World Health Organization Podcasts

Coverage is thin and largely incidental. None of these episodes spells out “World Health Organization” in its title, so listeners should expect the organization to surface inside discussions of drug safety, pandemics, vaccines, and global health policy rather than receive a sustained profile.

The closest approaches

Drug Safety Matters offers the clearest on-ramp with #42 Unpacking the WHO Global Smart Pharmacovigilance Strategy – Shanthi Pal. It is the rare episode here to name WHO, albeit by acronym, and narrows the discussion to a specific safety strategy.

For a wider policy view, Public Health (Video) moves between agenda-setting and measurement in 21st Century Global Health Priorities with Christopher Murray and Metrics in Action: Lessons Learned from 30 Years of the Global Burden of Disease Study with Christopher Murray. Carry the One Radio: The Science Podcast approaches the same territory through two expert conversations: Global Health in the Time of COVID: Dr. Patience Afulani and Dr. Dilys Walker and Global Health in the Time of COVID - ft. Dr. Madhavi Dandu and Dr. Elizabeth Fair.

Disease, vaccines, and public-health pressure

Elsewhere, WHO references sit inside more specific stories. The WIRED Podcast takes a journalistic route through The Origins of Covid-19 Are More Complicated Than Once Thought and The Chaotic Monkeypox Vaccine Pipeline Is Leaving Everyone Short. Infectious Historians supplies historical context with Episode 138 - Tuberculosis in Tanzania with Christoph Gradmann, Episode 137 - Covid in Taiwan with Wayne Soon, and Episode 135 - Avian Flu with Natalie Porter.

For an accessible explanatory style, The Deep Dive uses brisk back-and-forth discussion and concrete analogies. Start with Vaccines: A Victim of Their Own Success. The organization is secondary to the vaccine question, but that is typical of the coverage available.

Where to start

The most direct institutional reference comes from Drug Safety Matters; start there. Choose Public Health (Video) for the broad policy-and-metrics view, or Carry the One Radio: The Science Podcast for expert conversations about global health during COVID. The WIRED Podcast is the sharper option for reporting on outbreak origins and vaccine supply.

Featured shows below are part of the PlayNext catalog. Updated weekly.