Countermeasures

This episode traces botulism from a misunderstood toxin to a modern medical mystery, exploring how the same poison shows up in home-canned fish, honey, infant formula, and cosmetic injections, why doctors so often miss the diagnosis, and what survival, and its lasting aftermath, actually looks like for the people who live through it. 

Guests:

• Dr. Jane Talkington: Botulism historian and author 
• Dr. Steve Abrams: Pediatrician and researcher specializing in infant nutrition and food regulation; co-author of the American Academy of Pediatrics textbook on pediatric nutrition
• Michael Christy: Botulism survivor 

This episode traces the Black Death from its origins in Central Asia to its devastating sweep across Eurasia, exploring how trade, migration, and war fueled its spread, how medieval communities responded with early quarantine measures, and what skeletal evidence reveals about who suffered most.

Guests:

• Philip Slavin: Professor of Medieval and Environmental History, University of Stirling; co-leads the Plague Synergy Project
• Sharon DeWitte: Professor, Department of Anthropology and Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder; specializes in bioarchaeology and mortality crises of the medieval period

This episode covers the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, now the second-largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded. We compare it to the more familiar Zaire strain and to the 2014 West Africa outbreak, looking at what's different about this virus and how it's spreading. We also examine how the global public health response has evolved since 2014, and where old gaps and failures are still showing up.

This episode was recorded in early summer 2026. The current outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus continues to evolve and details may have changed

Guests:

• Dr Michael Osterholm, Regents Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota
• Dr. Mark Kortepeter, a physician who spent nearly three decades in Army biodefense
• Dr Tom Carpino, Hock Fellow at the Duke Global Health Institute at Duke University

This episode traces the 1918 influenza pandemic, from its origins in Kansas to the wartime censorship that hid its true toll, and asks why one of history's deadliest events largely vanished from public memory.

Guests:

• John M. Barry: Historian and author of The Great Influenza
• Dr. Nancy Bristow:  Retired Professor of History, University of Puget Sound; author of American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic

One week after 9/11, letters laced with anthrax spores began arriving at newsrooms and Senate offices across the country. By the time it was over, five people were dead, seventeen more were sickened, and the United States was confronting its first major act of bioterrorism in real time.

This episode traces the anthrax attacks, from a mysterious diagnosis in Florida to the detective work that led investigators to Bruce Ivins, and asks what we can learn from the event 25 years later.

Guests:

• Dr. Paul Keim:  Distinguished Professor, Geneticist and Microbiologist, whose lab provided critical DNA analysis to the FBI's investigation
• Dr. Daniel R. Lucey:  Clinical Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases; Chief of Infectious Disease Service at the largest hospital in Washington, D.C. during the attacks
• Dr. Asha M. George:  Director, Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

For more than 20 years, we've been in the grip of one of the deadliest public health emergencies in history: the opioid crisis. It started in the 1990s, when opioid prescriptions rose sharply. From there, many people struggling with addiction turned to heroin, drawn by its lower cost and easier availability. Then, in 2013, the crisis shifted into a third wave, marked by a sharp rise in overdose deaths tied to synthetic opioids, especially illegally manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogs.

This episode looks closely at that third wave, exploring the lasting toll it has taken on individuals, families and entire communities, and why, even now, the crisis is far from over.

Guests:

• Dr. Bonnie Milas, Cardiac anesthesiologist, Intensivist, and Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
• Davis Schneider, Professional Baseball Player 

Davis Schneider is a paid spokesperson of Emergent

Throughout history, humanity has faced down disease and disaster. This season, Countermeasures traces the arc of public health crises and bioterrorism events across centuries, from the Black Death to the 2001 Anthrax attacks. We dig into how societies responded in the moment, what those responses reveal in hindsight, and what we still need to learn.

The effects of climate change touch communities around the world. In this episode, we look at how climate change is shaping public health today, and how it will continue to test our health systems in the years ahead, and what we can do to be prepared. 

We hear how climate change has the potential to, and currently is, intensifying many of the health threats we have explored throughout this season. 

Guests:

• Kristie L. Ebi, PhD, MPH, Professor, Global Health Professor, Env. and Occ. Health Sciences, University of Washington Department of Global Health
• Melissa Furlong, Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, Arizona State University Zuckerman College of Public Health
• Eloise Todd, Executive Director and Founder of Resilience Action Network International (RANI)

Since becoming available over the counter, Naloxone has saved countless lives. In this episode, we explore how expanded access is helping communities confront the opioid crisis, the real-world impact on individuals, and the work that still lies ahead. Experts point to broader availability as a key factor in recent declines in overdose deaths, but the crisis is far from over. Many rural and marginalized communities continue to face devastating losses.

We look at how easier access to Naloxone is shaping outcomes, supporting harm-reduction efforts, and offering hope where it’s needed most.

Guests: 

• Zac Clark, Founder and CEO of Release Recovery
• Olivia Sugarman, PhD, MPH, Assistant Scientist at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
• Amy Mccormick, Activist and Co-Founder of Chance for Recovery

From bird flu to COVID-19, the threat of diseases jumping from animals to humans, zoonotic spillover, is a significant challenge to global health. We explore how scientists, health professionals, and communities are working to detect outbreaks before they spread, and what it will take to build a world prepared for the next pandemic.

Featuring leading experts in infectious disease and health security, we dive into the systems keeping watch at the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health.

Guests:

• Dr. Amesh Adalja, Senior Scholar, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
• Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, Director, Pandemic Center at Brown University
• Dr. Lindsey Shields, Deputy Director, Epidemic Preparedness and Response Initiative, PATH