Today's episode is all about the liver. Thelma Thiel, founder and chair of The Liver Health Initiative, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about this "silent organ" that, among many roles, removes toxins from what you eat, breathe, and absorb through your skin. They also discuss Thiel's efforts in advocacy and education—including her talking about the "football-sized" liver with an NFL team.

For the first time, a physician—Dr. Rahul Gupta—is directing the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy. Dr. Gupta talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the national strategy to address addiction and overdose, emphasizing treatment and harm reduction, not criminalization.

New CDC data shows that during the pandemic, gun-related homicides and suicides surged to record highs. Ari Davis, a researcher at the John Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, talks with Stephanie Desmon about the spikes, some possible contributing factors, and effective public health solutions.

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As advocates from around the world gather at the International Conference on Family Planning in Thailand this week, what's the state of global reproductive rights? Megan Christofield, a project director and advisor at JHPIEGO, talks with Stephanie Desmon about the accessibility and prevalence of contraceptive use worldwide, where gains have been made and where things have been stagnant or even backslid in the last decade, and some game-changing new contraception options that could help avert many more millions of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and maternal deaths.

Coming into the third year of the pandemic, we now have more data about how COVID affects people in the long term. Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, Chief of Research and Education Service at Veterans Affairs in the St. Louis Health Care System returns to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about a new study of 150,000 people with COVID-19 that found higher incidence of headaches, seizures, sleep problems, strokes, and other neurological symptoms following even mild or asymptomatic infections. Read the study here.

First we had alpha, beta, and delta, and now we have hundreds of sublineages just from omicron alone. Virologist Dr. Andy Pekosz returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how experts are keeping track of so many variations of SARS-CoV-2, which advantageous mutations most lineages are picking up to help them spread, the clinical impacts on treatments and vaccines, and why COVID-19 is not yet seasonal.

First declared in January, 2020 and renewed every 90 days since, the federal COVID-19 public health emergency allows for key flexibilities and funds in response to the pandemic. With the declaration due to expire in January, what are the implications for things like Medicare/Medicaid coverage, and cost and access to vaccines and tests? Jennifer Kates, Senior Vice President and Director of Global Health & HIV Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, talks with Lindsay Smith Rogers about the PHE and potential fallout for ending it too soon. Read Kates' coauthored article here.

Disappointing rates of child and adolescent vaccination for COVID are colliding with an intensifying seasonal storm of viral illnesses including flu and RSV. ERs and pediatric ICU beds are already filling up in some areas and many more kids will miss precious school time on top of pandemic learning loss. Pediatrician Dr. Megan Tschudy talks with Stephanie Desmon about the importance of vaccination in prevention and protection, a worsening child and adolescent mental health crisis, and why the pandemic's lingering aftershocks are far from over.

Social determinants of health—such as access to appropriate housing, health care, and transportation—drive massive health disparities in the US, and many are underpinned by politics and policies. Professor and author Daniel Dawes talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about his new book which looks at the role of politics and health, why the "moral case" alone can't advance change, and how the health of the democratic process is key to a healthier and more equitable future.

Traditional after-deathcare in the US carries a huge environmental toll from burying toxic embalming chemicals to the carbon footprint of cremation. Samuel Cline Perry, a licensed mortician, professor of mortuary science, and a deathcare educator at Southern Illinois University Carbondale talks with Lindsay Smith Rogers about how the funeral industry is evolving with more options for "green burials." They also discuss new legislation around human composting and why social justice is a key aspect of the larger conversation of green deathcare.