News and Happenings

Andy breaks the news about a new nationwide digital vaccine verification system to be formally announced next week. Andy talks with the system’s architect, Paul Meyer, and California’s Chief Technology Innovation Officer, Rick Klau. They discuss why the federal government isn’t creating its own verification system, how Californians have responded to the state’s Digital Vaccine Record, and where you can get a digital record of your COVID-19 vaccine status right now.

Testing remains one of the most confusing elements of the pandemic for many people. In this Toolkit, Andy talks to diagnostics expert Mara Aspinall and immunologist Gigi Gronvall to answer your questions about rapid antigen tests – when people should get tested, how accurate they are, why they’re in short supply, and much more.

Andy calls up Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, who wants to remind everyone that just like the stock market is not the economy, the daily case count is not the pandemic. They discuss the danger of covering COVID like a political horse race, why he appears on Newsmax so frequently, and how he deals with COVID skeptics in his own extended family. Plus, a cold open featuring Ashish’s take on Merck’s antiviral pill.

Andy calls up Dr. Céline Gounder, who just wrapped up a two-week rotation at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. They discuss her current COVID patient load compared to a year ago, the city’s new vaccine requirements, and her honest assessment of the Biden administration’s COVID record. Plus, why trust is so important when we ask people to do things like getting vaccinated for the common good.

As booster shots roll out across the country, Andy calls up Katherine Wu, who got a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology before joining the stellar science writing staff at The Atlantic. They discuss what we know about how the boosters will work, what to expect during our upcoming second pandemic winter, and what the future of COVID looks like. Plus, how Katherine approaches effectively communicating about science in real time.

Andy talks with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent, about his 20 years in cable news, what motivates people to peddle misinformation online, and how we can let go of some of the anger, resentment, and trauma from the past 18 months. Whether he’s talking to millions of people on TV or one AC repair person in his home, Sanjay rejects the approach of many of his TV counterparts and leads with honesty, empathy, and respect.

Andy clears up a lot of the confusion surrounding boosters on this must-listen Toolkit with Dr. David Agus and Tom Moriarty of CVS Health. From who can get one to why we need them and where they’ll be available, this Toolkit is chock-full of all the latest information on COVID-19 booster shots.

As we await the FDA’s final decision on booster shots, Andy talks with the person tasked with making the final determination: Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock. Only on In the Bubble will you get a chance to hear how she’s approaching this decision, how close we are to vaccines for kids under 12, and more from the person in charge at the Food and Drug Administration.

Andy gets back to basics with Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Laurie Garrett. They get into how and why viruses mutate, why the variants don’t seem to be causing too much trouble for the mRNA vaccines, and how our actions are, as Laurie puts it, “aiding and abetting” COVID. Plus, her big takeaways for how a little empathy at home and in our systemic approach can change the trajectory of the pandemic.

Andy calls up The Atlantic’s Ed Yong, who won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the pandemic, to talk about how we got where we are now and where we need to go next. They cover what went wrong up to this point, why we can’t think of vaccines as a panacea, and what Ed thinks about giving people in the US booster shots before many people around the world get their first dose. Plus, Andy weighs in on President Biden’s vaccinate-or-test requirements.