After the National Basketball Association shut down on March 11, the league was able to resume play and complete both its season and postseason without interruption from COVID-19 from the safety of “the bubble.” Pete Meisel, the NBA’s senior manager for player health and an alumnus of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what went into the bubble, how they maintained the players’ health and safety, and what we can learn from the bubble’s success

A disproportionate number of women in the U.S. appear to be “dropping out” of the workforce during the pandemic, presumably to care for children or because they are more likely to have jobs that cannot be done remotely. Stefania Albanesi, an economist at the University of Pittsburgh who studies women in the workforce, talks with Stephanie Desmon about this phenomenon and what it could mean long-term for both their careers and the economy.

New knowledge about COVID-19 can help us make informed decisions about risks but it's also led to mixed messages. Hopkins environmental epidemiologist Dr. Tom Burke and dean of the University of Colorado School of Public Health Dr. Jon Samet talk with Stephanie Desmon about a panel they recently led on airborne transmission of COVID-19. They talk about everything we’ve learned about how COVID spreads, the riskiest settings for transmission, and how current guidance may be even more effective than a vaccin

The pandemic has revealed major deficits in public health infrastructure and a lack of prioritization of prevention efforts: only 3% of all health dollars are spent on prevention. Dr. Ellen J. MacKenzie, dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Dr. Shelley Hearne, director of the School’s Center for Public Health Advocacy, talk with guest host Dr. Colleen Barry about how disinvestment in public health has left a system that is at times unable to respond effectively to today’s crises.

New York City’s contact tracing program is one of the largest in the nation. Dr. Jay Varma, the mayor’s senior adviser for public health, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the trained workforce of 4,000 people that is now reaching more than 90% of new cases in the city. The program also helps provide services like dog walking and grocery delivery so that people can isolate safely at home.

In the first of a periodic series on racism and health, Dr. Keshia Pollack Porter talks with Taylor Porter, a principal at Gamble Montessori High School in Cincinnati with a unique approach to learning that prioritizes the health and well-being of the whole child. Porter talks about COVID-19’s impacts on students and families and how the school has responded. They also discuss “pandemic #2” of racial injustice and how he has spearheaded efforts to train staff while letting youths lead the conversation

In this episode, Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with Hopkins researchers who break down three new COVID-19 research papers: Dr. Andrew Redd talks about COVID-19 vaccines and whether they will work in older adults; Dr. Sheree Schwartz talks the about the implications of COVID-19 for pregnancy; and Dr. Denali Boon discusses a preprint paper about the potential use of rapid COVID tests. All three Hopkins faculty are part of the novel coronavirus research consortium: http://ncrc.jhsph.edu.

The pandemic has elevated many of the risk factors of suicide, including loneliness, grief, economic distress, and a record number of people requesting new access to firearms which are involved in 50% of suicides. Hopkins suicide prevention expert Dr. Holly Wilcox talks with Stephanie Desmon about these risks, what the data are showing so far, and potential solutions. They also discuss the particular risk of youth suicide and interventions.

COVID-19 mortality rates are falling and better treatments are one of the main reasons why. Dr. Arturo Casadevall returns to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about where we are with different treatments and their successes, ongoing clinical trials, why some treatments are harder than others to produce, and whether we’ll continue to see investments in treatments when a vaccine is available.

How can we deal with election stress and uncertainty? How should we think about hard decisions like traveling for the holidays? How can we balance the health and safety risks of visiting with friends and family with concerns about mental health and loneliness if we stay home? What can we do to prepare for an overlap of COVID fatigue and seasonal affective disorder?

Clinical psychologist Dr. Laura Murray returns to the podcast to answer your mental health questions.