Ed Yong received a Pulitzer Prize for his Covid coverage in The Atlantic, and he joins us to talk about how the pandemic is forcing the CDC to rethink its mission as it struggles to protect the greater good in an era of unchecked individualism.
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Brenda Gayle Plummer is a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she joins us to talk about the deeply rooted tradition of fighting anti-Black racism by appealing to other countries, and what the global protest movement means for our democracy.
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Nesrine Malik is a columnist and features writer for the Guardian, and she joins us to talk about how “wokeness,” “political correctness,” “free speech,” “cancel culture” and other shorthand terms are used to both drive and tamp down social justice movements.
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Steven Johnson is host of the PBS/BBC series “How We Got to Now,” and the “American Innovations” podcast. He joins us to talk about societal change that has pushed us to live older, fuller lives and why that’s dependent on the greater good.
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Jonathan Tepperman is a former editor-at-large at Foreign Policy magazine, and he joins us to talk about how the Biden administration might strengthen the relationship with American allies – and about the growing threat from Russia, China and other adversaries.
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David Napier is professor of medical anthropology at University College London, director of the university’s Centre for Applied Global Citizenship, and director of its Science, Medicine, and Society Network. He joins us to discuss group dynamics and why public policy that values the collective good over individual interests is ultimately beneficial to everyone.
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Journalist Tove K. Danovich joins us to discuss dogs bred for aesthetics, not purpose, and why that’s harming the health of man’s best friend.
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Author Michael Lewis joins us to tell the stories of a biochemist, a public health worker and a federal government employee who worked in the White House during the early days of trying to contain the coronavirus.
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Andrea R. Jain joins us to talk about modern capitalism’s stamp on ancient religious practices and the patina of social justice and self-care fueling a multimillion-dollar industry.
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Stephanie Tam joins us to tell the story of one man’s quest for a lingua franca that would bridge communication and why it was blocked by colonial ideas of English superiority.
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New York Times business reporter Nelson Schwartz joins us to talk about how easy for some it is to buy convenience – and about how corporations have shifted strategies to cater to the wealthy in order to increase the bottom line.
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Dame Karen Pierce is British Ambassador to the U.S., and she joins us to talk about her country’s economic relationship with both Texas and the country as a whole – and we’ll hear how Britain is faring in the fight against Covid.
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