often said, “There was no playbook.” But was that really true?Decades earlier, during the AIDS crisis, America’s public health system went through a trial by fire—learning hard lessons about how to communicate amid uncertainty, adapt to evolving science, and work with communities instead of against them.Flash forward to COVID, and many Americans say they lost trust after experiencing what they saw as a top-down, dismissive approach from public health leaders. They say their questions and concerns about mitigation efforts and science were often met with rigid messaging, outright dismissal, and even censorship.In today’s episode, we sit down with Dr. Reed Tuckson, a public health leader and former Commissioner of Public Health for Washington, D.C., during the height of the AIDS epidemic. He reflects on what that era taught him—and what it might still teach us about rebuilding trust today.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark Abdelmalek (off this week)Guest:Dr. Reed Tuckson, former Commissioner of Public Health in Washington DC; founder, Coalition for Trust in Health and ScienceThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Why is a little-known CDC advisory committee meeting today making big headlines?Because Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. just fired every single member—replacing them with his own hand-picked team.The committee in question is ACIP, a group of independent experts that guides how vaccines are used by hundreds of millions of Americans. Kennedy called the shake-up a “clean sweep,” claiming the previous committee's work was just a rubber stamp for Big Pharma and couldn’t be trusted.Many in the medical and scientific community warn that this move could dismantle the nation’s vaccine system, erode public trust, and drive up costs.What should we trust? And can we trust that the health of Americans is not getting caught in the crossfire? Today, we speak with two of the fired ACIP members to hear their direct response to the accusations. Then, Dr. Michael Mina—physician, scientist, and critic of the firings—joins us to unpack the broader context of these sweeping changes to America’s vaccine policy, what concerns are real, and what might be overblown.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Charlotte Moser, ex-ACIP, co-director, Vaccine Education CenterDr Jamie Loehr, ex-ACIP, family physicianDr Michael Mina; physician, immunologist; epidemiologistSources:Michael Mina:https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/opinion/rfk-vaccine-policy-changes.htmlThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

In today’s episode, what do a group of MAHA, MAGA, and independent moms and dads of children with disabilities think about the changes Republicans in Congress are hashing out right now for Medicaid, as they push to pass President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill”?If a healthier America is your top priority, this is a red-alert moment. A nonpartisan Congressional estimate finds that the House-passed Medicaid changes would lead to millions of Americans losing health insurance. And just this week, the Republican-controlled Senate released its own draft, proposing even bigger changes that would result in deeper cuts.With 71 million enrollees, Medicaid is the largest health insurance program in the country, a vital lifeline for both Red and Blue America. So what do these parents — who either depend on Medicaid now or expect to in the future — want Republican lawmakers and MAHA leaders to know about the realities of their daily lives? Is this what they voted for? And if not, what will they do about it?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie Bartlett (off this week)Dr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Jacqueline Capriotti, health coalition leader, substack author Health Revolution USA, mother of two kids with CF, MAHA advocateJames Cummings, digital engagement strategist, father to children with rare diseasesSue Teitelbaum, mother of daughter with special needsNancy Fuller, MAHA Ohio grassroots, mother to son living with autismElizabeth Frost, MAHA grassroots leader OhioDr. Megan Ranney, dean of Yale School of Public Health; ER physicianDr. Craig Spencer, associate professor Brown University, ER physician, Doctors Without BordersDr. Reed Tuckson, founder of Coalition to Build Trust in Health and Science, physician. Resources:https://5calls.org/https://clairesplacefoundation.org/https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/initiatives/saw-rtw/retain/phase-oneFrom Jacqueline Capriotti:https://healthrevolutionusa.substack.com/p/when-trust-the-science-isnt-enough?r=5aqw38&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=trueThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

It’s the four letters that changed our lives: M-R-N-A.Hailed as a modern medical miracle that delivered the life-saving COVID vaccine in record time, mRNA now fuels one of the most polarizing debates in public health. Critics see it as a dangerous experiment that has turned deadly, a symbol of Big Pharma overreach, and a culture of corporate capture within our regulatory agencies that places profits over health and safety. Supporters call it our best hope against new viruses and possibly for the deadliest diseases we face—from cancer to diabetes, even Alzheimer’s.Today, we unpack a growing backlash that is driving down childhood vaccination rates, leading to cuts in mRNA research, and prompting different states to pass laws restricting its use. The mistrust was on display this week as RFK Jr. fired a key committee of experts that evaluates vaccines.Our guest today is Dr. Drew Weissman, who, along with Dr Katalin Kariko, won the Nobel Prize for revolutionizing mRNA technology. We’ll dive into why their breakthrough has become a lightning rod—and whether the controversy could derail our best shot at curing tomorrow’s worst diseases.Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

On today's special episode, a raw and unflinching conversation between MAHA advocates from Georgia and a group of veterans from public health. The discussion dives straight into one of the biggest drivers of mistrust in public health today: the COVID vaccine. Is it a life-saving marvel of modern science or a dangerous technology imposed on the public with little regard for liberty and safety? The groups share profound concerns about where we’ve been and where we’re headed when it comes to Americans' trust in public health, medicine, and science. Many of them differ fundamentally on the promise of the vaccine versus what it delivered, on how the healthcare system delivered and failed at the same time, and on how that trust lost can be earned back.Yet the discussion is grounded in respect, empathy, and a shared goal of healthier communities, which might just be the key to pulling us out of our spiral of mistrust. Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonGuests:Joining the discussion from MAHA Georgia are Joey Fargar, Aaron Rossi, Christy Kennedy, Melinda Hicks, and from Ohio, Elizabeth Frost.From public health, Paul Offit, Reed Tuckson, Anne Zink, and Ashwin Vasan. Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

We’ve heard it—and you’ve probably heard it too: critics of public health say the way health advice is delivered is a big part of why trust is plummeting. The critique goes like this: experts and institutions often take complicated, nuanced data and present it as all-knowing, black-and-white rules—“Vaccines are safe,” “Raw milk is bad,” “Fluoride in drinking water is essential.”But too often, the public hears little explanation, context, or nuance—rarely an acknowledgment of what isn’t known, in the rush to declare what is. And when every message feels equally urgent, it’s hard to know what really matters most.Is presenting complicated data with simple, unflinching certainty the best way to help people make healthy choices? In a busy world, does simplifying at the expense of nuance lead to better health—or to eroded trust? And how is public health’s mandate—to speak to the whole community, including large percentages of people who lack regular access to health professionals—different from the personalized advice of a one-on-one doctor’s visit?In 2025, with endless information and competing voices, how must public health communication evolve to meet the times?Today on Why Should I Trust You?, we’re joined by Emily Oster—economist, professor, health-data expert, best-selling parenting author, and founder of ParentData.org. We talk health, data, and how to communicate honestly about risk and benefit. Could a new approach to health guidance be the key to rebuilding trust? Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Emily Oster, author, economist, founder ParentData (www.parentdata.org)Books: Expecting Better; The Family Firm; Crib SheetResources:Emily Oster: There's a Better Way to Talk About Fluoride, Vaccines and Raw Milkhttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/opinion/vaccines-fluoride-raw-milk.htmlEmily Oster: Let's Declare a Pandemic Amnestyhttps://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/10/covid-response-forgiveness/671879/Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Few topics crystallize our current breakdown in trust more than autism. And with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s renewed push to find its cause, autism isn’t just back in the national spotlight—it’s fueling a debate that’s dividing communities.Supporters see Kennedy as a force disrupting the status quo, channeling money and fresh energy into the search for answers. Critics see a stunt that prioritizes personal belief over established science and may ultimately be about eroding trust in vaccines.Either way, it exposes just how deep our mistrust runs: vaccine skeptics dismissing science based on who delivers it, while some in the scientific establishment hesitate to revisit old debates because of who’s asking the questions.Caught in the middle? Millions of families living with autism.Today, a candid conversation with Nancy Fuller, a MAHA mom navigating her son’s diagnosis—and insights from Alison Singer, co-founder of the Autism Science Foundation and mother of daughter with autism, on where the research stands today and where we go from here.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Nancy Fuller, Make America Healthy Again (Ohio), mother of a son with autismAlison Singer, Co-Founder/President, Autism Science Foundation, mother of a daughter with autismThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Today, we’re joined by CNN's Jake Tapper, who along with Axios' Alex Thompson, are authors of the new book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. Their reporting is sending shockwaves throughout Washington and beyond--its release landing the same week as the news of the former president’s aggressive cancer diagnosis. The result is a seismic reckoning with Biden’s decision to seek re-election despite visible signs of age-related decline. And Tapper and Thompson have been blasted over whether they did everything they could to hold the president and his team accountable. We ask: How much did the media know—and not report, including Tapper himself? Why did Biden, his top advisors, and Democratic leaders ignore the overwhelming concerns from the public about Biden’s frailty? And how did that denial deepen America’s distrust in its leaders, its institutions, and the press?Yes, this is a story about health, aging, and what we expect from our leaders—but at its core, it’s about truth and trust. It is the kind of hard truth about aging and vulnerability that we -- and our systems --  often resist confronting Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Jake Tapper, CNN, co-author, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

In today’s episode — the second installment of our conversation between MAHA and Public Health — we bring together veteran public health leaders and grassroots activists from Ohio’s Make America Healthy Again chapter, two sides that allegedly don't agree on much.Our first conversation raised big questions. Some asked: Why even engage? At a time when devastating cuts are hitting public health and science, and America’s public health mission is being reshaped, many believe this moment calls for a fight — not a dialogue.But we chose conversation. And today's conversation took us straight to the fault lines of some of the most divisive health issues in America today.What we heard surprised us. Some positions weren’t as hardened as we expected. Some people, not as dug in.There’s tension and disagreement — but also moments of agreement, and more than just a flicker of hope.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Elizabeth Frost, MAHAMark Harris, MAHANancy Fuller, MAHADaniel DeLuca, MAHAMegan Ranney, Public HealthReed Tuckson, Public HealthKatelyn Jetelina, Public HealthCraig Spencer, Public HealthPaul Offit, Public HealthThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Do you believe in ghosts? The paranormal? Hold that thought. Believe it or not, it ties directly into the themes of our show.Trust in our institutions is crumbling—from government and media to higher education, and yes, even medicine, science, and public health. Today’s guest, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of the new book The Ghost Lab, Matt Hongoltz-Hetling, joins us to explore the growing belief in the paranormal—and what it reveals about our national psyche.He argues that our fascination with ghosts, aliens, and the unexplained may be more than fringe curiosity. It could be a lens into where our deepening mistrust is leading us.We talk about how the scientific method is being used to investigate hauntings, why medical associations might consider hiring a resident medium, and how something as strange-sounding as moisturizing with snail mucin might contain unexpected insight into building trust.This is a conversation about the difference between healthy skepticism and corrosive doubt—and what rises to replace expertise when the experts no longer hold sway.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Matt Hongoltz-Hetling, investigative journalist and author of The Ghost Lab and If It Sounds Like a Quack.Sources:NYT Opinion by Matt Hongoltz-Hetlinghttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/opinion/medical-freedom-cancer-rfk.htmlEvery Doctor Faces This Dilemmahttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/opinion/doctors-vaccines-patients.htmlThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

In this special episode, we dig into the origins of the pandemic. Has America decided it began with a lab leak? Is the debate over?The Trump administration says yes, launching a new government website asserting that Covid originated in a lab, not from animal-to-human transmission at the now-infamous Wuhan market. In recent days, Trump signed an executive order halting gain-of-function research, the type his administration claims caused the alleged leak. Tulsi Gabbard, now Director of National Intelligence, says she’s working on the definitive report. And Senator Rand Paul is once again calling for Dr. Fauci to be held accountable.But talk to many scientists, and the response is clear: not so fast.To help us unpack where the evidence stands—and how politics is reshaping the conversation—we're joined by three returning guests: Dr. Paul Offit, infectious disease expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Dr. Maciej Boni, epidemiologist and professor at Temple University who was part of an early research effort into Covid’s origins; and David Wallace-Wells, New York Times science columnist and longtime chronicler of the pandemic’s many turns.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonDr. Maggie BartlettGuests:Dr Paul Offit, infectious disease pediatrician, Children's Hospital of PhiladelphiaDr Maciek Boni, infectious disease epidemiologist, Temple UniversityDavid Wallace Wells, science writer, New York TimesTulsi Gabbard on Gain on Function Research and Covid Originshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMKTSYxto_YThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

In today’s episode: a conversation between two sides that don’t typically speak with each other—mainstream public health leaders and voices from the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. These groups often talk about each other, but rarely to each other.Five MAHA members from their state chapter in Ohio. Five public health leaders. We had met and developed relationships with them over months of discussing their vision of health in this country. And a few weeks ago, we invited them to have a conversation with each other. They all agreed. On today's episode, we play the conversation in three sections. Following each section, we are joined by the Dean of Yale School of Public Health's Megan Ranney and MAHA Ohio's Grassroots Coordinator Elizabeth Frost who were on the call, to dig into their reactions.This dialogue comes at a critical moment for public health and science, as the Trump administration slashes funding and jobs in a sharp reorientation of America’s health agencies and scientific research infrastructure. The divisions between these two camps run deep—over vaccines, the role of government, over health itself, and the polarizing figure of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s current health secretary. Trust is eroding on all sides.So we asked: what if we tried to bridge the gap? Do these sides actually have more in common than they think? Would they be willing to be open and honest with each other? Would they get stuck on the conversation over vaccines?What you will hear is an important starting point -- with more conversations planned for the future. Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark Abdelmalek Guests:MAHA Grassroots from Ohio:Elizabeth Frost**Nancy FullerDonald WigginsDaniel DeLucaMark HarrisPublic health leaders: Megan Ranney**Reed TucksonKatelyn JetelinaCraig SpencerPaul Offit**Were on the group zoom conversation with MAHA and public health as well as podcast guests todayThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

During RFK Jr.'s confirmation hearing back in January, many voices competed to be heard. But one cut through the noise: Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire — a Democrat, a policymaker, and the mother of a son with Cerebral Palsy. Her emotional testimony about love, a mother's guilt, and the daily realities of disability struck a national chord.Today, she joins us.She tells us about where she finds yes, disagreement — but also, surprising common ground — with MAHA parents seeking answers about autism, vaccines, food, and chemicals. Can this Democrat from the "Live Free or Die" state help rebuild trust in public health, a field often tied to collective sacrifice? And with her party facing historic polling lows, how does she believe Democrats can craft a new health message, even as they fight to protect scientific research and Medicaid from deep cuts she sees as devastating?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH)Relevant committees she serves which relate to the subject of our podcast: Senate HELP Committee (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions); Senate Finance Committee; Senate Committee on Veterans' AffairsSource:Clip from January 2025 of Sen Maggie Hassan at RFK Jr.'s confirmation hearing:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEYj8x8f1QY&t=1sThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

We’re joined by Emily Jashinsky, co-host of Counterpoints with Ryan Grim. Formerly with The Federalist and The Hill, Emily now serves as DC correspondent for UnHerd and hosts Undercurrents TV. She’s someone well-versed in this shifting media landscape.Together, we explore the rise of the so-called “New Media”—a world where legacy outlets are giving way to right-leaning podcasters, YouTubers, and social media influencers. As trust in public health, science, and institutions craters, we ask: is this new media ecosystem fueling the breakdown, or finally reflecting a mistrust that’s been simmering for years?And while critics on the Left call this new media machine unstoppable—blaming it for everything from Trump’s rise to the collapse of trust in science—we push back on that narrative. Could this shifting landscape actually offer unexpected opportunities for public health voices willing to step into the fray?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie Bartlett (off this week)Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (off this week)Guest:Emily Jashinsky, former The Federalist, The Hill, co-host of Counterpoints web and podcast show; and the DC correspondent of UnHerd - a news and current affairs site and host of Undercurrents TV. Sources:Media Matters "Bubbles" Graphic on Dominance of Right-Leaning Mediahttps://x.com/GoAngelo/status/1900959918040989731Joe Rogan Podcast, Dave Smith, Doug Murray, on Expertisehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah6kirkSwTgEmily Jashinsky: Legacy Media Indict Themselves When They Blame the "Right Wing Media Ecosystem"https://thefederalist.com/2024/11/08/legacy-media-indict-themselves-when-they-blame-the-right-wing-media-ecosystem/Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

In today’s episode, we speak with Evan Barker, a writer, podcaster, and former Democratic staffer and fundraiser who, in 2024, voted for Donald Trump. Raised in a working-class community by her mother, Barker's family lived paycheck to paycheck. Then she was diagnosed with a rare, potentially fatal chronic illness. Raised in a blue-collar Missouri community, Evan represents a much-needed voice at the table as America wrestles with how to get healthier. Does she feel MAHA represents the America of her upbringing? How did the party of Obamacare--which provided her insurance and thus the opportunity to go to college--lose her trust? And despite her vote for Trump, does she trust the Republican Party will hold the line on cuts to Medicaid, which millions of working-class Americans depend on?  Finally, does this former Democrat think either party has a health agenda that will rebuild trust with middle-class America and will make us healthier? Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Evan Barker: writer; former Democratic campaign operative; host of podcast Not Going BackSource:Evan Barker: I Raised $50 Million for the Democratic Party. This Week I Voted for Donald Trump. https://www.thefp.com/p/democrat-fundraiser-evan-barker-i-voted-trumpThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Nation's Top Vaccine Regulator Just Ousted, Dr. Peter Marks: "Measles is NOT leveling off". This is in direct contrast to Secretary Kennedy's statement just yesterday that the nation's measles outbreak is under control. Plus why he felt he could not stay at the FDA anymore, his answers to parents' questions about vaccine safety, what he sees for public health right now and what he wants to do next. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Today, in a special episode, we’re breaking from our usual Thursday release schedule to bring you an in-depth conversation with Dr. Peter Marks—America’s top vaccine official, who just stepped down from his role at the FDA.His resignation made headlines, sending shock waves through the public health world, especially after he said RFK Jr.’s newly installed team at the agency left him little choice. For years, Dr. Marks led the government group responsible for approving vaccines and in that role was a driving force behind Operation Warp Speed. That effort both fast-tracked COVID-19 vaccines at a moment when the nation was desperate for solutions and has helped fuel America's rise in mistrust.Now, with that public trust in science, health officials, and institutions at a low point, we sit down with Dr. Marks to ask the hard questions: Was the COVID vaccine rushed? What does he make of RFK Jr.’s bold claim that he’ll uncover the cause of autism by September? And does he think the current measles outbreak is bigger and more dangerous than it appears?Finally, we talk with this newly liberated public health servant about what it might take for America to turn the corner—and start trusting again.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Dr. Peter Marks, former director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research within the Food and Drug Administration. He oversaw the FDA vaccine program. Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

On today's episode, we tackle a topic that sparks more fear, frustration, and mistrust than perhaps any other: health insurance. From denied claims to endless bureaucratic red tape and the dread of sky-high out-of-pocket costs, it's no wonder so many Americans feel trapped. While more people are covered than ever before, many are still skipping doctor visits, avoiding exams, and forgoing prescription refills due to the financial burden. The raw emotion was on full display in the shocking response to the murder of the United Healthcare CEO. Today, we sit down with Wendell Potter, a former health industry insider turned whistleblower who walked away from his high-paying job to fight for reform in the very industry he once served. In today's divisive conversation about making America healthier, is fixing healthcare the one thing we can all agree on?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Wendell Potter, former health insurance executive at Cigna; president of the Center for Health and DemocracySources:I Was a Health Insurance Executive. What I Saw Made Me Quithttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/opinion/health-insurance-united-ceo-shooting.htmlIn US, Inability to Pay For Care, Medicine Hits New Highhttps://news.gallup.com/poll/658148/inability-pay-care-medicine-hits-new-high.aspxThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Health and Human Services chief RFK Jr. unleashed much-anticipated cuts this week, bringing the total to 20,000 jobs slashed from our nation’s premier health institution. This follows cuts in money for state public health agencies and funding freezes for research centers tackling everything from cancer to veterans' health. Secretary Kennedy says this is to streamline government agencies' practices which he says will ultimately make America healthy again. For too long, both parties ran the show without challenging the status quo. Meanwhile, trust in public health on behalf of a public desperate for action was plummeting. How much did that lack of change pave the way for the radical shift we’re seeing now?To help make sense of it all, we speak with Jennifer Pahlka—author, technologist, and government reformer. A pioneer in bringing tech-driven innovation to government long before DOGE was a glint in Elon Musk’s eye, Pahlka has a lot to say about government efficiency, streamlining bureaucracy, and where these cuts might be leading us.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Jennifer Pahlka, author Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age, and How We Can Do Better; former U.S. deputy chief technology officer under President Barack Obama where she helped set up the U.S. Digital Service.Sources:Fortune on Pahlka and DOGE cutshttps://fortune.com/2025/03/05/doge-co-founder-digital-service-jennifer-pahlka-code-for-americaAtlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/01/elon-musk-doge-government-efficiency/681366/Pahlka op-ed NY Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/opinion/democrats-elon-musk-doge.htmlThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Our team first takes on the drastic funding cuts shaking the medical, scientific, and public health communities before turning to a provocative question: What if, during the next pandemic, we avoided strict lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and widespread restrictions? What if schools, workplaces, bars, and gyms stayed open, and the government encouraged precautions rather than enforcing them? Would more people die, or would people comply? Does it have to be a choice between life and the economy? We speak with a firefighter, Barry Arata, who was told during the pandemic, he had to vaccinate or face termination from his position. We learned what he did next and how it changed his view on government and trust. To explore all this, we bring on Anders Tegnell, architect of Sweden’s controversial no-lockdown strategy. Sweden bucked the trend and stayed open—was it a success or a deadly gamble? How do Swedes view the balance between personal responsibility and public health? And while America is a very different place, should we follow Sweden’s example next time? With trust in the system where it is today, do we even have a choice?(And yeah we ask him a couple of questions about ABBA. Because, Sweden.) Anders Tegnell on Sweden’s responsehttps://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-11-state-epidemiologist-sweden-covid-strategy.htmlNew York Times' David Wallace-Wells on Sweden’s pandemic responsehttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/opinion/sweden-pandemic-coronavirus.htmlStudy on Sweden’s Covid deaths https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10399217/#:~:text=In%20conclusion%2C%20Sweden%20experienced%20relatively,to%20their%20version%20of%20reality.Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Amid a deadly measles outbreak, a fresh battle has erupted, pitting mainstream public health against MAHA, infectious disease against chronic disease, and Vitamin A against vaccination. It's a fight that hinges on a fundamental question: Is your illness driven more by infectious disease or underlying chronic conditions? One side argues that vaccination is the only way to prevent measles. At the same time, the other emphasizes diet, nutrition, and Vitamin A, even bringing up cod liver oil as part of the discussion. Then there's MAHA's passion to address America’s unhealthy diet. Should critics of MAHA separate what they agree with from what they don't? In this episode, we unpack the fight amid an outbreak and hear from Marion Nestle, one of America’s leading nutritionists and public health experts. Sources:Vitamin A and Measleshttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7076287/Vitamin A deficiencyhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622012238?via%3DihubRFK Jr on Foxnews: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6369595673112RFK Jr with Sean Hannityhttps://www.foxnews.com/video/6369888081112Interview of parents of child in TX measles outbreak deathhttps://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/shows/good-morning-chd/breaking-news-parents-of-child-in-texas-measles-outbreak-death/Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

"Big Pharma" — two words that Americans love to hate. When asked about the pharmaceutical industry, most of the country responds with a mix of anger and suspicion, using terms like "corporate capture," "revolving door," and "profits over people" to describe its influence, a sentiment felt even stronger after the pandemic. And yet, we are a nation that depends on their life-saving, life-improving products. Americans demand innovation from Big Pharma, but are simultaneously frustrated and mistrustful of their motives and influence. Today, we delve into our complex relationship with the pharmaceutical industry. What fuels this mistrust? Is there a better system? Joining us is bioethicist, author, and TED Talk star hailing from Penn State University Jonathan Marks, who believes it doesn’t have to be this way.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Jonathan Marks, Director of Bioethics Program at Penn State University, lawyer, author The Perils of Partnership: Industry Influence, Institutional Integrity, and Public HealthSources:2019 pharma ranked least well regarded industryhttps://news.gallup.com/poll/266060/big-pharma-sinks-bottom-industry-rankings.aspx2023 Gallup on pharma  https://news.gallup.com/poll/510641/retail-pharmaceutical-industries-slip-public-esteem.aspxLessons from Corporate Influence in the Opioid Epidemic https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32661741/STAT on financial donations to Congresshttps://www.statnews.com/feature/prescription-politics/federal-full-data-set/NIH funds drug research https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5878010/TED TALK: Jonathan Marks: In Praise of Conflicthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf8j5LFv3nIThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

During incoming NIH secretary Dr. Jay Bhattacharya's confirmation hearing this week, he vowed to "establish a culture of respect for free speech in science & scientific dissent at the NIH"; he went on to call dissent "the very essence of science". Dr. Bhattacharya has been one of the most outspoken critics of what he perceives to be censorship and the deliberate muzzling of scientists during Covid. Today, we dive into the complex and contentious issue of censorship—one of the biggest drivers of mistrust in public health. Was it justified for the government to pressure social media companies to remove posts about COVID-19 and vaccines that they deemed dangerous misinformation? Or did that cross a line into stifling free speech? today, with the Trump administration now overseeing public health, issuing new executive orders aimed at limiting DEI programs, language and studies throughout the federal government. Do these actions cross the line into censoring science? Why are we caught in a battle between science and free speech, and how did we get here? And how do we move forward?To help explore these questions, we’re joined by two individuals from very different backgrounds who emerged as important voices during the pandemic: Wilk Wilkinson, a trucking company manager in Central Minnesota and host of the Derate The Hate podcast who has joined forces with scientists such as Dr Francis Collins and Dr Jay Bhattacharya on various topics; and Dr. Maciej Boni, a biology professor at Temple University and infectious disease epidemiologist who worked on the front lines of various outbreaks, from swine flu, bird flu to Covid-19.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Wilk Wilkinson, Braver Angels leader; Host of Derate the Hate podcast; manager of trucking operations Dr. Maciej Boni, professor of biology at Temple University; infectious disease epidemiologistSources:Mark Zuckerberg’s letter to Rep. Jim Jordanhttps://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/PDFFiles/Mark-Zuckerberg-Letter-on-Govt-Censorship.pdfRep. Jim Jordan’s investigation into Biden’s “Censorship Scheme”https://judiciary.house.gov/media/in-the-news/jim-jordan-launches-misinformation-investigation-uncover-biden-censorship-schemeFree speech and content moderationhttps://www.newsweek.com/covid-censorship-facebook-stretched-first-amendment-free-speech-lawyers-1945595Supreme Court: Murthy v. Missouri https://hms.harvard.edu/news/whats-stake-us-supreme-court-case-misinformationSupreme Court: Missouri v. Biden https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-censorship-proved-to-be-deadly-social-media-government-pandemic-health-697c32c4Biden & Social Media https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/us/politics/biden-facebook-social-media-covid.htmlThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

With measles cases spreading and reports of the first measles death in 10 years, all eyes are on the new health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, in what is his first real public health test. He said the measles outbreaks were not unusual. According to the CDC and Your Local Epidemiologist newsletter, 2025 has already passed 8 out of the last 15 years in annual counts of measles. On today's episode: In 2024, after Kennedy rose to join Donald Trump, what we got was a powerful union, between MAGA and MAHA. When Kennedy dropped his independent bid for the White House and endorsed Donald J. Trump, his MAHA supporters rallied behind the Republican candidate. This merger unites two groups that, at first glance, seem to have little in common. One is a populist movement, championing the working American who feels overlooked and dismissed by the elites. The other is a coalition of wellness enthusiasts and vaccine skeptics, critics of big business, and those wary of pharma’s influence over health policy and advocates of health freedom, coming together in common cause.But what happens when the realpolitik of governing kicks in, with its focus on priorities, compromises, and funding? Will MAGA rally behind MAHA’s causes, especially if they call for more business regulations, farming restrictions, and higher health standards? Is MAHA wise to trust MAGA? Journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon, author, journalist, and vocal Trump supporter, joins the discussion, with a take on all of this that you won't want to miss. Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Batya Ungar-Sargon, columnist The Free Press, author Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and WomenSources:RFK and Donald Trump’s alliance https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/09/rfk-trump-health-maga/680011/The anti-vaccine movement https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9981160/MAHA’s agendahttps://thehill.com/newsletters/health-care/5144511-rfk-kennedy-maha-era-begins/What is MAHA?https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/what-is-maha-health-wellness-movement-rfk-jr-policies.htmlMAHA’s legislative goals https://www.axios.com/2024/11/14/maha-movement-federal-health-agenciesRecent history of the vaccine skeptical movement  https://www.thenation.com/article/society/the-anti-vax-movement-hustl/The MAHA Commission https://www.axios.com/2025/02/13/trump-maha-commission-rfk-chronic-illnessRepublicans and Democrats Views on Vaccineshttps://news.gallup.com/poll/648308/far-fewer-regard-childhood-vaccinations-important.aspxThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

This week, in his first speech addressing the Department of Health and Human Services as its new chief, RFK Jr.  said the path to the country earning back trust was through transparency. As Kennedy was saying these words to a packed audience,  Texas was clocking in more measles cases, in what is turning out to be its worst measles outbreak in 30 years. With rising mistrust in public health and declining vaccination rates, measles - a disease we eradicated over 20 years ago is making a comeback, worrying many in public health. But two MAHA moms in their fifties we heard from on today's episode ask a question we are increasingly hearing more often these days: what's the big deal about measles?  Both these moms got it as children and recovered, missed a few days of school and then had lifelong immunity. Is public health over reacting? They point to a classic Brady Bunch episode where the kids all catch measles, reflecting how the virus was once considered a rite of passage, a harmless childhood illness. If anything, doesn't getting a disease strengthen the immune system?Before the vaccine, measles claimed the lives of 500 children every year and hospitalized tens of thousands more, and sometimes led to severe complications in kids many years after they got sick. But now that we have a vaccine, what’s the real risk of measles today? And why is the measles vaccine -- while still popular among the vast majority of this country -- losing the trust of a small but growing group of Americans? In this episode, we welcome back Dr. Paul Offit, a leading expert on childhood vaccines, to explore the questions surrounding measles and dig into the facts about pharmaceutical funding while aiming to model a more constructive conversation.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Yesenia Muhammad, Atlanta, MAHA MomMelinda Hicks, Atlanta, MAHA MomDr. Paul Offit, pediatrician, infectious disease and vaccine specialistSources:States looking to create exemptions for public school vaccine mandates:https://apnews.com/article/vaccines-whooping-cough-rfk-measles-exemptions-covid-27dae6f61505ef1953ca869a78c71942Public Attitudes on the MMR vaccine:https://www.kff.org/health-information-and-trust/press-release/poll-trust-in-public-health-agencies-and-vaccines-falls-amid-republican-skepticism/#:~:text=Among%20parents%2C%20about%20seven%20in,the%20benefits%20CDC numbers on risk from Measleshttps://www.cdc.gov/measles/signs-symptoms/?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/measles/symptoms/complications.html#Measles compromises immune memoryMeasles virus infection diminishes preexisting antibodies that offer protection from other pathogensClinical Trial data on MMR:[Simultaneous administration at different dosages of attenuated live virus vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella]. Clinical evaluation of a new measles-mumps-rubella trivalent vacThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

A major source of mistrust in public health today is the belief that you can't sue a vaccine manufacturer if you suffer an adverse reaction. Many ask: Why should I trust vaccines if I can't hold vaccine makers accountable? For them, it sounds un-American, heavily biased toward Big Pharma, and proof that the system is rigged. It is something that the incoming health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spoken about often. But is it true? In this episode, we sit down with Dorit Reiss, a legal scholar specializing in vaccines and the law, to separate fact from fiction. We dive into why vaccine makers were ever granted any shield from liability to begin with. And we look at where America ultimately landed on this issue, by unpacking the facts and tracing the history. What we found surprised us. We asked: what recourse do people have if they experience a rare side effect and want accountability from a vaccine maker? What avenues exist today and do they work? Is our understandable desire to have available vaccines -- which have saved hundreds of millions of lives -- allowing room for a fair process to hold vaccine makers accountable for adverse reactions?Plus, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. now becomes the new leader of the Department of Health and Human Services, what potential changes could he bring to the vaccine landscape?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest: Dorit Reiss, Professor of Law, University of California Law San Francisco; vaccine law specialistSources:GAO report 2024 on how Covid vaccine compensation program is fairinghttps://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-107368New York Times from November 1986 on Reaganhttps://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/15/us/reagan-signs-bill-on-drug-exports-and-payment-for-vaccine-injuries.htmlPaul Offit on vaccine compensation historyhttps://pauloffit.substack.com/p/a-dangerous-time-for-americas-children-3bbWashington Post 1987https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/03/06/administration-attacks-vaccine-law/a12c8353-e075-443c-b026-9a6ea00ff61b/Time Magazine 2015https://time.com/3995062/vaccine-injury-court-truth/Newsweek 2023 https://www.newsweek.com/surge-vaccine-lawsuits-forces-biden-admin-hire-more-attorneys-1843385Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

With the CIA now siding with the "lab leak" theory, President Trump reportedly considering cuts to “risky” virus research, Republican Senator Rand Paul firing off subpoenas, and President Biden’s pre-emptive pardon of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the fierce debate over COVID’s origins is only intensifying. And while many believe we’re no closer to an answer, the fight itself is deepening our national crisis of trust in science. In this episode, we sit down with David Wallace-Wells, science columnist for The New York Times who has written extensively about the origins of Covid, and Robert F. Garry, a leading virologist who found himself at the center of this storm after publishing a paper on COVID’s origins and being hauled in front of Congress. We explore how what began as a scientific question spiraled into a full-blown political battle, fueling a growing mistrust in science five years after COVID emerged.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:David Wallace Wells, science columnist, New York Times; author, The Uninhabitable EarthRobert Garry, virologist; professor of microbiology/immunology/assistant dean, Tulane University School of MedicineSources:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/12/opinion/covid-lab-leak-theory.htmlhttps://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/45389-americans-believe-covid-origin-lab?redirect_from=%2Ftopics%2Fpolitics%2Farticles-reports%2F2023%2F03%2F10%2Famericans-believe-covid-origin-labThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifying to become Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary, optimism and joy are coursing through the ascendant Make America Healthy Again movement, while fear and confusion are taking hold in American public health circles. To critics, he is an outspoken vaccine skeptic and spreader of conspiracy theories. To supporters, he is a singular figure, a warrior able to take on a broken system that is responsible for America's chronic health epidemic. As the nomination was rolling forward, the Trump administration sent shockwaves through the public health community, freezing day-to-day operations and funding and overwhelming doctors and scientists who are asking: Is this typical fallout from a new presidential transition or the start of a campaign to control science? We’re joined by Travis Tripodi a longtime supporter of RFK Jr., as well as Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, a public health leader and author of the wildly popular substack "Your Local Epidemiologist". Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Travis Tripodi, Braver Angels ambassador; independent consultant for health tech industry; RFK Jr. supporter (https://braverangels.org/)Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, epidemiologist, author of newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist  (https://www.yourlocalepidemiologist.co/) Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Amid a blitz of public health-related executive orders issued by President Trump since Monday alone, including one that will pull America out of the WHO, comes news that a date has finally been set for RFK Jr's highly-anticipated confirmation hearing -- as of the moment of publishing, it will take place next week. Dr. Paul Offit, a titan in the medical community and a fierce vaccine advocate, pulls no punches in confronting the very real prospect of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. heading Health and Human Services. He grapples with the sharp rise in vaccine hesitancy, the erosion of trust in public health, and the reality that mainstream science is losing the communication battle to popular podcasts and influencers championing skepticism of public health. Still, Offit refuses to back down, ease up, or give in when it comes to defending the power of vaccines. Offit responds to the story we feature of Daniel King, a once healthy, pro-vaccine Army veteran who says his health is now devastated and he wonders if it may have been due to the Covid vaccine—all he is looking for is some help understanding his condition and says the medical community is ignoring his pleas, further pushing him towards alternative sources of information. Finally, with RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearings around the corner, what’s the one question Dr. Offit most wants senators to ask? Huge thanks to Braver Angels and David Lapp for helping us meet Daniel King.https://braverangels.org/Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Daniel King: medically retired Army veteran; former commercial truck operatorDr. Paul Offit: infectious disease pediatrician, vaccine specialist, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, sits on FDA Vaccines Advisory CommitteeSources:The impact of the Covid 19 Pandemic on vaccination uptake in the U.S.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10484032/Risks of myocarditis associated with Covid 19 vaccinehttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01630-0PEW Research Center: Americans’ Largely Positive Views of Childhood Vaccines Hold Steadyhttps://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/05/16/americans-largely-positive-views-of-childhood-vaccines-hold-steady/#:~:text=Americans%20remain%20steadfast%20in%20their,new%20Pew%20Research%20Center%20surveyRutherford: Troops Discharged for Refusing COVID Vaccine Must Be Reinstated https://rutherford.house.gov/media/press-releases/rutherford-troops-discharged-refusing-covid-vaccine-must-be-reinstatedRoutine childhood vaccination rates lower than pre pandemic levelshttps://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/routine-child-vaccination-rates-lower-than-pre-pandemic-levelsDr. Paul Offit: Don’t Call Kennedy a Vaccine Skeptic. Call Him What He Is: A Cynic.https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/opinion/rfk-jr-is-a-vaccine-cynic.htmlThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Special episode alert! Dr. John Ioannidis: Critical of the Covid response, praiseful of vaccines, and hopeful data will rebuild our broken trust.     Dr. John Ioannidis is a renowned epidemiologist at Stanford University, a champion of data, and a stalwart for evidence-based research. Not afraid to ruffle feathers, rock the boat, or insert your idiomatic expression here, Ioannidis, true to form, set the scientific world afire in the earliest days of the pandemic when he criticized the public health community's rush to shut down schools and businesses without more reliable data on how severe the virus would become. This, as expected, raised the ire of the public health establishment, which criticized his downplaying of an unfolding pandemic that would ultimately claim 1.1 million American lives.Now, the unicorn part: Today, while believing that aspects of our response to the pandemic did more harm than good, he is staunchly pro-vaccine, believes the COVID vaccine was a triumph of science, and has zero interest in pointing fingers of blame. Dr. Ioannidis also states unequivocally that vaccines do not cause autism and that treatments like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine have not been proven to work on COVID, often drawing ire from those who are skeptical of mainstream science.With all this as a prologue, what does he think about the outbreak of mistrust that is consuming America today? We discuss how he believes we can find common ground, focus on the real threats we face (e.g., conflicts of interest in scientific research), and rebuild trust in one another.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettGuest:Dr. John IoannidisThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Ivermectin is in the spotlight again -- thanks to Joe Rogan, Mel Gibson, and even some related legislation making its way around the country. Moreover, people we are speaking with who mistrust mainstream science regularly bring it up as an example illustrating a dishonest public health and media establishment.  How did an uncontroversial workhorse of an anti-parasitic drug—one that has saved countless lives and earned its discoverers a Nobel Prize—become and is continuing to be a major driver of mistrust for science and public health today? Despite numerous studies confirming that it’s ineffective for treating or preventing COVID-19, Ivermectin has become a focal point in our national debate over the pandemic response, censorship, government overreach, and 'my science vs. your science' worldviews. This is the story of often stirring anecdotes versus solid double-blind studies, at times condescending public health and media messaging, the Wild West of medical research, the role of money in medicine, and, finally, medical freedom. We speak with Dr. David Boulware, a physician and one of the lead researchers who studied and did trials on Ivermectin, in an episode about what this unassuming drug has revealed about who we are and where we are headed. Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie Bartlettwith special guest host, Dr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Dr. David Boulware, infectious disease physician at the University of Minnesota, who oversaw the design of multiple clinical trials of IvermectinSources:Study Confirms No Benefit to Taking Ivermectin for COVID-19 Symptomshttps://corporate.dukehealth.org/news/study-confirms-no-benefit-taking-ivermectin-covid-19-symptoms CDC alert on dramatic rise in prescriptions, poison control reports, adverse events from ivermectinhttps://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/109271#tabs-220-30% of prescriptions are off-label:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9998554/#:~:text=Off%2Dlabel%20prescriptions%20for%20drugs,%25)3%20(Figure%201).Is Ivermectin Bogus or a “Miracle Drug”? https://www.newsweek.com/ivermectin-bogus-miracle-drug-truth-lies-somewhere-between-1635304 Emergency Use Authorizations of COVID-19–Related Medical Products:https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2787205Frontline Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC Alliance) page with data they say supports the use of ivermectin:https://covid19criticalcare.com/ivermectin/Bill forcing hospitals to administer ivermectin, other requested treatments nears finish linehttps://www.cleveland.com/open/2024/12/bill-forcing-hospitals-to-administer-ivermectin-other-requested-treatments-nears-finish-line.html Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

It's been 5 years since the pandemic and America's trust in public health, medicine, and science has plummeted. It's no secret that the COVID-19 response left a significant portion of Americans seething mad. Now, as the Trump administration, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leading the charge, prepares to take control of public health, and with the emergence of a new virus posing a growing threat, Brinda, Maggie, and Tom dig beneath the poll numbers and declining vaccination rates to explore what happens when so many Americans begin to question mainstream science. We speak with a suburban mom and lifelong Democrat about her personal health journey, her experience during the pandemic, and ultimately how her views on science and health led her to vote this time for Donald Trump.  Hosts:Brinda Adhikari, former executive producer of The Problem with Jon Stewart on AppleTV+; former ABC News and CBS NewsTom Johnson, former executive producer of The Circus, on Showtime/Paramount+, former Bloomberg, ABC NewsDr. Maggie Bartlett: virologist, assistant research professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthGuests:Melinda Hicks, former TV producer, Atlanta, GADr. Mark Abdelmalek, skin cancer surgeon, dermatologist, physicianSources we used for data:TRUST IN PHYSICIANS DURING COVIDhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11292455/ DECLINE OF CHILDHOOD VACCINATION RATEShttps://www.kff.org/policy-watch/childhood-vaccination-rates-continue-to-decline-as-trump-heads-for-a-second-term/PUBLIC TRUST IN SCIENTISTShttps://www.pewresearch.org/science/2024/11/14/public-trust-in-scientists-and-views-on-their-role-in-policymaking/ps_2024-11-14_trust-in-science_00-01/VIEWS ON CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONShttps://news.gallup.com/poll/648308/far-fewer-regard-childhood-vaccinations-important.aspx#:~:text=--%20Fewer%20Americans%20today%20consider,2019%20and%2064%25%20in%202001CDC DATA ON MEASLES UPTICKhttps://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html   WHERE WE FIRST READ ABOUT MELINDA:https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/us/trump-public-health-dr-oz-rfk-jr.htmlThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net

Hi everyone! Welcome to Why Should I Trust You?, a new weekly podcast looking at why so many Americans have lost trust in science and public health. Hosted by two former TV news journalists and a virologist, each week we will hear from those who mistrust mainstream science and also hear from those who ARE mainstream science. Join us as we take on everything from vaccines to doctor-patient relationships to what science has to say when there is uncertainty -- and how we can move forward together. Beginning in early January 2025!Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net