News and Happenings

What if we reimagined the health care system so it was incentivized to keep people healthy instead of just treating them when they got sick? That’s the discussion Andy has with Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) and Accountable for Health CEO Mara McDermott on this week’s episode. They take a look at efforts both in Congress and private enterprise to move to a care system that puts patients first and emphasizes quality over quantity. Plus, how and where these changes are already working and will benefit you.

Two new COVID variants are making headlines this week as cases continue to rise across the United States. The new strain known as EG.5, also known as Eris, is now the most dominant strain in the U.S., while at the same time the more contagious strain BA 2.86 is confirmed to have hit U.S. shores. Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Celine Gounder returns to the show to update us on these latest strains and tells us what to watch out for as we head into the fall. Plus, she tells Andy who should be getting boosters now and who can wait until the next round of updated boosters become available. Later in the show, Dr. Gounder discusses season 2 of her own podcast, “Epidemic,” which looks at how we eradicated smallpox and what parallels we can draw to the COVID pandemic.

Comedian Samantha Bee has some Choice Words for Andy when she’s In The Bubble this week. In this wide-ranging conversation, Andy and Sam chat about what we’ve lost because of former President Trump, along with his front-runner status for the GOP nomination in 2024. They discuss the quality of the other choices for Republican presidential candidates, while opining about simpler times. Plus Sam shares her thoughts about her one-woman show, discusses what she loves about podcasting, and imagines what it would be like to explain politics today to our founding fathers.

America’s homelessness crisis is getting worse, despite the billions spent each year to fix it. Single family home prices continue to rise. In California alone, fewer than 20% of households can even qualify to buy a house. While the problem seems overwhelming, viable solutions are actually within reach, especially if people stop saying, “Not in my backyard.”

DSX: COVID cases are rising in the U.S. — does this mean we are we on the precipice of a summer wave? That’s the question for the new head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Mandy Cohen. Plus, the latest on when the next round of vaccines might become available and what the expected guidelines will be about boosters going forward. Andy also dives more into Dr. Cohen’s background, why she’s taking on the role of heading the beleaguered agency at this time, and how she plans to restore trust in the CDC.

The U.S. women’s national soccer team faces a difficult road to a threepeat at the World Cup as the round of 16 starts this weekend. But tough battles are nothing new for gold medalist Meghan Klingenberg. The former USWNT defender joins Andy this week to share one of the most challenging hurdles she has faced — leading the charge along with other members of the USWNT to secure equal pay for all women competing in international sporting events, enshrined into law in a historic bill signed by President Biden earlier this year. Plus Meghan shares her thoughts on this year’s World Cup, lays out the case for why it makes sense to invest in women’s sports, discusses how you can support women’s soccer year-round and talks about her new podcast, “My New Favorite Futbolista.”

The pandemic changed health care forever. In a special live episode taped with a virtual panel of expert listeners, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel lays out some of the biggest and most radical changes we will face over the next few years. From how and where we access our coverage to who owns the hospitals and how we will pay for care, nothing will ever be the same. Dr. Emanuel explains why and answers questions from our panelists about a couple of unique and personal topics.

Teen heartthrob turned anti-crypto crusader? It may seem an unlikely path, but Ben McKenzie, the former star of “The O.C.,” didn’t take the easy path to wealth promised by bitcoin that many of his peers did. Instead, he looked beyond the big paychecks and risked his career to call out the scammers and liars behind crypto investing and his contemporaries in Hollywood who took their money to help sell it. Ben tells Andy about his decision to risk everything and expose the truth behind cryptocurrencies and the people who shill them in his new book, “Easy Money”.

More than 65 million people rely on Medicare for health insurance in the United States, and as Boomers continue to enroll, the agency is expanding its coverage while trying to contain rising costs. The person who heads this effort is Dr. Meena Seshamani, director of the Center for Medicare. In a special live episode taped at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Andy talks with Dr. Seshamani about the changing scope of the agency, how it increased coverage under the Biden administration, and what will happen as expensive new drugs like Ozempic face ever growing demand. Plus, Andy gets an inside look as the agency prepares for the implementation of the new Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program.

Three years after the start of the pandemic, former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden returns to reflect on what we got right and what we got wrong in our response to COVID-19. Andy gets the definitive answer to the question “do masks work?” Frieden also calls out one pharmaceutical company who could have helped save more lives and tells Andy what we need to do to prepare for the next pandemic. Plus, he shares one silent killer that isn’t getting enough attention and tells us what everyone can continue to do to protect themselves.