Ravi welcomes back Dr. Dhruv Khullar, a physician, assistant professor at Cornell, and contributing writer at The New Yorker, for a deep dive into the latest shifts in American science and nutrition. They begin with Dhruv’s latest New Yorker piece, Trump’s Agenda Is Undermining American Science, and examine how the DOGE-led budget cuts could disrupt medical innovation and public health.

Next, they turn to one of the biggest but least understood threats to public health: ultra-processed foods. Drawing from Dhruv’s recent New Yorker article, Why Is the American Diet So Deadly?, Dhruv and Ravi explore how these foods took over American grocery stores—and why they fuel overeating, weight gain, and chronic disease. Finally, they step back to discuss the food industry’s influence and the challenge of cutting through the noise with effective public health messaging.

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Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

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