This is an episode from our archives. It originally aired in May 2025.

Forever chemicals, also known as PFAS, are found in virtually every corner of the world, including in most people’s bodies. These synthetic compounds have been linked to a wide range of health issues — from infertility to cancer to neurological problems — even at low levels of exposure. In a new book, They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals, investigative journalist Mariah Blake lays out how these toxic chemicals became so ubiquitous. Blake spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about a group of unlikely activists fighting back against those responsible and offers practical tips to protect yourself.

For the past few years, a campaign against sunscreen has been building — with social-media influencers claiming that sunscreen itself, rather than the sun, is damaging people’s skin and harming their health. The misinformation is working: More than 16 million adults have cut back or stopped using sunscreen because of it. Meanwhile, skin-cancer rates continue to rise. Brian Underwood, beauty and grooming director at Men’s Health and Women’s Health, joins Apple News In Conversation guest host David Greene to share his reporting on who’s driving this movement, the confusing FDA report that helped fuel it, and what it will take to restore trust in sunscreen.

Testosterone prescriptions are at an all-time high in the U.S., and according to a survey by Men’s Health, 70% of men say their levels of the hormone are important to them. This increased attention to T has even reached the Pentagon, which announced mandatory testosterone screenings for troops over the age of 30. Michael Andor Brodeur, a Men’s Health contributor and author of the book Swole, joins Apple News In Conversation guest host David Greene to explain how testosterone transformed from solely a medical treatment into a cultural obsession — and what that shift reveals about the pressures American men face today.

This summer, the U.S. saw its largest cyclospora outbreak on record — with more than 22,000 suspected cases linked to contaminated iceberg lettuce, alongside a wave of other foodborne illnesses. Timothy D. Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University and author of Outbreak: Foodborne Illness and the Struggle for Food Safety, joins Apple News In Conversation host David Greene to explain how America’s food-safety system actually works, how the system evolved, and what recent outbreaks reveal about the changes needed to make us all safer.

Peak tick season is here — and the fastest-growing tick-borne illness in the country is alpha-gal syndrome, a condition that causes an often-severe allergy to red meat and other animal products. It’s primarily spread by lone-star ticks, once confined to the Southeast but now found as far north as Maine and Michigan. The syndrome can trigger a range of reactions — from hives to anaphylaxis — and at least one death has been attributed to it. New Yorker staff writer Burkhard Bilger, who has reported on the syndrome’s rise, joins Apple News In Conversation guest host David Greene to explain how it was discovered, why it can take years to diagnose, and how it’s reshaping the way people eat, work, and spend time outdoors.

This year, the U.S. has seen more than 270 mass shootings — and firearms remain the leading cause of death for American children and teens. But solutions appear largely out of reach. New York Times reporter Mike McIntire, a gun owner himself, traces how we got here in his new book, Ricochet: Guns, Greed, and the American Way of Violence. McIntire talks to Apple News In Conversation guest host David Greene about the surprising origins of the Second Amendment, how an obscure Democrat helped turn the National Rifle Association into a powerful lobby, and paths to reducing violence.

President Trump earned more than $2 billion in his first year back in office. According to a mandatory financial disclosure released in June, most of that fortune came from cryptocurrency ventures. David Kirkpatrick, a staff writer at the New Yorker who has tracked Trump’s earnings for years, sat down with Apple News In Conversation guest host David Greene to unpack what the disclosure reveals about the president and his businesses — and the potential implications for everyday Americans.

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are being taken by millions of Americans. These medications have been approved for treating diabetes, obesity, and a small number of other chronic conditions. But even as experts are still learning how the drugs work, many people have found that they help with other disorders — from addiction to brain fog to arthritis — where anecdotal evidence is promising but the formal research hasn’t caught up. Julia Belluz, a contributing writer for the New York Times Opinion section and coauthor of Food Intelligence, joins Apple News In Conversation guest host David Greene to explain why what’s unfolding right now may be the largest uncontrolled drug experiment in modern history.

The Supreme Court just wrapped one of its most consequential terms in recent memory — issuing major rulings on presidential power, birthright citizenship, and the rights of transgender athletes. But the story playing out in most headlines, legal analyst Sarah Isgur argues, is missing the bigger picture. Isgur is the editor of SCOTUSblog and the author of Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today’s Supreme Court. She joined Apple News In Conversation guest host David Greene to explain why she considers this the hardest term in the Roberts Court’s history, why Trump has lost far more cases than he’s won, and why the political framework most people use to understand the court tells only a fraction of the story.

This episode originally aired on Sept 18, 2025. 

The Constitution has been amended 27 times, but the last meaningful change was over half a century ago. In historian Jill Lepore’s book We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution, she argues that the near impossibility of amendment in recent decades underlies many of today’s political crises, from polarization to battles over the courts. Lepore spoke with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu about the history of constitutional revision and why the amendment process matters for the future of American democracy.