It's easy to look at the latest pandemic-related disruptions and assume we're careening into another full-blown COVID crisis. But in many ways, we’re getting better at combating this coronavirus.
Guest: Dan Diamond, national health reporter for the Washington Post.
If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.
Hi, last week I fell down a flight of stairs. Then I went to the hospital. Then I emailed Dr. Mary Alexis Iaccarino, a Harvard Medical School professor and specialist in rehabilitation from traumatic brain injuries. I asked her all about what happens during a concussion, when to be worried, how long it takes to heal, when a person should get their ass to a hospital, what a brain scan can tell us about a head injury, what it CAN’T tell us about a head injury, if you can fall asleep after a head injury, and the differences between mTBI, TBI, SRC, CTE and even ATGATT. Plus, bike helmets, Natasha Richardson, fruit fly role models and some truly infuriating statistics on who gets mTBI treatment and who doesn’t. And stay tuned later this week for a bonus episode on what happens when bighorn sheep bash their skulls together.
Almost a year ago today, supporters of President Trump attacked the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the election. ABC White House correspondent Jonathan Karl has chronicled the final days of the Trump administration and the events leading up to the January 6th insurrection in his new book, Betrayal. Karl told NPR's Steve Inskeep that he believed in the end Trump was laying the groundwork to be un-checkable.
On today's show, Emily Kwong checks in with infectious disease physician Dr. Jasmine Marcelin at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Jasmine spoke to Short Wave last year about how COVID-19 affected her as a doctor. In part one of a two part episode, Emily talks with her about how she's feeling a year in and how getting involved in community vaccination clinics has made a difference in her life.
The new year is an excellent time to take stock of your finances and decide what you want to achieve with your money. Laura reviews five essential resolutions for tracking your financial progress, eliminating debt, saving more, and boosting your financial wellbeing in 2022.
Jay Bhattacharya is a professor of medicine at Stanford University and co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(10:18) – How deadly is Covid?
(39:48) – Covid vs Influenza
(45:42) – Francis Collins email to Fauci
(1:06:19) – Francis Collins
(1:13:48) – Vaccine safety and efficacy
(1:20:46) – Vaccine hesitancy
(1:37:21) – Great Barrington Declaration and lockdowns
(1:53:39) – Focused Protection
(2:15:31) – Fear
(2:19:57) – Advice for young people
(2:24:56) – Fear of death
(2:26:53) – Meaning of life
Ravi and Cory discuss the latest Covid surge and whether or not Omicron could end up being a good thing. Twitter permanently suspended Marjorie Taylor Greene’s personal account. Are Twitter bans doing more harm than good? Why this approach to managing misinformation might be self-defeating. Cory analyzes the news media’s worst takes from last week’s top stories. Finally, Ravi sits down with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who during the Obama administration, modernized America’s education system.
A year ago, insurrectionists stormed the Capitol building in hopes of overturning the election results - fueled by the "Big Lie" that Donald Trump actually won. He did not.
As NPR Special Correspondent Melissa Block reports, this lie has become entrenched in the Republican party. And Republican state legislators across the country have used it to justify passing new laws restricting voting access.
We look at those changes, and what all this might mean for elections in 2022 and 2024.
On today’s episode, NLW rounds up news from the last few weeks of 2021, including updates on the global bitcoin mining landscape as well as central bank digital currency (CBDC) and regulatory updates from the United States, China, India, Europe, Jamaica, Paraguay and more. Plus, the president of El Salvador’s 2022 bitcoin predictions.
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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is "Time" by OBOY. Image credit: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.
