Matt and Dara are joined by Vox's German Lopez to talk through some of the lessons we seem not to have learned from the way the Covid pandemic unfolded — or, is still unfolding. Our hosts discuss the abandonment of the Obama-era pandemic playbook, the politicized messaging and idiosyncratic inattention of former President Trump, and what it would mean to develop a truly harm-reducing strategy for the America we actually have. Plus, some research is discussed that evaluates the relationship between access to treatment facilities and morbidity due to substance abuse.

"America still needs to learn from its biggest pandemic failure" by German Lopez (June 4; Vox)

"The US doesn't just need to flatten the curve. It needs to 'raise the line'" by Eliza Barclay, Dylan Scott, and Christina Animashaun (Apr. 7, 2020; Vox)

"The fundamental question of the pandemic is shifting" by Ed Yong (June 9; The Atlantic)

White paper: "Tackling the Substance Abuse Crisis: The Role of Access to Treatment Facilities" by Adriana Corredor-Waldron and Janet Currie (NBER; May 2021)

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

German Lopez (@germanrlopez), Senior Correspondent, Vox

Erikk Geannikis, Producer

Paul Robert Mounsey, Engineer

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