This week, we are tackling a subject which has developed so rapidly over the last few years that almost every sector has had to reckon with it in form or another. That subject is AI and large language models.

To help shed light on what it means for public health, William is joined by Christina Pagel, professor of operational research at University College London, and Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

They cover the risks and rewards of the technology, the effects it will likely have on the workforce, and whether governments are prepared to manage and regulate a technology that has the potential to be so transformative – for better or worse.

Find more information about our guests:

Martin McKee's work at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Follow Martin on Bluesky

Christina Pagel's Work at University College London

Follow Christina on Bluesky

Got a question for the podcast? Email [email protected] and share your thoughts!

Credits:

Hosted by William Roberts

Produced by David Utley-Williams and Ben Kosma

Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma

Music by Ceton via Pixabay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With 2025 in the books and 2026 underway, William catches up with two leading figures in public health – Tracy Daszkiewicz, Faculty of Public Health President, and Greg Fell, President of the Association of Directors of Public Health – to discuss the wins of the previous 12 months and what to expect in the year to come.

Got a question for the podcast? Email [email protected] and share your thoughts!

Credits:

Hosted by William Roberts

Produced by David Utley-Williams and Ben Kosma

Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma

Music by Ceton via Pixabay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the final episode of 2025, William is joined by James Bethell, also known as Lord Bethell, for an extended interview. We cover everything from his early career as a clubbing pioneer with the Ministry of Sound to his time as a health minister, as well as his post-government career as an RSPH trustee and evangelist for prevention.

Got a question for the podcast? Email [email protected] and share your thoughts!

Credits:

Hosted by William Roberts

Produced by David Utley-Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer

Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma

Music by Ceton via Pixabay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month, we're mixing things up a little bit on the podcast. With William having recently returned from the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA), David is taking to the interviewer's chair to ask him about his impressions of the current state of American public health. What is the mood of the sector in light of cutbacks, lawsuits and policy shifts? And what similarities are there with the public health challenges faced in the UK and globally?

Plus William speaks to Simon Dixon, RSPH head of Policy and Public Affairs, about the recent Mayfield review into workplace health, also known as the Keep Britain Working Report.

Got a question for the podcast? Email [email protected] and share your thoughts!

Credits:

Hosted by William Roberts and David Utley-Williams

Produced by David Utley-Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer

Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma

Music by Ceton via Pixabay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Public health doesn't exist in a vacuum. Just like any other sector, it has to navigate an increasingly tumultuous and uncertain political climate to achieve any real change.

Fresh from party conference season, former government special advisor and Future Health founder Richard Sloggett joins William to discuss the realities of public health policy making, the challenges faced by the current government, and what a continuation of recent poll results could mean for the future of public health.

Read more from Richard on his Substack and find out more about his work with Future Health.

Got a question for the podcast? Email [email protected] and share your thoughts!

Credits:

Hosted by William Roberts

Produced by David Utley-Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer

Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma

Music by Ceton via Pixabay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Childhood bereavement can have a serious impact on health and wellbeing. To shed light on the realities of how universally anticipatory grief and bereavement affect us physically as well as mentally and emotionally, we spoke to Ines and Deepa at Ruth Strauss Foundation.

Founded after the death of Ruth Strauss, wife of Cricketer Sir Andrew Strauss, their work focuses on support for families facing the death of a loved one with a terminal illness, as well as research into non-smoking lung cancers. Ines and Deepa speak to William about their mission, their collaboration with RSPH on pre-bereavement training for schools and workplaces, as well as how sport can bring communities together in the face of tragedy.

We also hear from Producer Ben, who has stepped out from behind the mixing desk to talk about the newly redesigned RSPH website.

Find out more about the Ruth Strauss Foundation's work at www.ruthstraussfoundation.com.

Got a question for the podcast? Email [email protected] and share your thoughts!

Credits:

Hosted by William Roberts

Produced by David Utley-Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer

Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma

Music by Ceton via Pixabay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: this episode discusses youth suicide and depression.

This month, William speaks to mental health campaigner Ben West, who, after the tragic suicide of his brother as a teenager, decided to try and make a difference to how youth mental health is understood and treated in the UK. Ben discusses how his experiences shaped his campaign work, why policy takes such a long time to produce change in this country, and how we should be planning to make a long-term difference.

Alongside that, Laura joins from the RSPH team to discuss our recent climate change e-learning offer.

Got a question for the podcast? Email [email protected] and share your thoughts!

Credits:

Hosted by William Roberts

Produced by David Utley Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer

Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma

Music by Ceton via Pixabay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all know that damp and mould are bad for us, but the link between housing quality and staying healthy goes far deeper.

To help explain the causes, effects and solutions to housing's effect on health, we're joined by Faye Sanders, Doctoral Researcher at the University of Bath.

For more from Faye, check out her academic work and follow her on LinkedIn.

Plus, we hear from RSPH Deputy Chief Executive Matthew Bazeley-Bell about the good, the bad and everything in between from the new NHS ten-year plan.

Got a question for the podcast? Email [email protected] and share your thoughts!

Credits:

Hosted by William Roberts

Produced by David Utley Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer

Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma

Music by Ceton via Pixabay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The decline of the Great British high street has been ongoing for a long time now, with out-of-town and online shopping diminishing the focal points of our town centres. Making matters worse, the replacements for shuttered shops are often a detriment to their local area.

This episode we ask: can we reverse the decline? And are healthy high streets the way to do it?

We speak to Mark Robinson, Head of Regeneration at "resilient retail" developer New River, about the problems facing our high streets, how we can fix them, and why making places work for their communities has a personal importance to him and his health.

We also hear from Fernanda Aguilar Perez, RSPH's Senior Policy and Research Advisor, about Streets Ahead, our own recent report into healthy high streets, as well as from Head of Comms David Utley-Williams about updates from our last episode on child poverty and our new climate change educational offering.

Got a question for the podcast? Email [email protected] and share your thoughts!

Credits:

Hosted by William Roberts

Produced by David Utley Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer

Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma

Music by Ceton via Pixabay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's 2025, so why are we seeing child poverty – something often associated with the Victorian era – having such an effect on children and families?

To get to the bottom of the issue and its very real, direct solutions, William speaks to Sara Ogilvie, Director of Policy, Rights and Advocacy at the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG).

Plus, the team tells us about the latest from RSPH including our new high streets report and our major new public health education pathways offering.

Find out more about the Child Poverty Action Group at www.cpag.org.uk

Got a question for the podcast? Email [email protected] and share your thoughts!

Credits:

Hosted by William Roberts

Produced by David Utley Williams, Ben Kosma and Connie Seamer

Recorded and edited by Ben Kosma

Music by Ceton via Pixabay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.