We Want Them Infected Podcast

In Episode 102 of We Want Them Infected , hosts Jonathan Howard and Wendy Orent are joined by Jenna Norton , a public health scientist and NIH program officer who became one of the leading voices opposing what she describes as the politicization of biomedical research. The conversation begins with a discussion of a recent article by John Ioannidis criticizing "misinformation labeling," prompting a...

In this episode of We Want Them Infected, Jonathan Howard, MD, and Wendy Orent return with another "Therapy Time" session, breaking down the latest controversies in public health, vaccine policy, and medical misinformation. They examine a recent Wall Street Journal documentary on the Great Barrington Declaration and discuss what they describe as the ongoing effort to rewrite the history of the COV...

This week on We Want Them Infected , Jonathan Howard and Wendy Orent take a step back from the headlines to examine the academics, journalists, physicians, and commentators who helped legitimize and elevate the MAHA movement. They revisit articles, endorsements, and public statements that portrayed figures like Jay Bhattacharya, Marty Makary, and Vinay Prasad as reformers poised to restore trust i...

This week on We Want Them Infected , Jonathan Howard and Wendy Orent unpack a whirlwind week in public health and pandemic policy. They examine newly released FDA findings showing no definitive child deaths linked to COVID vaccines, challenge claims made by former FDA officials, and discuss the growing controversy surrounding vaccine safety narratives. They also explore the fallout from leadership...

Jonathan Howard and Wendy Orent call this week their "Red Wedding": within days, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned, Vinay Prasad was pushed out of CBER, Tracy Beth Hoeg was fired, and Senator Bill Cassidy lost his Louisiana primary. The hosts argue this is not a tragedy but a long-foretold collapse — a group of physicians who built careers as COVID-era contrarian podcasters discovering that r...

Dr. Jonathan Howard (neurologist and author) and science journalist Wendy Orent return for another sharp, unsparing look at the state of U.S. public health policy. In this episode, the hosts unpack the surprise withdrawal of Casey Means as surgeon general nominee, her replacement by Fox News commentator and MSKCC breast imaging chief Dr. Nicole Saphier, and what the shuffle signals about the fract...

In this episode of We Want Them Infected, hosts Jonathan Howard and Wendy Orent break down the growing concerns around scientific censorship, COVID-19 misinformation, and the erosion of public trust in health institutions. They examine controversial claims surrounding vaccine studies, leadership decisions at the CDC and NIH, and the broader implications of political influence on public health poli...

Jonathan and Wendy unpack the most surprising political move of Trump's second term: the nomination of Dr. Erica Schwartz — a physician, lawyer, former Coast Guard public health official, and unapologetic architect of military vaccine mandates — to run the CDC. Praised by figures like Jerome Adams, Vin Gupta, and Dorit Reiss, and openly loathed by RFK Jr.'s attack-dog attorney Aaron Siri, Schwartz...

Jonathan Howard and Wendy Orent dig into the widening fractures inside the MAHA coalition — from Robert Malone's dramatic ACIP exit and UFO tangents, to Vinay Prasad's phantom "10 dead children" claim, Jay Bhattacharya's inability to fix literal broken windows at the CDC, and the ongoing search for anyone willing to run federal health agencies. A sprawling, unscripted conversation about vaccine sc...

In this episode, the hosts unpack the controversial exit of Vinay Prasad from the FDA and what it reveals about fractures inside the MAHA coalition and the broader Trump-era health policy landscape. They examine the disputes surrounding rare-disease drug approvals—particularly Huntington's gene therapy—alongside ongoing battles over COVID vaccines, regulatory standards, and public trust in federal...

In this episode, Jonathan and Wendy examine the growing instability inside U.S. public health institutions and how political battles, misinformation, and shifting leadership are reshaping the national conversation around vaccines and infectious disease. They are joined by Jeff Kunzler, creator of the Pandemic Accountability Index, a project that tracks misinformation and public commentary related...

In this headline-driven episode, Jonathan and Wendy unpack the mounting turbulence inside U.S. public health institutions — from the political fallout over glyphosate and mRNA flu vaccines to FDA reversals, CDC leadership chaos, and a worsening measles outbreak. They examine internal fractures within the Maha movement, the politicization of vaccine policy, and the devastating real-world consequenc...

Jonathan and Wendy unpack how culture war politics, anti-vaccine ideology, and regulatory power are colliding in dangerous ways. The conversation begins with criticism Jonathan received after arguing that trans healthcare decisions should be left to doctors, patients, and families—not debated for podcast content or political gain. The discussion then pivots to the measles resurgence, including out...

Jonathan and Wendy unpack a week of grim headlines—starting with reactions to the Epstein files and what it means when high-profile "wellness" personalities show up in uncomfortable places. From there, they dig into the ongoing campaign to re-litigate COVID (lockdowns, schools, vaccines) as a justification for dismantling public health, highlighting how "restore trust in science" rhetoric often fu...

Dr. Howard and Wendy open with a rare sliver of relief: Guinea-Bissau halting an ethically alarming Hepatitis B vaccine trial proposal framed as a "natural experiment" on infants. From there, the episode pivots into the broader breakdown: vaccine leadership rhetoric that treats polio as negotiable and measles as a "real-world learning opportunity," the normalization of losing measles elimination s...

Dr. Howard and Wendy unpack what they see as a rapid erosion of evidence-based public health in the U.S. — from vaccine schedule rollbacks and rising measles outbreaks to flu surges and institutional dysfunction inside agencies like the FDA and NIH. They examine how rhetoric about "restoring trust" is being used to justify removing protections for children, pregnant people, and vulnerable populati...

In this episode, Jonathan and Wendy unpack a relentless wave of public-health controversies—from proposed vaccine rollbacks and ethically indefensible clinical trials to political interference at the FDA and NIH. As science takes a back seat to ideology, they explore how misinformation, regulatory capture, and selective ethics threaten public trust, vulnerable populations, and the future of eviden...

In this episode, Jonathan Howard and Wendy Orent unpack what feels like a turning point for U.S. public health: the rapid erosion of scientific norms inside the FDA and CDC. Sparked by a leaked memo claiming pediatric COVID vaccine deaths, the conversation traces how unsubstantiated assertions, selective data interpretation, and performative outrage are now shaping vaccine policy. They examine the...

This episode breaks down a moment most people aren't paying close enough attention to: the quiet collapse of leadership and process inside the FDA. Jonathan Howard and Wendy Orent walk through the sudden resignation of a widely respected career regulator, the internal turmoil left behind, and a leaked memo claiming child deaths from COVID vaccines—released without public data, peer review, or tran...

This episode dives into the unraveling of America's public health infrastructure as political interference reshapes the CDC, FDA, and NIH. Jonathan and Wendy walk through the CDC's new vaccine-autism messaging, the chaos and infighting inside the FDA, cuts to critical NIH trials, and Jay Bhattacharya's controversial "pandemic plan" built on personal responsibility instead of public health action....

This episode dives deep into the escalating chaos inside the FDA as leaders, scientists, and biotech insiders publicly revolt against the agency's current direction. Hosts Jonathan and Wendy break down the explosive STAT News investigations revealing mass resignations, internal fear, political interference, and allegations of mismanagement under V. Prasad's leadership. The episode unpacks the cont...

In this gripping Halloween episode marking the second anniversary of We Want Them Infected, hosts Dr. Jonathan Howard and Dr. Wendy Orange confront the chilling reality of America under "Trump II." They dissect the collapse of public health, the weaponization of medicine, and the transformation of science into "Trump-Based Medicine"—a term Jonathan coins to describe physicians parroting political...

In this explosive episode, Jonathan and Wendy mark their podcast's second anniversary with a scathing review of the current state of U.S. public health and politics. They unpack the implosion of the lab leak movement, the chaos at the NIH under Jay Bhattacharya's leadership, and the bizarre alignment of former "anti-establishment" scientists with political power. From RFK Jr.'s firings at the NIH...

In this face-to-face episode, Jonathan and Wendy dive into the growing chaos surrounding U.S. public health. They highlight CDC whistleblower Dr. Susan Menez's powerful testimony on integrity, contrast it with the dysfunction of the new ACIP panel under RFK Jr., and dissect Trump's Tylenol-and-autism press conference that resurrects discredited Andrew Wakefield talking points. From quack autism "c...

Dr. Jonathan Howard and Wendy Orent open with the media's response to the Charlie Kirk murder, then trace a straight line back to early-pandemic narratives that normalized doubt and minimized harm. They dissect John Ioannidis' April 2020 claims (low IFR, asymptomatic majority, "they would've died anyway"), show how those talking points seeded Great Barrington-style "protect the vulnerable" rhetori...