COVIDCalls

Today we continue the discussion of COVID 19 care, vaccines, and vaccination with Alisha Rankin and Carla Keirns. Dr. Carla Keirns is assistant professor of Medical Ethics and Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas in Kansas City, Kansas. She has published in the history, sociology and ethics of medicine, and has been treating patients the past year through the COVID-19 pandemic, both those...

Today we continue the Congressional COVIDCalls with my guest, US Representative from THE MA-4, Jake Auchincloss. Jake Auchincloss represents the 4th district of MA in the US House of Representatives.  He was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a surgeon and scientist. From the moment he could read, Jake loved American history. After graduating from Harvard College, Rep. Auchinclos...

Today we continue the Congressional COVIDCalls with my guest, Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey. U.S. Senator Bob Casey fights every day for Pennsylvania families. He is a strong advocate for policies that improve the health care and early learning of children and policies that will raise wages for the middle class. Senator Casey serves on four committees including the Senate Finance Committee and Se...

Today we continue the discussion of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination with Tara Haelle and Maya Goldenberg. Maya Goldenberg is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Guelph (pronounced Gwelf) in Canada. She works in philosophy of medicine and has a new book on vaccine hesitancy coming out in March 2021. _Vaccine Hesitancy: Public Trust, Expertise, and the War on Science’_ is publis...

Today we start the CONGRESSIONAL COVIDCalls discussions with my guest United States House Representative Chrissy Houlahan. Chrissy Houlahan is an Air Force veteran, an engineer, a serial entrepreneur, an educator, and a nonprofit leader. She’s in her second term representing Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, which encompasses Chester County and southern Berks County. She serves on the Hou...

Today we have a discussion of political crisis in the pandemic with historian Julian Zelizer. Julian Zelizer is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University.  He is the author and editor of 19 books on American political history, including Governing America: The Revival of Political History and The Fierce Urgency o...

Today we have a discussion of the law, policy, and ethics of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States with Dorit Reiss and Ross Silverman. Dorit Rubinstein Reiss is a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Increasingly, her research and activities are focused on legal issues related to vaccines, including exemption laws and tort liability related to non-vac...

Today we have a discussion of COVID-19 vaccines, and vaccination with Dr. Peter Hotez. Peter Hotez MD Ph. D. is professor of pediatrics and molecular virology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development and Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics. He is a vaccine scientist who led the development of vaccines to prevent and treat n...

Today we have a discussion of the challenges in delivering the COVID-19 in the United States with Jaime Anne Earnest Senior Researcher for Assessment, Monitoring, and Evaluation at the US Department of Defense's Center for Global Health Engagement. Dr. Jaime Anne Earnest is the Senior Researcher for Assessment, Monitoring, and Evaluation at the US Department of Defense's Center for Global Health E...

Happy new year and welcome to the first COVIDCalls of 2021! Today I have on my father Steve Knowles, a fourth generation Texan, who was born and raised in Odessa, Texas, which is the hub of the oil industry in the Permian Basin of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. Steve received his BBA degree in marketing from the University of Texas at Austin and his MBA from the University of Texas at Permian...

Today we have a discussion of art in the pandemic with artist Heather Schulte, creator of the Stitching the Situation project. Heather Schulte is an interdisciplinary artist in Boulder, CO. Her work combines analog textile materials and techniques with digital material and design processes, analyzing the intersection of personal and public forms of language and communication. She received her BFA...

Today we have a discussion with Ed Yong science writer for The Atlantic, whose exceptional stories this year have set the bar for pandemic reporting. Ed Yong is a science journalist who reports for The Atlantic , and is based in Washington DC.  His work appears on The Atlantic's website and its print magazine; it has also featured in National Geographic, the New Yorker, Wired, Nature, New Scientis...

Today we have a discussion of food, cooking, and restaurants in the midst of the pandemic with Washington Post food writer Tim Carman. Tim Carman is a James Beard Award-winning food writer and columnist for The Washington Post. His work has appeared in numerous editions of the “Best Food Writing” collections. He has also written for Imbibe magazine, American Scholar, Food Network magazine and othe...

Today we have a discussion of fair housing in the COVID-19 pandemic with Marie Flannery Mel Jones, and Orla McCaffrey. Marie Flannery is the President and CEO of The Fair Housing Center, and since joining the organization in October 2018 she has been actively engaged with community efforts in the Toledo area, serving on the Housing First Core Leadership Team and Homelessness Board and participatin...

Born and raised in Japan and a resident of New York since 1976, Eiko Otake is a movement-based, interdisciplinary artist. She worked for more than 40 years as Eiko & Koma but since 2014 has been performing her own solo project A Body in Places, which began with a twelve-hour performance at the Philadelphia Amtrak station. Since then, Eiko has performed variations of the project at nearly 80 sites....

Today we have a discussion of mental health in the pandemic with Asante Haughton. Asante Haughton has emerged as a leader in mental health. Asante has presented across the globe, including a pair of TEDx talks telling stories detailing the impact of family trauma on mental health. Through his work, Asante was also named as a CAMH 150 Difference Maker, being awarded the distinction of being one of...

Today we have a discussion of the US military in the pandemic with Stars and Stripes reporter Erica Earl. Erica Earl is an active duty U.S. Army service member specializing in public affairs. She currently works as a reporter at Stars and Stripes in Tokyo, her recent reporting has been on how the coronavirus has impacted the military. 

Today we talk about how COVID-19 is effecting Navajo Nation with journalist Shondiin Silversmith. Shondiin Silversmith is a Diné journalist working as the Indigenous Affairs Reporter for The Arizona Republic, which is part of the USA Today network. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts with nearly 10 years of journalism experience mostly cove...

Today we have a DISCUSSION OF COVID-19 testing with Shobita Parthasarathy. Shobita Parthasarathy is Professor of Public Policy and Director of Science, Technology, and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Her research specializes in the governance of emerging science and technology, and the politics of evidence and expertise in policymaking in comparative and international perspective. She...

John joined the National AIDS Memorial as Executive Director in 2009. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, he received a degree in political science and organizational behavior. John spent over 25 years working for several Fortune 500 companies holding management positions in human resources, risk management and organizational development. In 1993 he founded and served as presid...

Today we have a discussion of science journalism in the pandemic with Laura Helmuth, editor in chief of Scientific American magazine. Laura Helmuth is the Editor in Chief of Scientific American. She has previously been an editor for The Washington Post, National Geographic, Slate, Smithsonian, and Science’s news section. She serves on the boards of High Country News, Spectrum and SciLine and is a...

Today we have a DISCUSSION OF SCANDINAVIA IN THE PANDEMIC with Leonoor Borgesius, Erik Isberg, Nalan Azak, Emil Flato.  First—it’s Lori Peek. Lori Peek, director of the Natural Hazards Center, UC Boulder. Nalan Azak is a medical anthropologist pursuing a PhD at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages at the University of Oslo. Her research explores the local infrastructure and use...

Today we discuss weddings, parties, and social life in the pandemic with journalist Alyson Krueger. Alyson Krueger is a freelance journalist in NYC and mostly writes for NYT covering lifestyle and culture.

Today we have a visit from Philadelphia sanitation worker and essential worker advocate Terrill Haigler, also known as Ya Fav Trashman.  Then I will talk to Shlomo Angel, Roger Keil, and Xuefei Ren about the importance of metropolitan regions in the response to COVID-19. Roger Keil is a Professor at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University in Toronto, Canada. He is the author...

Today we have a discussion of memorials with Paul Farber of the Monument Lab. Farber's research and curatorial projects explore transnational urban history, cultural memory, and creative approaches to civic engagement. He is the author of A Wall of Our Own: An American History of the Berlin Wall (University of North Carolina Press, 2020) which tells the untold story of a group of American artists...