In the Bubble with Andy Slavitt

Dr. Bob is joined by Paul Offit, pediatrician and Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, to answer your questions about kids and the vaccines. This Toolkit is your one-stop-shop for everything you need to know about vaccinating kids against COVID-19: what ages will be eligible, when it'll happen, how to know it’s safe, and much more.   Follow Dr. Bob on Tw...

Dr. Bob calls up Monica Gandhi, infectious diseases and HIV doctor at UCSF, to talk about why she’s feeling optimistic at this moment in the pandemic. They discuss why her optimism hasn’t waned despite the fourth wave, the variants, and the CDC Director’s feeling of “impending doom.” Plus, why it’s so hard for places like the CDC to balance optimism and caution in how they advise the public.    Fo...

For In the Bubble's one-year anniversary episode, Dr. Bob catches up with the person who came up with the idea for the show: Zach Slavitt. Then, it’s a conversation about how COVID-19 disrupted the education of doctors and medical students. Bob is joined by three people in different stages of their medical careers at UCSF: medical student (and Bob's daughter) Zoë Lyon, resident Jack Penner, and Vi...

Dr. Bob teams up with NYU medical ethicist Arthur Caplan to tackle your questions about what exactly vaccine passports are, when they might be a reality in the US, how to make sure they’re handled equitably, where you’d need to show them, and much more. Dr. Bob says vaccine passports will dominate conversations this summer, so get ahead of the curve and dive into the topic right now with this Tool...

Dr. Bob calls up AIDS researcher Carlos del Rio and longtime AIDS activist Gregg Gonsalves to explore what the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the ‘80s and ‘90s can teach us about COVID-19 today. They discuss the politicization of both viruses, how the role of activism compares, and how the 30-plus-year quest for an HIV vaccine helped advance the COVID-19 vaccines. Plus, what HIV/AIDS can show us about what...

Dr. Bob teams up with vaccine researcher Kathleen Neuzil and epidemiologist Abdul El-Sayed to answer your most pressing questions about the vaccines. How do the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines compare? What should you make of the efficacy data? How do they hold up against the variants? And most importantly, which one should you get if you have the choice? Answers to those questions...

Apoorva Mandavilli, science and global health reporter for The New York Times, joins Dr. Bob to close out our three-part series marking one year of the pandemic. They discuss how journalism had to adapt to cover COVID-19, what she’s hearing from experts about a possible fourth wave, and what lessons she’s taking with her for the next pandemic. Plus, an Andy update from Lana! Be sure to check out t...

Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School Public Health, joins Dr. Bob in the second of our three-part series marking one year of the pandemic. They discuss why Ashish initially thought the US would fare well, what he makes of the variants circulating today, and where he thinks we'll be with COVID-19 a year from now. Be sure to check out the first episode in this series with New Jersey Gover...

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy joins Dr. Bob in the first of our three-part series marking one year of the pandemic. They remember where we were a year ago, assess where we are now, and look ahead to where we'll be a year from now. Be sure to check out the next two episodes in this series with Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, and Apoorva Mandavilli, science and gl...

Dr. Bob calls up Hebrew University epidemiologist Ronit Calderon-Margalit to learn more about Israel’s best-in-the-world COVID-19 vaccine rollout. They cover how Israel did it, what the process of getting back to “normal” looks like now, and what lessons we can learn from their success. Plus, how the vaccines have held up against the so-called UK variant.    Follow Dr. Bob on Twitter @Bob_Wachter...

Dr. Bob learns how COVID-19 has affected the movie and live theater industries from Marc, Jonah, and Ben Platt. They discuss what it was like when everything had to shut down, how the arts have adapted, and what they think the return to normalcy will look like. Plus, Marc and Ben detail what it was like shooting the Dear Evan Hansen movie with the new COVID-19 protocols in place.   Follow Dr. Bob...

Dr. Bob gives us a masterclass on vaccines with Baylor College of Medicine Dean Dr. Peter Hotez. Bob and Peter get into the variants, delaying the second dose, and the state of vaccinations around the world. They also discuss Peter’s work combating science misinformation, which caused him to be labeled the “OG Villain” by a prominent anti-vaccine personality.   Follow Dr. Bob on Twitter @Bob_Wacht...

Dr. Bob catches up with Andy ahead of one of his White House COVID-19 press conferences to chat about what he’s been up to since temporarily leaving the show for a role in the Biden administration. They talk about the variants, the vaccines, and the administration's commitment to equity. Plus, a reflection on the U.S. passing 500,000 deaths, and how that’s pushing Andy to work even harder to bring...

Can I hug Grandma after her vaccine? It's time for Dr. Bob's first Safe or Not Safe with Drs. Caitlin Rivers and Farzad Mostashari. This time, they cover post-vaccine activities. Can you go to the gym? Hang out with friends? Have Grandpa over? Go to Burning Man? All that and more on this toolkit episode of Safe or Not Safe.    Follow Dr. Bob on Twitter @Bob_Wachter and check out In the Bubble’s ne...

Dr. Bob dials up Dr. Donald Berwick for a big-picture discussion about improving healthcare – generally, and as it relates to COVID. Don talks about the origins of the patient safety movement, his time running the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services during the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and what lessons he's taking away from the pandemic. Plus, how to tackle the lo...

Dr. Bob calls up Brown economist Emily Oster to discuss one of the most complicated and controversial issues of the pandemic: what to do about schools. Emily created the COVID-19 School Response Dashboard, a database that indicates that schools aren't a significant source of COVID-19 spread. She also talks about how the school debate ended up getting politicized, what it's like doing real-time dat...

Dr. Bob talks about the importance of leadership, whether it's during a pandemic or a flight that's lost all engine power, with Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. The parallels between the two might not seem obvious, but Sully points out that the basic elements of good leadership can be applied in any situation. He also talks about how he and the crew landed Flight 1549 safely in the Hudson Riv...

Dr. Bob gets the inside scoop of what went down inside Trump's FDA from the former commissioner himself, Dr. Stephen Hahn. In his first interview since stepping down on January 20th, Steve recounts his dizzying year heading the agency, including his decisions to grant Emergency Use Authorizations to hydroxychloroquine and convalescent plasma, how he ultimately defended a science-based vaccine appr...

Dr. Bob calls up infectious disease epidemiologist Julia Marcus to discuss risk, a concept many of us thought more about in the past year than ever before. Julia, a Harvard professor and contributor to The Atlantic, talks about why people take risks, the danger in stigmatizing risk-taking, and how to weigh the benefits and costs surrounding risk during the pandemic. They also cover pandemic fatigu...

Dr. Bob calls up Dr. Julie Gerberding to address vaccines, the CDC, and how public trust factors into both. Julie has vast experience with all of those topics, having served as president of Merck vaccines and also as CDC director under George W. Bush, the first woman to serve in that role. First, Bob and Julie discuss the vaccine rollout, how the variants may affect things, and Merck's failed effo...

Dr. Bob calls up a friend – Dr. Atul Gawande – to bring clarity and empathy to some pretty complicated issues. Atul, a practicing surgeon and bestselling author, recently finished serving on the Biden transition’s COVID-19 task force. Atul discusses the work of the task force, how best to handle vaccines and the schools, and what COVID-19 has taught him about our healthcare system, our politics, a...

Now that we are a couple of months into the vaccine rollout, we wanted to answer more of your vaccine-related questions. Dr. Bob asks Paul Offit your questions about what more we've learned about the vaccines in terms of safety, efficacy and vaccinating kids. Ruth Faden tackles your questions about the ethics of deciding who gets the shots first, jumping the line, and vaccination passports. Plus,...

On the first day of President Biden's term, Dr. Bob takes a look at the toll the pandemic is having right now in Los Angeles – the epicenter of the nation’s winter surge – with emergency room physician Erika Flores Uribe and Hal Yee, Chief Medical Officer with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. They discuss who's most affected, what it's like on the front lines, what they're doi...

If you were worried that a new host would mean a completely different show, let this Monday Toolkit ease your fears. Dr. Bob poses your questions about the so-called UK and South African variants to virologist Angela Rasmussen and evolutionary biologist Paul Turner. You'll get answers about what the variants mean for the vaccines, how they affect kids, how to adjust your behavior in response to th...

On January 20th, Andy will begin serving in the Biden White House as Senior Advisor for the pandemic response. He will be back to the show in June. Hear about the decision, what he’ll be doing, and who will be hosting the show while he’s away.   Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt and Instagram @andyslavitt.   Follow In the Bubble’s new Twitter account @inthebubblepod.    In the Bubble is suppo...