The Ezra Klein Show MAHA Is a Bad Answer to a Good Question
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Aug 22, 2025 
In this discussion, physician Rachael Bedard and journalist David Wallace-Wells delve into the implications of the 'Make America Healthy Again' movement. They explore how chronic disease and unhealthy diets are pressing issues yet highlight the dangers of recent funding cuts to vaccine research. The impact of pandemic policies on society and politics is unpacked, revealing tensions between individual autonomy and public safety. Misinformation, political dynamics, and their effects on public health decisions are scrutinized, painting a complex picture of America's health landscape.
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Pandemic Trauma Was Largely Forgotten
- The pandemic's deepest impact was large-scale death and a collective trauma we largely avoid confronting.
- David Wallace-Wells says forgetting that trauma made us play blame games rather than grieve and learn.
Frontline Experience At Rikers Island
- Rachael Bedard worked 100-hour weeks as a physician at Rikers Island where COVID prevalence was once the highest known.
- She describes stripping clothes at the door, sending family away, and urging decarceration to reduce transmission.
Timing Of Vaccination Mattered Most
- Vaccination timing determined many national outcomes because shots cut individual risk dramatically.
- David Wallace-Wells highlights how mRNA vaccines were designed and manufactured at unprecedented speed, shifting the pandemic's course.
