With one phone call, Erin Zammett Ruddy's life completely changed. Diagnosed with leukemia as a 23-year-old, she quickly learned about what have become key terms in our current news cycle: clinical trials and experimental therapies. Erin's accomplished work as a writer includes her recently-published The Little Book of Life Skills, in which she interviewed more than 150 experts on how to simply live SMARTER and (drum roll) she featured SmartHER News! But we believe it's HER story that deserves to be told. We hope you enjoy this conversation AND check out Erin's book in our Amazon shop (www.amazon.com/shop/Smarthernews) - it's the perfect last-minute stocking stuffer! 

Erin shares personal stories from her two historic deployments to the Iraq War and explains why her service changed her life forever. Plus: how she went from 9 years in uniform to cleaning houses to working with the biggest names on the planet and the valuable (and hysterical) lessons she learned along the way.

From a mysterious explosion in Lebanon to a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, what to know about the high stakes in the Middle East now and in the future with Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior vice president for research,  Dr. Jonathan Schanzer.

Mathematical biologist and mother Professor Lauren Meyers leads a team of researchers at the University of Texas Austin who developed a unique model to help guide officials and parents as they try to answer this very question: Should children go to school during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Dr. Michael Lin, PhD, MD of Lin Labs, Stanford University, joins SmartHER News for an update to discuss what we’ve learned, what we need to know, and what to watch for at this point in the COVID-19 pandemic.

A story of survival and problem-solving: Pastor Patrick Thompson survived COVID-19 all the while creating a relief effort to feed the hungry AND help the economy in one of the hardest hit areas in America: New York City.

Dr. Michael Lin, Principal Investigator for Lin Labs at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, answers key questions about the virus that causes COVID-19 - from what it looks like on the molecular level to how we can combat it, and why, although serious, this outbreak is NOT the "zombie apocalypse".

Dr. Michael Parry, Chair of Infectious Diseases at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut, joins us for a second interview. We follow up on what he’s learned about COVID-19 as a physician with a positive case in his hospital, how he’s applying social distancing to his own life and what we should all watch for over the next several weeks.

Pam and Tim ended their dream vacation confined to their room on the Grand Princess cruise ship