Healthy Dialogue

Approximately 1 in 5 Americans live in rural areas, and in the coming years they will see dramatic shifts in their health care options due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In this episode of Healthy Dialogue Mark Holmes, PhD, joins host Derek C. Angus, MD, MPH, to explore the impact of upcoming cuts to Medicaid and the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program. Related Content: Providing Care to the Surprisingly Large Rural Population in the US

Long COVID is a debilitating condition impacting millions of people around the world, but is still poorly understood, poorly defined, and poorly treated. In this episode of Healthy Dialogue, host Derek C. Angus, MD, MPH, discusses long COVID with Wes Ely, MD, MPH, professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University, and co-author of the NASEM report on Long COVID. Related Content: Long COVID: The Problem Society Wants to Forget

Medicaid provides health insurance for 1 in 5 Americans and plays a crucial role in US health care infrastructure. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is estimated to cut Medicaid spending by nearly $1 trillion by 2034 and cause millions of enrollees to lose coverage. In this episode of Healthy Dialogue, Julie Donohue, PhD, professor and chair of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh, breaks down what Medicaid is, who it covers, and how proposed cuts in the OBBBA could have far-reaching effects on patients, clinicians, hospitals and communities. Related Content: Everyone Will Feel the $1 Trillion Cut in Medicaid

GLP-1 receptor agonists are one of the most revolutionary new classes of drugs in decades. In this episode of Healthy Dialogue, host Derek C. Angus, MD, MPH, sat down with Jens Juul Holst, MD, DMSc, and Lotte Bjerre Knudsen, DMSc, 2 pioneering scientists behind the discovery and development of GLP-1 RAs. Together, they traced the fascinating origin story of GLP-1 RAs and offered their thoughts on what comes next. Related Content: GLP-1s—From Gut Hormone Discovery to a Public Health Revolution

The United States has witnessed a staggering rise in obesity beginning in the early 1980s, leading to a wide array of important health consequences including heart disease, diabetes, and premature death. In this episode of Healthy Dialogue, Host Derek C. Angus, MD, MPH, talks with Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, Paulette Goddard Professor Emerita at New York University and influential author on food politics, for a candid conversation about how society became ensnared in the current obesity epidemic and what might untangle it. Related Content: Food Politics, Obesity, and the "Wicked Mess" We Are In

This episode of Healthy Dialogue explores the history and future of science funding in the US in light of recent changes, and proposed changes, from the federal government. Host Derek Angus, MD, MPH, speaks with former editor in chief of Science and a former director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the NIH, Jeremy Berg, PhD. Related Content: Why and How Should the Government Fund Biomedical Research?

Dimitri Christakis, pediatrician, professor, and JAMA Pediatrics editor, studies child development and media effects. He explains how social media taps reward pathways and can produce craving-like behavior. He discusses algorithmic harms, short-form video effects on attention, policy responses like age limits, and ideas for safer platform design.

Ilana Richman, Yale epidemiologist studying screening and population trends. Kimmie Ng, Harvard clinician-researcher specializing in young-onset colorectal cancer. They discuss rising colorectal cancer in younger adults. They explore possible causes like birth-cohort effects, diet, microbiome, and immune factors. They cover screening choices, limits of lowering screening age, symptom recognition, and emerging treatments.

Sneha Kannan, assistant professor of critical care medicine and researcher on private equity in health care. She breaks down how private equity buys and reshapes hospitals, the debt and sale-leaseback tactics used, and why profit horizons matter. Listens cover evidence of staffing and quality changes, where investors can help, and what regulators and clinicians can do about transparency and oversight.

Dementia affects millions of people globally, causing profound memory loss and cognitive impairment and compromising the ability to function independently in day-to-day life. In this episode of Healthy Dialogue, host Derek C. Angus, MD, MPH, sat down with Gil Rabinovici, MD, a neurologist and director of the UCSF Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, to discuss the latest developments in dementia and Alzheimer disease research. Related Content: A New Era in Dementia—Advances in Diagnostic Blood Tests, Novel Drugs, and the Power of Lifestyle Changes