Why Should I Trust You?
Bold, unfiltered, and uncompromisingly honest, Why Should I Trust You? is a weekly podcast that looks at the breakdown in trust for science and public health. It drops every Thursday, with occasional additional special episodes sprinkled in.
Hosted by Brinda Adhikari, the former executive producer of “The Problem with Jon Stewart” and a former TV news journalist; Tom Johnson, the former executive producer of “The Circus,” and also a former TV news journalist; Dr. Maggie Bartlett, a virologist and assistant research professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Dr. Mark Abdelmalek a skin cancer surgeon, a medical journalist and a dermatologist practicing in Philadelphia - each week we try to figure out what is behind this staggering collapse in trust and see if we can rebuild towards trust again.
Episodes
105 episodes
A Conversation w Dr Robert Malone and Dr Craig Spencer: On Ebola, On ACIP, On Malone's Break w MAHA and On Kennedy
Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Craig Spencer are two influential voices on health in America today, reaching very different audiences. And it's no secret that on many critical issues, they fundamentally disagree. Yet as a deadly Ebola outbreak unfol...
What Happened w USAID? Rhetoric, Reality & Real World Impact w Former USAID Leaders Andrew Natsios & Jeremy Konyndyk
One year ago, the Trump administration dismantled USAID, America's largest foreign aid agency. The administration argued the agency had become wasteful, ideological, and ineffective. Critics warned the consequences would be measured in lives lo...
Two Farmers Walk Into The Oval Office. What Happens Next Surprises Them. A Conversation On the Future of Farming w Jonathan Lundgren and Will Harris
On the very day the Supreme Court handed a major legal victory to Bayer Monsanto, a ruling backed by the Trump administration but viewed by many in the MAHA movement as a betrayal, two regenerative farmers were invited to the Oval Office.
Can Understanding Libertarianism Help Explain Our Health Politics? A Conversation w Katherine Mangu-Ward, Editor in Chief of Reason Magazine
It’s almost Independence Day, and we’re exploring one of the most influential political philosophies in America: libertarianism.In the age of medical freedom and MAHA, libertarian ideas are helping shape debates over vaccines, public hea...
"We Will Fight Back": Leading MAHA & Dem Voices React To SCOTUS Ruling On Monsanto. Sen. Booker, Rep. Pingree, Zen Honeycutt, Rep. Tim Ryan & Kelly Ryerson Join Us
Democratic Senator Cory Booker, Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine, MAHA leaders Zen Honeycutt and Kelly Ryerson, and former Congressman Tim Ryan join us to react to one of the Supreme Court's big decisions of the year as the High Court si...
Don't Just Fact-Check Misinformation. First, Understand The Value It Holds. A Conversation w Researchers Michael Simeone & Kristy Roschke
Fighting misinformation is seen as one of the defining challenges of our time. The term itself can be polarizing. And what if we're thinking about it all wrong?In this episode, we speak with researchers Michael Simeone and Kri...
A Conversation with Dr. Mehmet Oz: On the Erosion of Trust in Experts, Rethinking Safety Nets & Fraud
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is our guest today.He oversees the government programs that provide health coverage to nearly half of all Americans and account for roughly a quarter of federal...
A Conversation w Sen. Cory Booker: On Our Health, Corrosive Money in Politics & America’s Urgent Moment. A Message to MAHA, RFK Jr & His Own Party.
Senator Cory Booker joins us for a conversation about our dire chronic health crisis, the corrosive effects of corporate money in our politics, the power of making healthy food affordable, and our taxpayer-subsidized systems that fuel our c...
A Conversation w Gen Z On AI: Promise, Populism, Anger & Hope. How Do They Wish Older Gens Spoke About AI?
Today, we're widening our lens to take on AI and trust because just like public health, science, and medicine, AI is becoming a trust minefield. As trust in institutions, experts, and Big Tech continues to erode, AI is arriving with enormous pr...
Is Parkinson’s A Preventable Disease? A Conversation w Dr. Ray Dorsey & Steve Brandenburg On Paraquat & Parkinson’s
Parkinson’s Disease is rising worldwide. It is the fastest-growing neurological disease in the world and is being called a “slow-motion epidemic.” And there is no cure. So what’s driving the increase? There are several culprits, inc...
A Conversation w MAHA Supporters & Public Health Veterans: On Thomas Massie + Cuts To USAID Amid An Ebola Outbreak
We’ve got a major news-driven episode today, focused on two stories that hit home for two big parts of our audience: MAHA and public health.First, the political earthquake rocking MAHA: Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie's defeat in his p...
Special Ep: A Conversation w Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Lead Reporter for the NYT Covering RFK Jr. & MAHA In An Era of Mistrust
We are joined today by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, one of the country’s leading health reporters and a correspondent for The New York Times, covering Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the MAHA movement.In her words, Stolberg covers “the intersection of...
Are MAHA & Public Health Going About Change All Wrong? A Conversation w Organizational Transformation Author Greg Satell
The one thing Americans seem to agree on these days is that our systems need to change. But what actually creates meaningful change?For some, it means tearing broken institutions down to the studs and rebuilding from scratch....
The Most MAHA Democrat We've Met: A Conversation w Former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) On A New Politics in America
Tim Ryan, the moderate, 10-term Democratic congressman from Ohio's Rust Belt, has pushed for a different conversation for years: one that reimagines America’s approach to food and health.Long before it had a name, Ryan was championing ma...
The Movement v Monsanto: Our Conversations w Rep. Thomas Massie (R), Sen. Cory Booker (D) & MAHA Influencers Alex Clark & Del Bigtree
Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie Bartlett (producer)Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (seeing patients)Guests:Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)Alex Clark, TPUSA, MAHA...
Sunday Special: As Higher Ed Research Falls Short on Impact, Here’s a Fix. A Conversation w Behavioral Scientist Daniel Max Crowley
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 behavio...
The Healthcare Fraud Debate: Are We Actually Mad At the Same Thing? A Convo w Trump/MAHA Supporters + Medicaid Experts
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...
Special Ep: A Conversation w the President of Moderna, Dr. Stephen Hoge On Building Back Trust Post-Covid
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 ...
Why a Health Equity Researcher Says His Field Is A Broken “Industrial Complex”: A Conversation w Dr. Jerel Ezell
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...
No Episode This Week! We're Taking a Week Off. But Here is Our Full Theme Song!
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
Is Our Overuse of Plastics Causing Fertility Issues? A Conversation w Dr. Shanna Swan and Dr. Jasmine McDonald
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 ...
A Polling-palooza: Is Health the Driving Issue of These Midterms? A Conversation w Pollsters from KFF, Navigator Research + A MAHA Supporter
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 a...
Special Ep: Meet the Democrats Working w MAHA: A Conversation w Reps. McGovern & Pingree w MAHA Activist Kelly Ryerson
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 no...
ACIP Chair Dr. Kirk Milhoan Returns to Talk Court Order Stopping Their Work + A Group Conversation On Covid Vax Injuries
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...
Measles in America: Who Actually Are the Unvaccinated? A Conversation w Health Workers from Spartanburg, SC and West Texas
Measles has returned to the United States in a way we haven’t seen in more than a quarter-century. The outbreak in South Carolina follows one in West Texas last year, threatening the measles-free status the U.S. achieved in 2000.In today...