Big Picture Science for Mar 10, 2025: Preventable

Big Picture Science: Preventable

Two infectious diseases that we’ve been able to prevent for a half-century are re-emerging. One of the most contagious viruses in the world, measles, is spreading in the United States. Anti-vax sentiment has driven vaccination rates down leading to outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico. The U.S. has also seen an uptick in cases of tuberculosis which has reclaimed its position the deadliest infection globally. The author John Green shares how his travels to Sierra Leone inspired his new book about TB. Through the story of a young patient, Henry, he highlights the health inequities that contribute to over a million and a half tuberculosis deaths annually despite the existence of a cure.

Guests:

• Adam Ratner – Pediatric infectious disease doctor in New York City, and author of Booster Shots: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children's Health
• John Green – Author of The Fault in Our Stars, The Anthropocene Reviewed, and Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of our Deadliest Infection

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/preventable

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Big Picture Science for Jan. 23, 2023 - Vaccine Inequity

Big Picture Science - Vaccine Inequity

(REPEAT)
A radical plan could solve a historic global health inequity. Countries in the global south who waited for more than a year for ample supplies of Covid vaccines have banded together to make mRNA vaccines locally. If successful, they could end a dangerous dependency on wealthy nations and help stop pandemics before they start.

In a special episode, supported by the Pulitzer Center, journalist Amy Maxmen shares her reporting from southern Africa about the inspiring project led by the WHO that’s made fast progress. But it could fail, and a global imbalance will remain, if Big Pharma has its way. Find out what’s at stake.

Guests:

• Amy Maxmen - Award-winning science journalist, Edward R. Murrow press fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the Nature article, "The Radical Plan for Vaccine Equity"
• Petro Terblanche - Managing Director, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines in Cape Town, South Africa
• Kondwani Charles Jambo - Senior Lecturer and immunologist at the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme in Blantyre, Malawi
• Barney Graham - Former deputy director at the Vaccine Research Center at NIH and professor of medicine and microbiology immunology biochemistry at Morehouse School of Medicine
• Emile Hendricks - Research technologist at Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines in Cape Town, South Africa
• Achal Prabhala - Fellow at the Shuttleworth Foundation, Coordinator at AccessIBSA, a medicines-access initiative in Bengaluru, India
• Patrick Tippoo - Head of Science and Innovation at Biovac in Cape Town, South Africa, founding member of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative (AVMI)
• Harrison Chauluka - chief of the Mkunda village in Malawi
• Agnes Joni - farmer in Chiradzulu, Malawi
• Prophet Dauda - translator and writer in Blantyre, Malawi

This repeat podcast originally aired on November 21, 2022

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/vaccine-inequity

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Big Picture Science for Monday 02 March 2015 - Skeptic Check: The Me in Measles

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: The Me in Measles

Wondering whether to vaccinate your children? The decision can feel like a shot in the dark if you don’t know how to evaluate risk. Find out why all of us succumb to the reasoning pitfalls of cognitive and omission bias, whether we’re saying no to vaccines or getting a tan on the beach.

Plus, an infectious disease expert on why it may take a dangerous resurgence of preventable diseases – measles, whooping cough, polio – to remind us that vaccines save lives.

Also, a quaint but real vaccine fear: that the 18th century smallpox vaccine, made from cowpox, could turn you into a cow!

It’s our monthly look at critical thinking … but don’t take our word for it!

Guests:

• Paul Offit – Infectious disease specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Neil deGrasse Tyson – Astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City
• Adam Korbitz – Lawyer specializing in space law
• Andrew Maynard – Professor of environmental health science, director, Risk Science Center, University of Michigan

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Skeptic_Check_The_Me_in_Measles
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for 11/28/11 - Skeptic Check: Dubiology

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Dubiology

There’s no harm talking to your houseplant, but will your chatter really help it grow? We look at various biological claims, from whether plants feel pain to the ability of cats to predict earthquakes. Feline forecasters, anyone?

Also, when does understanding biology have important implications for health and policy? The arguments for and against genetically modified foods, and the danger of “pox parties” as a replacement for childhood vaccination.

Plus, the history and current state of scientific literacy in the United States. When did we stop trusting science?

Guests:

• Andy Michael – Seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California
• Ron Lindsay – President of the Center for Inquiry, headquartered in Amherst, NY
• Steven Novella – Clinical neurologist and Director of General Neurology at Yale University School of Medicine; host of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast
• Shawn Lawrence Otto – Author of Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America
• Chelsea Specht – Professor, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Skeptic_Check_Dubiology

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 07/12/10 - Skeptic Check: Playing Doctor

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Playing Doctor

ENCORE A new herbal supplements is on the shelf, and it claims to improve memory. Should you take it? It’s not easy to sort through the firehose of health and nutrition advice that comes at us daily. Find out how to get healthy about health advice, plus hear the story of Bernarr Macfadden, the eccentric who kicked off America’s fitness craze; he believed that eating less was good for you, but he didn’t believe germ theory.

Plus, our Hollywood skeptic spills his guts and other entrails for a phony class for nurses and Phil Plait gives us the latest lapse in critically-thinking brains.

It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it.

Guests:

• Phil Plait - Author, badastronomy.com and Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
• Mark Adams - writer and editor, and author of Mr. America: How Muscular Millionaire Bernarr Macfadden Transformed the Nation Through Sex, Salad, and the Ultimate Starvation Diet
• Jim Underdown - Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West - Los Angeles
• Steven Novella - Assistant professor of neurology at Yale School of Medicine

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Skeptic_Check_Playing_Doctor

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

And be sure to check out the Are We Alone iPhone/iPad app: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/are-we-alone-make-contact/id374968004?mt=8

Are We Alone for 11/30/09 - Skeptic Check: Vaccines: Give 'Em Your Best Shot

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Vaccines: Give 'Em Your Best Shot

As the anti-vax campaign rages, parents are just saying “no” to vaccines. But now the incidence of childhood diseases such as whooping cough are on the rise.

A number of studies have refuted the link between vaccines, autism and other chronic conditions, yet the anti-vaccine movement continues. Find out why. Also, how the media have irresponsibility framed the debate.

Plus, we panic over plague, sweat about swine flu, but don’t think twice about jumping in a car and roaring down a crowded highway at 70 mph. Discover why most of our health worries are overblown.

Also, Brains on Vacation and Hollywood Reality Check separate the facts from the phony.

It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it!

Guests:

• Paul Offit – Pediatrician, Chief of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and author of Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure
• Phil Plait – Keeper of the skeptical website badastronomy.com and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
• Steven Novella – Assistant professor of neurology at Yale School of Medicine and co-founder and editor of sciencebasedmedicine.org
• Philip Alcabes – Professor of urban public health at Hunter College, and author of Dread: How Fear and Fantasy have Fueled Epidemics from the Black Death to the Avian Flu

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 05/25/09 - Skeptic Check: Playing Doctor

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Playing Doctor
A new herbal supplements is on the shelf, and it claims to improve memory. Should you take it? It’s not easy to sort through the firehose of health and nutrition advice that comes at us daily. Find out how to get healthy about health advice, plus hear the story of Bernarr Macfadden, the eccentric who kicked off America’s fitness craze; he believed that eating less was good for you, but he didn’t believe germ theory.

Plus, our Hollywood skeptic spills his guts and other entrails for a phony class for nurses and Phil Plait gives us the latest lapse in critically-thinking brains.

It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it.

Guests:

• Phil Plait – Author, badastronomy.com and Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
• Mark Adams – writer and editor, and author of Mr. America: How Muscular Millionaire Bernarr Macfadden Transformed the Nation Through Sex, Salad, and the Ultimate Starvation Diet
• Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West – Los Angeles
• Steven Novella – Assistant professor of neurology at Yale School of Medicine

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.