Why Should I Trust You?

Coleman Hughes is a thinker, writer, podcaster, and author. You may know him from his Conversations with Coleman podcast with The Free Press, from appearances on CNN, Joe Rogan, and The View, or from his recent book, in which he argues that America should strive toward colorblindness, treating people and designing public policy without regard to race.

In addition to that, what interests us is that he’s an independent, unorthodox voice—someone who doesn’t follow the political script his critics assume he should. That speaks to something we think about a lot here: too often, we take our cues from our “side” and stick to the script, seeking approval from our team, instead of engaging with compelling versions of an opposing view. That dynamic can be just as true among public health institutions as it is among supporters of MAHA.

So today, we ask Coleman: What has he learned from being that unorthodox voice—challenging the side that thought he was one of their own? And, ultimately, how does he think we can bridge divides and rebuild trust?

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guest:

Coleman Hughes, host of Conversations with Coleman produced by the Free Press; author, The End of Race Politics: The Argument for a Colorblind America

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In our latest big conversation bringing together individuals who don’t always see eye to eye, we sit down with Gen Zers who care deeply about the nation’s health. Some are launching careers in public health, others are inspired by the MAHA movement. Together, we talk politics, race, philosophy, and shared values. What do they make of the profound changes reshaping American health today? The group of twenty-somethings explore the rise of individualism in public health, what expertise means and when it deserves deference, how to reach their generation, and whether the MAHA and MAGA era represents reform or a dismantling of America’s public health and science infrastructure. Finally, we discuss how dialogue around these issues is impacted by the tragic killing of Charlie Kirk.

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (off this week)

Guests: 

Rotimi Kukoyi: is a Truman Scholar, Jeopardy Champion, and the Senior Class President at UNC-Chapel Hill. He’s studying health policy and management on the premed track and wants to be a physician-policymaker at the state and national levels. 

Elizabeth Frost: Works at MAHA Ohio, ran grassroots for Sec. Kennedy's presidential campaign; runs Independent Force Consulting; has been on our pod several times!

Maesa Vicente: Maesa works with the The Touch Grass Collective as the Director of Policy Research and Strategy. She is now located in Pamplona, Spain, for a year where she is an English Teacher. 

MacKenzie Isaac: an Indianapolis-based health educator and final-year PhD candidate at the University of Oxford, where’s she’s studying the bioethical nuances of mental health treatment pathways for Black adolescents. She’s a 2022 Rhodes Scholar and the resident Health Equity Hygienist for global science communication collective, Those Nerdy Girls. 

Hunter Ryerson: a student at the University of Michigan and a journalist at Pirate Wires, a leading publication on technology, politics, and culture. He writes about the MAHA movement and the advancement of human health for Pirate Wires has written for the Michigan Daily 

Nathaniel Mamo: a Program Coordinator at NYU's Division of Medical Ethics working on issues in vaccine ethics.

Dorian Johnson: a public health communicator and board certified health and wellness coach who tackles big public health issues for little people; works to make public health topics digestible for families through storytelling. You can find him at @PHUncle

Adnan Alkhalili: Adnan Alkhalili is a young citizen scientist, student of metabolic health, and founder of the Touch Grass Together movement. A junior at Rutgers University, his work focuses on metabolic fatalism and aims to restore human connection in an era of hijacked biology, digital disconnection, and cultural division. 

Links:

• Those Nerdy Girls, creators of Dear Pandemic: https://thosenerdygirls.org/
• Touch Grass Collective - Get Outside. Get Human.: https://touchgrasstogether.com/
• Hunter Ryerson, Author at The Michigan Daily: https://www.michigandaily.com/author/hryerson/
• The PHuncle | Where Public Health Hits Different: https://thephuncle.com/
• Rotimi Kukoyi named Truman scholar | UNC-Chapel Hill: https://www.unc.edu/posts/2025/04/21/rotimi-kukoyi-named-truman-scholar/

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On today's episode, a remarkable moment in the Make America Healthy Again era. From the White House, the president urged pregnant women not to take Tylenol, saying it was linked to autism, before launching into a discourse on his personal fears and advice on autism rates, vaccine safety, and when parents should vaccinate their children. For many MAHA supporters, it was cathartic to see a president speak from instinct rather than the strict limits of a body of scientific work they do not trust. For public health veterans, the press conference was full of confusing and unfounded advice that could result in dangerous consequences. Where does that leave parents, pregnant women, and their doctors? We unpack the science, the politics, and the fallout — with voices from both sides, including a pregnant mother of a child with autism and a pediatrician on the front lines.

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guest:

Brooke Blanke, mom to a 4 yo son with autism; respiratory therapist living in New Jersey

Dr. David Higgins, pediatrician, preventative medicine specialist; assistant professor of pediatrics at the Colorado School of Medicine

Resource:

CDC Vaccine Schedule: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/imz-schedules/index.html

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It’s the very first shot a newborn gets—just hours after birth. Today, Secretary Kennedy’s new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Committee is reviewing whether it should remain so. We’re talking about the Hepatitis B “birth dose,” the starting point of America’s childhood vaccine schedule since 1991.

But for some parents today, it’s the starting point of their vaccine hesitancy. They ask: “Why give a vaccine against a virus mostly spread through sex or IV drug use to a brand-new baby?” That question has fueled broader mistrust of the government’s vaccine message.

Supporters counter that childbirth itself is a major risk if the mother carries Hep B—and testing is far from foolproof. They point to the thousands of babies infected each year before the birth dose became universal, and cases plummeted.

What would delaying that first shot until later in childhood mean? Is it a way to rebuild public trust or a risky rollback that could put more kids in danger?

We explore these questions with two leading voices in vaccines, Dr. Paul Offit and Dr. Michael Mina, who don’t totally see eye to eye on the "birth dose".

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guests:

Dr. Paul Offit, a leading pediatrician and infectious disease specialist, co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, was on the FDA’s Vaccine Advisory Committee, director of the Vaccine Education Ctr at the Children Hospital of Philadelphia

Dr. Michael Mina, an epidemiologist, immunologist, and physician. Former associate professor at Harvard Medical School & TH Chan School of Public Health, led America’s test-to-treat program during the pandemic; has served as a scientific advisor for health start-ups. 

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On today's episode, we are heading to the farm, which is where one of America's biggest debates is taking place over food, health, and who and what we trust.

Modern agriculture feeds the nation and the world, but its tools raise tough questions about long-term impacts on our health, not to mention our land. You'll hear from farmers, journalists and advocates -- some aligned with MAHA and others not -- as we dig into how we grow and harvest our food, the pressures on the population and on the planet, what we know and don't know about the harms of pesticides, and their take on the new MAHA Commission report on the topic of pesticides. And we will ask: would some in MAHA even break with the GOP if Congress moves to shield pesticide makers from lawsuits?

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (off this episode)

Guests:

Stephanie Nash, a fourth-generation dairy farmer who lives and works in Tennessee. On IG, @nofarmsnofood

John Klar, operates a small farm in Vermont, and is an author for the MAHA Report, a popular newsletter; he is a supporter of Sec. Kennedy and MAHA's vision. 

Michelle Miller, a popular presence on social media, @thefarmbabe, former corn and soybean farmer, she says she spends her time traveling the country unearthing the truth about modern farming and supporting farmers. 

Erin Martin, founded Fresh RX Oklahoma, which prescribes local, regeneratively grown food to reverse  food linked chronic disease in Oklahoma; co-lead Oklahoma Food is Medicine policy; frequent supporter of MAHA vision.

Michael Grunwald, who is a journalist focused on the climate, agriculture and author of a new book:  "We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate.” He is a contributor to the New York Times opinion page and a former staff writer for the Washington Post, Time and Politico Magazine.

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It's been 24 hours since we learned about the shooting and murder of famed conservative activist and leader Charlie Kirk. We wanted to bring together some friends of the show, people we engage with frequently on the pod, to discuss what happened to Charlie, and to get into how we as a society can disagree better, whether getting to yes or even trying to bring ourselves into the same room together these days is worth it. The answer is: yes. We must. Now more than ever. 

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Guests:

Elizabeth Frost, MAHA Ohio, Kennedy organizer

Aaron Everitt, substacker, video journalist, Besides the Revolution, Kennedy volunteer

Dr. Craig Spencer, ER physician, Associate Professor at Brown School of Public Health, works also w Doctors Without Borders

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Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

**We recorded this episode on Wednesday early morning. **

The big MAHA report is out, a roadmap for how Kennedy and the Trump administration plan to tackle the chronic disease crisis impacting America's children. It’s a bold attempt to turn the federal government toward confronting the dire state of our health.

In this episode, we break down what’s in the plan, what’s missing, and how both the MAHA movement and the public health community are responding.

Joining us is Dr. Michael Forde, a public health leader working to reduce health inequity and inequality. At a moment when MAHA has moved chronic disease to the center of the national conversation, does the Black community feel included in their plan? And how do recent cuts to food programs, Medicaid, and diversity-focused health research square with the mission of making all communities healthier?

Finally, we ask, how can medicine, science, and public health build trust with a community that has profound reasons to mistrust them?

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Dr. Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guest:

Dr. Michael Forde, a public health leader focused on public health equity. He is the director of health equity for a Fortune 500 health company, where he works within the state of Maryland to improve access to care, with a focus on Medicaid.

Follow him on IG, YouTube and TikTok, @MichaelHForde, where he breaks down the history, stories and facts about the Black American experience with our health system. 

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Americans today are engaging in a great Rorschach Test over public health–and its results may determine our future.

Are radical changes at the CDC and beyond moving us in the right direction for a healthier nation, or dangerously backwards?

Are we undoing the very system that has protected us for decades (from infectious disease)? Or upending a system that has made us sicker (chronic disease epidemic)?

Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) has succeeded in putting that question front and center. The movement encourages us to research for ourselves and make health decisions based on our unique family's needs. The days of lining up and getting your shot, no questions asked, are done. The days of trusting the experts appear to be winding down, too. 

That theme became clear in our conversation with the CDC leaders who recently resigned in protest. They tendered their resignations in defiance over RFK Jr.’s management of the agency, including the the firing of his handpicked director Dr Susan Monarez. 

It was a fascinating conversation, where we explored the role of the CDC, the Covid response, vaccine mandates, and the role of government in general. 

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guests:

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, former director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC

Dr. Debra Houry , the CDC's former Chief Science and Medical Officer

Dr. Dan Jernigan, former Director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at CDC

Elizabeth Frost, MAHA Ohio, ran Kennedy grassroots in Ohio

Aaron Everitt, video essayist, substack Besides the Revolution, frequent contributor to House InHabit

Tracy Hollister, former Deputy Elector Director for Kennedy campaign, public policy researcher, MAHA advocate

Travis Tripodi, consultant in the health technology industry; libertarian; MAHA and Kennedy supporter

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Our guest today, researcher Anna Gilmore, recently went viral with a provocative revelation: just four products cause at least a third of all deaths worldwide. But behind the attention-grabbing headline is her deeper mission--exposing a complex, corporate-driven system that fuels poor diets, worsening health, and our chronic disease crisis. To avoid regulation and keep government subsidies flowing, Anna says industry bankrolls and skews scientific research, while working to convince us that our poor health is all our fault. With MAHA’s momentum and focus on food, what’s her advice for the movement? Will MAHA’s current approach of calling for voluntary changes be enough? Ultimately, is capitalism incompatible with health?

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (off this week)

Guest;

Anna Gilmore, professor of Public Health and Director of the Tobacco Control Research Group and the Co-Director of the Center for 21st Century Public Health at the University of Bath in England.

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His voice reaches millions of Americans who many in mainstream science and public health just don’t reach these days.

He is Dr. Marc Siegel, the senior medical analyst for FOX News who recently argued that President Trump should be given the Nobel Peace Prize for leading Operation Warp Speed – the rapid development of mRNA vaccines that was given to millions during the covid pandemic. The Fox News medical correspondent is outspoken on mRNA technology as the Trump administration cancels promising mRNA research.

We’ll ask him what’s behind that provocative argument and what lessons he has for all of public health and science as they try to rebuild trust. 

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson (off this week)

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guest:

Dr. Marc Siegel, Senior Medical Analyst, Fox News; medical director for Doctor Radio on SiriusXM, and he is a primary care internist and professor of medicine at NYU Langone, in New York City. He has a book coming out in November called The Miracles Among Us which will be published by Harper Collins - Fox News Books.

Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! 

Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]