Why Should I Trust You?

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.

The One Area Where Trump’s N.I.H. Cuts Might Actually Make Sense
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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