930 - Peace Building in a Polarized Public Health Landscape

Aug 11, 2025

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About this episode:

As the United States grows more polarized along regional, political, and ideological lines, it is critical to resolve conflict civilly—particularly when it comes to pressing public health concerns that implicate all of us. In this episode: Peace building experts David Addiss and John Paul Lederach draw on their careers in conflict resolution and public health to share strategies for building relationships, restoring trustworthiness, and fostering solutions-oriented conversations to bridge ideological gaps.

Guest:

Dr. David Addiss, MPH, is a public health doctor whose career has involved migrant health, mountain medicine, neglected tropical diseases, research, philanthropy, and global health. He is the Director of the Focus Area for Compassion and Ethics at the Task Force for Global Health.

John Paul Lederach, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame and a Senior Fellow with Humanity United. He is widely known for the development of culturally-based approaches to conflict transformation and the design and implementation of integrative and strategic approaches to peace building.

Host:

Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content:

A Recipe for Cooling Down American Politics—Washington Post
Facing Down a Civil War—www.johnpaullederach.com
Here To Understand: How Braver Angels Is Orchestrating Tough Public Health Conversations—Public Health On Call (June 2025)
Peacebuilding to Help Mend A Broken World—Public Health On Call (December 2023)

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