Why It Matters

Is the coronavirus a zero-sum game in which we must choose between saving lives and saving the economy? In this episode, we sit down with two experts to find out.

Now more than ever, it’s clear that global problems can become local in a flash. In season two, Why It Matters dives into a new set of challenges that will shape our lives in the years to come.

The worldwide spread of the new coronavirus has pulled back the curtain on the vulnerabilities of our interconnected world. Now we are left asking some basic questions. What lessons have we learned so far? 

Guests: 

Sylvia Burwell, former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services 

Tom Frieden, former Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

Rana Foroohar, Global Business Columnist and Associate Editor, Financial Times 

Shannon O’Neil, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations 

You’re making the rounds at a party when someone asks you about NATO. Is it still important? The alliance is credited with preventing a third world war, but a lot of us don’t know what it is or how it works. This episode takes a look at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from the ground up, paired best with a cold drink.

As climate change accelerates, some scientists are researching ways to alter our climate to slow down warming. But the method, called solar geoengineering, comes with some serious risks. 

Guests 

David Keith (Harvard University)

Shuchi Talati (Union of Concerned Scientists)

Gernot Wagner (New York University)

Show Notes

The aftershocks of Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election are still being felt today. Is the United States ready for 2020?

Militaries around the world are designing artificial intelligence–powered weapons that could one day make their own decisions about who to target. The technology could change warfare, but at what cost?

At the start of the new year, the Why It Matters team takes a look at some of the best interview segments that didn’t make it into the episodes.

Antibiotics have saved untold millions of lives, but bacteria are learning to outsmart them at alarming rates. Projections show that by 2050, ten million people could die each year from antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Space is getting crowded. The biggest challenge is space junk—the debris that results when satellites break up or get shot down. If we aren’t careful, space junk, and space conflict, could cause a lot of problems down here on Earth.