Where are new cases being detected? How many beds are available in local hospitals? What’s the growth rate of ICU admissions? These are some of the most urgent questions in the world right now, and they’re being answered by data pioneers like Dr. John Brownstein, the Chief Innovation Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Brownstein talks to host Steven Johnson about his new crowdsourced website, CovidNearYou.org, and how public health data doesn’t just track deaths, but helps prevent them.

Contribute to Dr. John Brownstein’s live map of Covid-19 symptoms at https://covidnearyou.org/.

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Reading the forecast models that track and predict the spread of the coronavirus can feel like a glimpse into the future. And epidemiologists – the scientists behind these models – have suddenly become the most important figures in this fight. Dr. Tara Smith, an epidemiologist and professor at the Kent State University College of Public Health, talks with Steven about what most people misunderstand about these models, whether there’s an end in sight for social distancing, and why the public health sector is our “invisible shield.”

For more stories about challenges and triumphs of science and technology, hosted by Steven Johnson, listen and subscribe to Wondery’s American Innovations at https://wondery.com/shows/american-innovations/.

Follow Dr. Tara C. Smith at https://twitter.com/aetiology.

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Civilization needs cities. The population density of cities has always been key to driving new ideas, new collaborations, and new social movements. But today, as the coronavirus spreads, that density is creating danger. Steven talks with Richard Florida, a bestselling author on cities and urban rebirth, about how cities can protect their way of life, and how they can come out of this crisis even stronger than before.

Listen and subscribe to Wondery’s American Innovations at https://wondery.com/shows/american-innovations/

Read Richard Florida and Steven Pedigo’s 10-Point Preparedness Plan for Cities.

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How can we speed up vaccine development for COVID-19? Steven Johnson speaks with Dr. Bruce Gellin, President of Global Immunization at the Sabin Vaccine Institute in Washington D.C.. Dr. Gellin is also a former director of the National Vaccine Program at the Department of Health and Human Services, and he led the creation of HHS’s first pandemic influenza preparedness and response plan.

Listen and subscribe to Wondery’s American Innovations at https://wondery.com/shows/american-innovations/

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When public health is threatened on a mass scale, we have a long history of working together to take on the challenge. As the host of Wondery’s American Innovations, Steven Johnson has told the stories of some of the most crucial breakthroughs in health, medicine, and technology. He’s also the author of one of the seminal books on epidemics, “The Ghost Map.”

On this new weekly series, Steven will speak with experts from the worlds of health and technology about how the current moment compares with past pandemics, and what the coming months might look like. What will it take to develop a COVID-19 vaccine? How will our educational system change? How can crowdsourcing help us battle the spread of the coronavirus? We’ve vanquished more dangerous threats before. Let’s roll up our sleeves and tackle this one together.

Premieres March 31st, 2020.

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