The Present Illness The Atlantic Lost Its Fact Checkers
The doctors perform an emergency triage on the state of public health leadership this week, starting with a scathing dissection of The Atlantic's profile of RFK Jr. that seemingly skipped the fact-checking department. Drs. Salles and Burgart administer a strong dose of reality as they examine how mainstream media continues to platform dangerous health misinformation with fewer guardrails than a pediatric rollercoaster.
Their differential diagnosis extends to the newest clown to emerge from the Clown Car of Public Health - the CDC's latest deputy director Ralph Lee Abraham. An avid COVID vaccine skeptic with min-bogglingly illogical public health positions, we're in for more shenanigans out of the nation's top health administration.
Between discussions of pertussis vaccine efficacy and the EPA's concerning moves on PFAS, asbestos, and air pollution regulations, this episode delivers a thorough examination of how public health leadership impacts everyday Americans - no insurance preauthorization required.
Joy: Take Two And Call Me In The Morning
- Alyssa recommends the dark comedy show, Pluribus (AppleTV)
- "Just look at the degree on that chick" and Dr. Turner’s post on Twitter
- Distractingly Sexy - I can’t believe this trend is from 2015… In response to Nobel scientist Tim Hunt stating, “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls … three things happen when they are in the lab … You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticise them, they cry.”)
Fact check:
The large study Arghavan mentioned was Danish, not Swedish. Apologies!
Links
- The Atlantic article about RFK Jr
- The New Yorker article by Tatiana Schlossberg
- Information about the pertussis vaccine (as part of Tdap); adults should get a booster every 10 years
- More on Ralph Abraham, the new CDC Deputy Director
- On the Trump administration’s approval of PFAS
- On the Trump administration’s moves regarding particle pollution
- On the Trump administration’s moves regarding asbestos in talc
- To learn more about
Thanks for listening to The Present Illness with Drs. Arghavan Salles and Alyssa Burgart!
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Credits
- Production by Arghavan Salles and Alyssa Burgart
- Editing by Alyssa Burgart
- Theme Music by Joseph Uphoff
- Social Media by Arghavan Salles