Why Should I Trust You?

• Lessons From the 1980s AIDS Crisis and Applying It To Today: A Conversation w Dr. Reed Tuckson

  When COVID hit, public health leaders often said, “There was no playbook.” But was that really true?Decades earlier, during the AIDS crisis, America’s public health system went through a trial by fire—learning hard lessons about how to communicate amid uncertainty, adapt to evolving science, and work with communities instead of against them.Flash forward to COVID, and many Americans say they lost trust after experiencing what they saw as a top-down, dismissive approach from public health leaders. They say their questions and concerns about mitigation efforts and science were often met with rigid messaging, outright dismissal, and even censorship.In today’s episode, we sit down with Dr. Reed Tuckson, a public health leader and former Commissioner of Public Health for Washington, D.C., during the height of the AIDS epidemic. He reflects on what that era taught him—and what it might still teach us about rebuilding trust today.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark Abdelmalek (off this week)Guest:Dr. Reed Tuckson, former Commissioner of Public Health in Washington DC; founder, Coalition for Trust in Health and ScienceThanks 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]

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• Fired ACIP Members Speak To Us On the Future of Vaccines + Dr. Michael Mina On A 'Code Red' Moment

  Why is a little-known CDC advisory committee meeting today making big headlines?Because Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. just fired every single member—replacing them with his own hand-picked team.The committee in question is ACIP, a group of independent experts that guides how vaccines are used by hundreds of millions of Americans. Kennedy called the shake-up a “clean sweep,” claiming the previous committee's work was just a rubber stamp for Big Pharma and couldn’t be trusted.Many in the medical and scientific community warn that this move could dismantle the nation’s vaccine system, erode public trust, and drive up costs.What should we trust? And can we trust that the health of Americans is not getting caught in the crossfire? Today, we speak with two of the fired ACIP members to hear their direct response to the accusations. Then, Dr. Michael Mina—physician, scientist, and critic of the firings—joins us to unpack the broader context of these sweeping changes to America’s vaccine policy, what concerns are real, and what might be overblown.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Charlotte Moser, ex-ACIP, co-director, Vaccine Education CenterDr Jamie Loehr, ex-ACIP, family physicianDr Michael Mina; physician, immunologist; epidemiologistSources:Michael Mina:https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/opinion/rfk-vaccine-policy-changes.htmlThanks 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]

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• The Medicaid Axe is About To Fall. We Asked a Group of MAHA, MAGA & Independent Parents to Weigh In

  In today’s episode, what do a group of MAHA, MAGA, and independent moms and dads of children with disabilities think about the changes Republicans in Congress are hashing out right now for Medicaid, as they push to pass President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill”?If a healthier America is your top priority, this is a red-alert moment. A nonpartisan Congressional estimate finds that the House-passed Medicaid changes would lead to millions of Americans losing health insurance. And just this week, the Republican-controlled Senate released its own draft, proposing even bigger changes that would result in deeper cuts.With 71 million enrollees, Medicaid is the largest health insurance program in the country, a vital lifeline for both Red and Blue America. So what do these parents — who either depend on Medicaid now or expect to in the future — want Republican lawmakers and MAHA leaders to know about the realities of their daily lives? Is this what they voted for? And if not, what will they do about it?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie Bartlett (off this week)Dr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Jacqueline Capriotti, health coalition leader, substack author Health Revolution USA, mother of two kids with CF, MAHA advocateJames Cummings, digital engagement strategist, father to children with rare diseasesSue Teitelbaum, mother of daughter with special needsNancy Fuller, MAHA Ohio grassroots, mother to son living with autismElizabeth Frost, MAHA grassroots leader OhioDr. Megan Ranney, dean of Yale School of Public Health; ER physicianDr. Craig Spencer, associate professor Brown University, ER physician, Doctors Without BordersDr. Reed Tuckson, founder of Coalition to Build Trust in Health and Science, physician. Resources:https://5calls.org/https://clairesplacefoundation.org/https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/initiatives/saw-rtw/retain/phase-oneFrom Jacqueline Capriotti:https://healthrevolutionusa.substack.com/p/when-trust-the-science-isnt-enough?r=5aqw38&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=trueThanks 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]

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• Why Does the Phrase “mRNA” Rip Americans Apart? We Chat w Nobel-Prize Winning Scientist Drew Weissman

  It’s the four letters that changed our lives: M-R-N-A.Hailed as a modern medical miracle that delivered the life-saving COVID vaccine in record time, mRNA now fuels one of the most polarizing debates in public health. Critics see it as a dangerous experiment that has turned deadly, a symbol of Big Pharma overreach, and a culture of corporate capture within our regulatory agencies that places profits over health and safety. Supporters call it our best hope against new viruses and possibly for the deadliest diseases we face—from cancer to diabetes, even Alzheimer’s.Today, we unpack a growing backlash that is driving down childhood vaccination rates, leading to cuts in mRNA research, and prompting different states to pass laws restricting its use. The mistrust was on display this week as RFK Jr. fired a key committee of experts that evaluates vaccines.Our guest today is Dr. Drew Weissman, who, along with Dr Katalin Kariko, won the Nobel Prize for revolutionizing mRNA technology. We’ll dive into why their breakthrough has become a lightning rod—and whether the controversy could derail our best shot at curing tomorrow’s worst diseases.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]

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• Special: MAHA Georgia & Public Health In a Spirited Discussion On the Legacy of the Covid Vaccine

  On today's special episode, a raw and unflinching conversation between MAHA advocates from Georgia and a group of veterans from public health. The discussion dives straight into one of the biggest drivers of mistrust in public health today: the COVID vaccine. Is it a life-saving marvel of modern science or a dangerous technology imposed on the public with little regard for liberty and safety? The groups share profound concerns about where we’ve been and where we’re headed when it comes to Americans' trust in public health, medicine, and science. Many of them differ fundamentally on the promise of the vaccine versus what it delivered, on how the healthcare system delivered and failed at the same time, and on how that trust lost can be earned back.Yet the discussion is grounded in respect, empathy, and a shared goal of healthier communities, which might just be the key to pulling us out of our spiral of mistrust. Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonGuests:Joining the discussion from MAHA Georgia are Joey Fargar, Aaron Rossi, Christy Kennedy, Melinda Hicks, and from Ohio, Elizabeth Frost.From public health, Paul Offit, Reed Tuckson, Anne Zink, and Ashwin Vasan. 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]

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