The Dunkirk effect is basically about how people band together to help their community when they're faced with a disaster. Then you need policy to come in and do things, says Oppenheimer. "Behavioral scientists just weren't part of the policy making early on," he adds.
Or at least the federal government is over spending money on it. Vox’s resident epidemiologist, Keren Landman, explains the end of the public health emergency.
This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey and Michael Raphael, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices