939 - Unfiltered Conversations to Restore Trust in Public Health

·28 min·2 clips

A virologist reveals how profit incentives and corporate capture fuel a deep-seated mistrust in public health systems.

The episode opens with a montage of voices highlighting crises in public health, including corporate capture and profit motives. Host Lindsay Smith Rogers introduces guest Maggie Bartlett, a virologist at Johns Hopkins and co-host of the podcast 'Why Should I Trust You?'. Bartlett explains her personal background, detailing how childhood OCD and fear led her to study virology, focusing on pathogens like hemorrhagic fevers and viral persistence. She discusses her research linking hereditary connective tissue diseases to long COVID risk. Bartlett describes her transition from lab work to public communication, sparked by concerns about avian influenza and a Jon Stewart segment featuring producer Brenda Adekari. This led to collaborating with Adekari, Tom Johnson, and physician Mark Abdomalek to create a podcast centered on rebuilding trust in public health. The podcast brings together diverse groups, including those affiliated with the Make America Healthy Again movement, for candid conversations. Bartlett notes challenges in discussing topics like vaccine hesitancy and the importance of language, as terms like 'misinformation' can be off-putting. She highlights a key conversation where guests suggested renaming the COVID vaccine an 'immunobooster' to reduce distrust. The episode explores how access to scientific journals behind paywalls hinders public understanding. Bartlett emphasizes the need for local public health figures and addresses experts' fear of engaging in these discussions due to potential backlash. She shares surprising moments, such as guests perceiving Dr. Paul Offit as a 'demon' before hearing his personal story, which changed their view. The opioid crisis is identified as a major pre-COVID factor driving distrust in healthcare systems. Bartlett expresses concern about deep-seated nihilism but remains optimistic, citing engagement from all sides. She delivers a detailed warning about measles, explaining that one in a thousand unvaccinated children who survive acute infection may later develop a fatal brain condition. The conversation concludes with hope found in common goals, the need for better science communication training, and the potential for new tools to address post-viral syndromes.

As heard by us

A measured look at why public health trust frays, and how local ties might help rebuild it.

Public Health On Call frames trust in public health as a question of communication, access, and authority. Maggie Bartlett, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and co-host of Why Should I Trust You?, points to information gaps, corporate capture,…

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A sober chat about why public health trust breaks and how people try to rebuild it.

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