Why Should I Trust You?

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett (producer)

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (seeing patients)

Guests:

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)

Alex Clark, TPUSA, MAHA

Del Bigtree, High Wire, ICAN

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Trust in higher education is slipping, with a growing number of Americans questioning whether universities are delivering value beyond their walls (and ivory towers).

Today, we’re joined by Daniel Crowley, who goes by Max. He is a behavioral scientist and endowed chair at Penn State. His argument: universities produce groundbreaking research, but too often it sits on a shelf, never reaching the decision-makers who could use it to improve lives.

That disconnect may help explain part of the decline in trust. Of course, many factors are driving that trend, from costs, to admissions practices, and perceptions of elitism, to name a few captured in a new report from Yale University.

Crowley believes that building better systems to translate research to everyone from members of Congress to local leaders to the public itself could help turn that trust slide around.

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett (off)

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (off)

Guest:

Daniel Max Crowley, director of the Prevention Research Center at Penn State University and a prevention scientist investigating how to optimize investments in healthy development and well-being.

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Today, we are delving into the subject of healthcare fraud.  The Trump administration has elevated it into a major political issue.

When it comes to Medicaid fraud specifically, do you see this administration's recent actions towards states such as Minnesota as a well-meaning push to take on the bad actors and lax state oversight that has allowed this taxpayer-supported safety net to be exploited? Or do you see it as a political talking point being used to suggest widespread abuse when there is not, to justify cutting that very safety net? Or is this an abhorrent scam for which we just don't see eye to eye on the solution? 

The truth is, your answer may depend on where you get your information, who you trust, and how you’ve experienced the system yourself.

In today’s episode, we dig into that divide. What do we actually know about healthcare fraud in America—and what is rhetoric versus reality? We bring together Trump and MAHA supporters, including a mother whose child was covered by Medicaid, along with a health reporter from Minnesota and experts on Medicaid program integrity, to ask: how big is the problem really, are we focused on the right issues, and what can we actually agree on?

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guests:

Jacqueline Capriotti, founder and CEO of Health Revolution USA, small business owner and mother of two adults with cystic fibrosis, worked on the Kennedy/MAHA campaign. 

Aaron Everitt, writer and Substacker for Besides the Revolution and House inHabit volunteered for Kennedy campaign. 

Eleanor Hildebrandt, reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune, has covered the Medicaid fraud issue on the ground there in that state.

Andy Schneider, health policy expert at Georgetown’s McCourt School who served as a senior advisor at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services during the Obama administration.

Joel White, President of the Council for Affordable Health Coverage who served as the Staff Director for the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means.

Wilk Wilkinson, host of the Derate the Hate podcast and director of Media Operations for Braver Angels. 

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Today, we’re joined by Dr. Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna, the biotech company that helped make mRNA a household name during the pandemic, producing a vaccine taken by millions of Americans.

Now, Moderna is using that same technology to push into new frontiers, developing treatments for cancers like melanoma and lung cancer. While at the same time, mistrust of mRNA and of the pharmaceutical industry more broadly has only grown.

We discuss with Dr. Hoge his company's latest innovations in cancer treatment as well as an mRNA-based flu vaccine they are hoping to have available before the next flu season. We discuss what it's like to try and innovate using a platform that many Americans, coming off the pandemic experience, do not trust. And we talk about whether using mRNA as a tool against cancer might yield a different reception.  

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guest:

Dr. Stephen Hoge, President of Moderna

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It's an episode full of news: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s move to counter the federal judge who ruled his handpicked vaccine advisory committee lacked the expertise to guide U.S. vaccine policy. At the same time, the Trump administration has rolled out its new budget, a clear statement of priorities, with major increases in defense spending alongside deep cuts to medical research. And the EPA is stepping in with a new push to reduce microplastics in the nation’s drinking water.

We break it all down.

Then, the main event: the administration’s crackdown on what it calls “DEI” research has scuttled studies on racial health disparities. But that raises a deeper question: was the system working in the first place? The gap in life expectancy between Black and white Americans persists.

Our guest is health equity researcher Jerel Ezell. He’s critical of the current cuts but also of how this research has been done for years. So what does he think is broken? What needs to change? And what’s at stake if we get this wrong?

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guest:

Dr. Jerel Ezell, sociologist and public health researcher, he worked as an epidemiologist in Detroit and Chicago. He’s now an assistant professor in Infectious Diseases and Global Health at the University of Chicago, and has taught at Cornell and UC Berkeley. His research focuses on opioid use, environmental health, and the long-term human impact of crises like the Flint water crisis, with a growing emphasis on AI and equity.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/opinion/health-disparities-nih.html

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We are taking a few days off! We'll be back with a new episode on Thursday April 16. We love our theme song, so here it is in full. Enjoy!

xo,

WSITY team

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Today, we’re diving into a new Netflix documentary, The Plastic Detox, which follows six couples trying to conceive and what happens when they attempt to reduce plastic exposure in their daily lives.

We’re joined by two of the scientists featured in the film: Dr. Shanna Swan of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, a leading researcher on endocrine-disrupting chemicals and reproductive health, and Dr. Jasmine McDonald of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, an epidemiologist who studies how environmental exposures may shape long-term health.

Take a look around your home, and if you’re anything like us, you’ll see plastic everywhere. Food wrappers, toothbrushes, detergents, carpets, it’s woven into nearly every part of daily life.

So what impact is all of this plastic having on us? And more specifically, is it playing a role (and if so, how big a role) in our falling birth rates? Many plastics contain chemicals known as endocrine disruptors. What do we know about how that might be impacting us? And, impacting a couple's ability to have a baby. 

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett (off)

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (off)

Guests:

Dr. Shanna Swan, reproductive health epidemiologist, professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Dr. Jasmine McDonald, molecular epidemiologist, professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

Sources:

The Plastic Detox

https://www.netflix.com/title/82074244

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With the midterm elections approaching, health care is emerging as a central issue. So today, we’ve gathered a group of top-notch pollsters to help us understand where Americans’ heads are right now when it comes to health.

Yes, this is about rising health care costs—a visceral concern and a growing factor in the upcoming elections—driven in part by expiring ACA subsidies and potential Medicaid cuts. But it’s also about nutrition, school lunches, ultra-processed foods, and pesticides. This isn’t the old “for or against Obamacare” debate. The lines are shifting, and MAHA sits right in the middle of it all.

As one political analyst put it, “Health care policy is going to be a top issue in all competitive House races this cycle.” So at a time when Americans are deeply concerned about the cost of daily life, where does health care fit in? How do people feel about MAHA’s nutrition agenda, pesticides and pollution, or changes to childhood vaccine guidance?

We’re joined by polling analysts Liz Hamel and Ashley Kirzinger from KFF, and Melissa Toufanian of Navigator Research—along with our friend Aaron Everitt, a MAHA supporter and writer.

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (off)

Guests:

Liz Hamel,  senior vice president and director of public opinion and survey research, KFF

Ashley Kirzinger, director of survey methodology and associate director for public opinion and survey research, KFF

Melissa Toufanian, managing director, Navigator Research

Aaron Everitt, MAHA supporter, writer for Besides the Revolution, Kennedy supporter, writer for House InHabit

Why MAHA Needs Public Health by Aaron Everitt

https://besidestherevolution.substack.com/p/why-maha-needs-public-health

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Today, we explore an unlikely alliance.

The Make America Healthy Again movement is nearly always associated with MAGA and the Republican Party. But on one issue, the political lines are being scrambled. It is Democrats in Congress, and not Republicans, who are standing with the movement in opposing liability protections for pesticide manufacturers.  

At the center of the fight is a controversial provision in the new Farm Bill that critics say would give pesticide manufacturers a legal liability shield.

We’re joined by two key Democrats who fought to stop it—Congresswoman Chellie Pingree of Maine and Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts—one of whom called the proposal “an outrage.”

We’ll also hear from influential MAHA environmental advocate Kelly Ryerson.

Are Democrats willing to work with MAHA on some issues? Is MAHA willing to break with Republicans when their goals diverge? And what could this unusual coalition mean for the coming midterm elections and, most importantly, the health of Americans?

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guests:

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), is the Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee and also serves on the House Agriculture Committee.

Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), serves on House AppropriationsCommittee and House Agriculture Committee.

Kelly Ryerson, MAHA activist, Glyphosate Girl, currently advocating to oppose legal protections for pesticide manufacturers. 

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In today’s episode, Dr. Kirk Milhoan, the chair of the influential ACIP, returns to our show. In a wide-ranging conversation, we discuss his reaction to major news this week: the federal judge issuing a preliminary order pausing his committee’s work, leading to the cancellation of their scheduled meeting.

Since ACIP was expected to take up the issue of vaccine injury, we explore the topic with Dr. Milhoan, alongside Dr. Craig Spencer of Brown University School of Public Health and Dr. Akiko Iwasaki of Yale School of Medicine.

Together, we hear the stories of three remarkable individuals who have experienced serious health setbacks following a COVID vaccine. We ask whether enough is being done to care for Americans like them, what challenges stand in the way of better understanding vaccine-related injuries, and how public health should respond to the very real experiences of those affected.

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guests:

Dr. Kirk Milhoan, chairman, ACIP, pediatric cardiologist

John West, federal employee, Covid vaccine injured

Prof. Akiko Iwasaka, immunologist, Yale School of Medicine

Dr. Craig Spencer, ER doctor, public health professor, Brown School of Public Health

Jane Rioseco, consultant working on health and justice issues; Covid vaccine injured

(recorded voice of Daniel King), Covid vaccine injured; served as active duty military. 

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