In the Bubble with Andy Slavitt

At its first hunger summit in 50 years, the White House announced a plan last week to end hunger and reduce obesity by 2030. Is that really possible, and what will it take to get there? Andy speaks with Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, who specializes in obesity medicine, about the link between obesity and hunger plus how race, stress, and poverty play a role. Using examples from her life and her practic...

An immigrant’s unpredictable journey to America doesn’t end when they get to the border. Political stunts by Governors Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis sending asylum seekers to the steps of the U.S. Capitol and Martha’s Vineyard is the latest reminder. Andy speaks with two people embedded in the journey to the U.S., LA Times reporter Molly O’Toole and New York Times reporter Michael Shear, who explai...

The Federal Reserve is continuing to raise interest rates in an attempt to crush record high inflation. But how far will they go, could it lead us into a recession with massive job loss, and how will stock markets react? Neel Kashkari, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, offers a candid look at the tools at the Fed’s disposal and explains why they’re taking strong actions at...

Election denialism represents a fundamental breakdown in our democracy, a problem America has never experienced in its history. But that’s not it. There’s also an increasingly alarming disconnection between public opinion and the power to shape American politics. Andy explores these two threats with New York Times senior writer David Leonhardt, who explains why candidates that win the most votes a...

What if every baby could receive a college savings account, regardless of the financial situation they’re born into? That’s the mission behind baby bonds, a government policy championed by Senator Cory Booker that would provide children with a nest egg to start off adulthood. Andy speaks with economist Darrick Hamilton, who proposed the policy in 2010 as a mechanism to reduce the racial wealth gap...

Four years of new judges on the Supreme Court have transformed the landscape of what justice in America looks like. Andy unpacks that landscape with lawyer and journalist Dahlia Lithwick, who explains in detail the intended and unintended consequences of the Dobbs ruling as the latest example of dramatic changes in the highest court, and what it means heading into the midterms. If you’re a person...

Andy takes a look at the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency with his Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, who breaks down the successes and obstacles the administration has faced and the national agenda moving forward. In a wide-ranging conversation, they cover the war in Ukraine, climate provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, guns, the economy, and the threat to democracy. Kick off midterm seaso...

From droughts to fires to floods, a year of extreme weather is taking a toll on communities from Jackson, Mississippi to Pakistan. Climate change is here and impacting our homes and drinking water. Andy speaks with climate scientist Daniel Swain and former EPA Southeast Coordinator Heather McTeer Toney about why global warming is increasing the intensity of natural disasters, who’s most at risk, a...

At first, researcher Kristian Andersen believed that COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab leak. But he changed his mind upon greater investigation, and is now certain the Huanan market in Wuhan, China, was the epicenter. Andy unravels the mystery with Andersen using new key information about what happened, which animals could have transmitted it to humans, and how to make wet markets and fac...

Updated vaccines to fight Omicron for Americans 12 and older are now available, but you may have questions about when to get the shot and how effective it’ll be as we head into the colder seasons. Andy brings on White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha to explain why you should get the COVID and flu shot simultaneously, whether it’ll cost money this time, and how a new powerful var...

Kids are back in school, routine testing has begun, and new data shows math and reading skills have plunged since the pandemic. How do we spend the $122 Billion in federal funding to combat learning loss? Andy speaks with Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn and Oakland Reach Founder Lakisha Young about the successful approaches they’re using to get kids on track, from high dosage tutori...

Kids and teenagers across the country are still recovering from the learning loss caused by schools shutting down during the height of the pandemic. Andy talks with former NPR Education Reporter Anya Kamenetz about her new book, “The Stolen Year,” which unpacks COVID’s devastating effects on our youth, from fewer college goers to toddlers with developmental delays. How behind is our youngest gener...

On this Labor Day, Andy is recommending a stellar CNN podcast: Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. In this episode, Sanjay explores the endless loop of pain we can feel after a loved one dies. What happens when grief doesn’t subside with time? He speaks to Wendy Lichtenthal, Director of the Bereavement Clinic at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, about why we grieve, how to navigate the grief...

Millions of student loan borrowers breathed a sigh of relief after the White House revealed a plan to wipe clean a huge swath of debt. But how meaningful is this policy, what are the broader implications to the economy, and will it help future borrowers? Harvard Economist Susan Dynarski and the Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Andre Perry break down the plan and use their own experiences to hum...

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky made a bold move earlier this month when she publicly acknowledged the major mistakes her agency made during the pandemic and announced major changes on their way. Andy asks Rochelle to spell out some of those mistakes, from flip-flopping mask guidance to low staffing levels in a time of crisis, and detail the changes underway to turn the CDC into a more nimble a...

As kids head back to school, many parents and teachers worry about air quality amid viruses like COVID-19. Rather than waiting for your school’s HVAC system to get replaced, what if you could build something that circulates air to the standard of an intensive care unit room for under $100 and in less than an hour? Engineers and air quality experts Richard Corsi and Jim Rosenthal have designed just...

Polio has been detected in New York wastewater following the case of a man infected and paralyzed by the virus in July. How much is the virus circulating and what does that mean for you and young children at greatest risk? Andy speaks with New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett and Stanford Professor of Pediatrics Dr. Yvonne “Bonnie” Maldonado about how a disease eliminated from th...

On the heels of his retirement announcement, Dr. Anthony Fauci answers crowdsourced questions on fall boosters, the CDC’s changing mask and isolation guidelines, polio, and monkeypox. He also talks candidly about the problems within the CDC and tells Andy what he plans to do with his free time once he steps down from federal service. Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt. Joining Lemonada Premium...

Oscar winner and best-selling author Matthew McConaughey comes In the Bubble to talk about the big lessons: what unites us, what he has learned about being a dad, what values really matter, and what we owe our kids. McConaughey tells Andy about the moments of decisive action that have shaped his life, which he explores in his book, "Greenlights," and practices through his charitable work, includin...

Of the four legal cases pending against former President Trump, which is the most likely to see a courtroom or end in a guilty verdict? Andy runs through the drama at Mar-a-Lago, the criminal investigation in Georgia, the January 6 madness, and the scrutiny of the Trump Organization’s business practices with two legal experts: the Brookings Institution's Benjamin Wittes and Loyola Law School’s Jes...

President Biden has tapped two new federal monkeypox responders -- the CDC’s Dr. Demetre Daskalakis and FEMA’s Robert Fenton -- and we hear from them today on the latest inside plans to combat this growing epidemic. Andy asks Robert when the U.S. will have enough vaccines to protect the entire high-risk group and gets advice from Demetre on whether sexually active teens and college students should...

More than 5,000 children were torn from their parents at the Mexican border during Donald Trump’s presidency, and more than 150 children have yet to be reunited. Atlantic writer Caitlin Dickerson spent 18 months investigating how Trump’s zero tolerance approach became a reality, despite scores of top government officials who felt it was inhumane and logistically fraught. She speaks with Andy about...

Andy looks around the corner to see who may be at risk of Monkeypox next. Should sexually active teenagers and college students get vaccinated? What about toddlers or wrestling teams? Do we need to worry about bedding? Could Monkeypox mutate as it spreads? How close is close contact? Andy gets answers from UCSF Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, who has been working directly with M...

With lots of COVID treatments now available, how do you know which one, if any, is right for you? Andy found himself just as confused as the rest of us when he fell ill with the virus. Using his own experience as a case study (as well as the slightly more high profile case of President Biden), Andy seeks answers from UCSF Department of Medicine Chair Dr. Bob Wachter and UVA Critical Care and Infec...

COVID is definitely not over, but life is still going on. As we emerge from our bubbles (with no lack of trepidation), Andy calls up comedian Patton Oswalt to talk about what life is like back on the road, making movies again and talking to people in real life, not on Twitter. Then Patton and Andy riff on what justice really looks like for people like Alex Jones and Josh Hawley. Can we find humor...