Public Health On Call

Latest Episodes:

919 - The Texas Floods and the Future of Forecasting Jul 16, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

The deadly Fourth of July floods in Kerr County, TX are raising urgent concerns about flash flooding risks and the future of storm response. In this episode: Hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry discusses what causes increasingly intense storms, details the significant strides made in forecasting, and outlines what's at stake with potential cuts to NOAA.

Guest:

Michael Lowry is a hurricane specialist and storm surge expert for WPLG-TV in Miami, FL. He previously served as a senior scientist at the National Hurricane Center and as disaster planning chief at FEMA.

Host:

Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content:

Trying to Make Sense of the Unspeakable Texas Tragedy—Eye on the Tropics
The Trump Administration Has Blinded Hurricane Forecasters—Intelligencer
Critical Hurricane Monitoring Data Is Going Offline—New York Times

Transcript information:

Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel.

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

918 - Should AI Be Your Therapist? Jul 14, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Artificial intelligence is changing everything about how we work, live, and study—and, now, AI therapy chatbots are poised to transform mental health care. In this episode: Stanford researcher Nick Haber details recent data that suggests that therapeutic AI has a long way to go in addressing biases and recognizing safety-critical situations in order to provide adequate care.

Guest:

Nick Haber, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and by courtesy, Computer Science, where he researches AI implementation for learning and therapeutic tools.

Host:

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, the largest center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content:

Expressing stigma and inappropriate responses prevents LLMs from safely replacing mental health providers—FAccT '25: The 2025 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency

Kids Are in Crisis. Could Chatbot Therapy Help?—New York Times
Exploring the Dangers of AI in Mental Health Care—Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

917 - Why Some Moms Are Hesitant To Vaccinate Jul 09, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

For mothers questioning whether or not to vaccinate their children, the decision can be complicated by an overwhelming and, at times, conflicting information environment. In this episode: Health communication researcher Melissa Carrion explores how an onslaught of messaging is informing how mothers decide to vaccinate their kids and how public health experts can better communicate on these key decisions.

Guest:

Melissa Carrion, PhD, is an assistant professor of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she researches rhetoric and health communication.

Host:

Show links and related content:

How one mom is navigating vaccines' uncertain future—ScienceNews
New Research: Childhood Vaccination Rates Drop Across 1,600 U.S. Counties—The 74
"I Don't Understand How These Two Things Go Together": Toward a Theory of Risk Ecologies—Health Communication
"You need to do your research": Vaccines, contestable science, and maternal epistemology—Public Understanding of Science

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

916 - Childhood Asthma Jul 07, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Asthma can cause sometimes debilitating symptoms for children who have it, and some—particularly Black and Hispanic children—can experience higher rates of diagnoses, hospitalizations and emergency department visits. In this episode: pediatrician and immunology researcher Dr. Elizabeth Matsui talks about the known causes behind childhood asthma and how it impacts youths, and how factors like poor housing conditions and barriers to care and medication worsen conditions and undermine long-term lung development.

Guest:

Dr. Elizabeth Matsui is a pediatric allergist-immunologist and epidemiologist and a leading researcher on the connection between asthma and environmental conditions.

Host:

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content:

The Role of Neighborhood Air Pollution in Disparate Racial and Ethnic Asthma Acute Care Use—American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
Association of a Housing Mobility Program With Childhood Asthma Symptoms and Exacerbations—JAMA
Do upper respiratory viruses contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in emergency department visits for asthma?—The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Tackling Housing Injustice—and Improving Childhood Asthma—Public Health On Call (June 2023)

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University

915 - America's Caregiver Crisis Jul 02, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Caregivers—both paid and unpaid—are the silent backbone of the nation's workforce, providing crucial support to America's young, aging, and disabled populations. But 24 states stand on the precipice of crisis with looming threats to caregiver stipends, salaries, and other resources. In this episode: what led to this tipping point, how proposed cuts to Medicaid could make it worse, and how to build a more supportive system for caregivers, patients, and loved ones.

Guest:

Stacey B. Lee, JD is a professor of Law and Ethics at Johns Hopkins University's Carey Business School, with a joint appointment at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she specializes in business law, health law, and negotiations.

Host:

Show links and related content:

Despite Political Divisions, U.S. Adults Across Parties Back Affordable Care, Support for Caregivers—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management
These Are The States On The Brink Of A Caregiver Crisis — And Trump Medicaid Cuts Could Make It Worse—HuffPost
America's Unseen Workforce: The State of Family Caregiving—Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
The Forgotten Youths Who Are Caregivers For Their Families—Public Health On Call (April 2024)

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

914 - Reducing Food Waste to Take Climate Action Jul 01, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

American farms, restaurants, retailers, and households throw out nearly 30% of the food in our system, landfilling millions of tons of food each year and draining resources like land and energy. Households generate the most waste, with everyday cooks overbuying at grocery stores and throwing away a substantial portion of their purchases—but getting ahead of those scraps can make a big difference. In this episode: ReFED's Dana Gunders covers the environmental costs of food waste and shares immediate action items to better manage it.

Guest:

Dana Gunders is a national food systems expert and the president of ReFED—an organization that researches and promotes evidence-based action to end food waste.

Host:

Show links and related content:

From Surplus to Solutions: 2025 ReFED U.S. Food Waste Report—ReFED
Marylanders toss out more than 1 million tons of food each year. How do we reduce waste?—WYPR
From Farm to Kitchen: The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste—U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System—Public Health on Call (June 2025)

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

913 - Uncovering America's Decades-Long PFAS Contamination Jun 30, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Since the 1950s, companies have been using PFAS—or "forever chemicals"—to manufacture everyday household items from waterproof mascara to shaving cream to Bandaids. Research and advocacy have not only linked these chemicals to certain cancers, liver disease, and fertility issues, but they have also posited that 97% of Americans have traces of PFAS in their blood. In this episode: guest host Tom Burke talks with writer Rachel Frazin about her new book outlining the dark history of PFAS in American manufacturing, the communities across the country demanding accountability and regulation, and the near future of regulation of drinking water.

Guest:

Rachel Frazin covers energy and environmental policy for The Hill and is the co-author of the book Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America.

Host:

Dr. Tom Burke is an emeritus professor at Johns Hopkins and a former top official with the Environmental Protection Agency in the Obama administration.

Show links and related content:

Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America (book)—Island Press
Exposure to "forever chemicals" before birth may raise blood pressure during teen years–American Heart Association
Trump Administration to Uphold Some PFAS Limits but Eliminate Others—The New York Times
What You Need to Know About PFAS, Or "Forever Chemicals"—Public Health On Call (April 2024)

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

912 - The Correlation Between Movement and Health As We Age Jun 26, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Consumer wearables like Fitbits track a lot of our activity, from time spent standing to estimates of calorie expenditure. What if they could also alert us to possible health issues as we age? In this episode: How movement patterns change with aging, and how researchers are examining ways to measure those patterns to determine what's normal and what may be associated with cognitive decline and other neurological issues.

Guest:

Jennifer Schrack is the director of the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health.

Host:

Show links and related content:

The Mysteries of Aging Well—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine
Long-running Surveys Help Researchers Track Trends In Aging—The Hub
How Well Will You Age? Check Your Grip Strength—Time

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

911 - Book Club—We Are Eating The Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System Jun 25, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Growing and producing our food comes at an extreme cost to the environment. In this episode: a conversation about climate and agriculture with journalist and author Michael Grunwald, whose blunt new book looks at how the food system is wiping out wetlands, forests, and other carbon reservoirs that protect us from global warming.

Guest:

Michael Grunwald is a journalist and author who covers public policy. He's written for Politico Magazine, The Boston Globe, and Washington Post, and Time. His new book is We Are Eating The Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System.

Host:

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department.

Show links and related content:

A Food Reckoning Is Coming—The Atlantic
Changing How We Grow Our Food—The New York Times (Opinion)

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

910 - Climate Change and Meteorology: 2025 Update Jun 23, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

What might be in store for the 2025 hurricane season? Meteorologist Brian McNoldy returns to the podcast to talk about how things are shaping up, a look back at how last summer's unprecedented mix of heat and moisture played out in an extremely active season, and a zoomed-out look at climate change trends as larger patterns beyond individual events and year-over-year comparisons.

Guest:

Brian McNoldy is a senior research associate at the Rosenstiel School of Marine Atmosphere and Earth Science at the University of Miami.

Host:

Show links and related content: