Welcome back to the Marian Flaxman Network Podcast!

On today's episode, Marian speaks with political strategist, foreign policy expert, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Joel Rubin. Joel fell in love with history, politics, and policy at a young age, spending time in the library researching world events while most kids were home watching cartoons. Raised in Pittsburgh, PA, his family had roots in both NYC and Israel, and he saw himself as a global citizen from a young age, and doubled down on this identity when he joined the Peace Corps after college. Joel has since worked in the Obama White House, run for Congress twice, and served on his Town Council. He is also a father of three, and has a loving, bipartisan marriage in which he, a registered Democrat, and his wife, a registered Republican, bring their love and mutual respect into challenging conversations.

In this episode, we talk about many difficult topics- abortion access, the war between Israel and Palestine, freedom and democracy, and the role that stress plays in the bipartisan divide. Joel brings decades of experience and wisdom to critical public health topics, and also shares his own personal experience with the insurance gaps he discovered when he was unexpectedly diagnosed with a brain tumor.

For more information on Joel, please visit www.joelrubin.net

Follow Joel on Social Media - @joelmrubin

For more information on Marian, please visit www.marianflaxman.com

Follow Marian on Instagram - @marianff

Connect with Marian on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marian-flaxman/

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