Better Off
189 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 46 ratingsThe latest from public health experts on how we can all lead healthier lives.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Is working from home unhealthy?
March 22, 2023 10:00 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBWorking from home has its perks: Better coffee, easy commute, no fluorescent lighting. But, as any home office worker can tell you, there are also downsides: No more office social hours, no more ergonomic chairs, and no more quiet train rides to catch up on your podcasts. In this episode of the Better Off podcast, we’ll ask: Is working from home good or bad for our health? Guests Eileen McNeely, Founder and Executive Director of SHINE, the Health & Sustainability Initiative at the Harvar...
How can we protect the health of incarcerated people?
February 01, 2023 15:00 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MBAs COVID-19 swept through American prisons and jails in 2020, wardens scrambled to keep prisoners and corrections officers from getting sick. One strategy was to increase solitary confinement. Health experts warn that solitary confinement increases the risk of mental illness and suicide, but the practice continues. Today, about 2 million people are incarcerated in the U.S. In this episode of the Better Off podcast, we'll ask: Is it possible to build a corrections system that accounts for the...
Can we end chronic homelessness?
January 04, 2023 16:00 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MBIt’s estimated that half a million Americans are experiencing homelessness. Even a brief period of housing insecurity can make existing health issues worse, and bring up new physical and mental traumas. Doctors and nurses who help patients navigate these issues have a prescription: More housing, and more services. Is it possible to end chronic homelessness, even as eviction moratoriums end and rents increase? And is a housing-first model the best way to achieve that goal? Guests: Ana Rausc...
What makes a meal healthy?
November 30, 2022 10:55 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBWhat does a plate of healthy food look like? Everyone has an opinion – from doctors to dieticians to wellness experts. But advice on what to eat often ignores a big factor in how and why we make meals: Culture. Americans who trace their heritage back to Latin America or Africa often get messages that discourage them from seeing their home foods as healthy. In this episode, we’ll ask: Are we better off when diet and nutrition advice is informed by culture? Guests: Josiemer Mattei, Donald an...
Is clean beauty for real?
November 16, 2022 11:00 - 18 minutes - 16.7 MBGuests: Shruthi Mahalingaiah, assistant professor of environmental reproductive and women's health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Tamarra James-Todd, Mark and Catherine Winkler associate professor of environmental reproductive epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Visit our website to learn more about our guests, and to find a full transcript. Credits: Host/producer: Anna Fisher-Pinkert The Better Off team: Kristen Dweck, Elizabeth Gunner, Stephanie Simo...
Is cooking with natural gas unhealthy?
November 02, 2022 09:55 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MB40 million American homes cook their meals with natural gas. But most people don’t think of the little blue flame on their gas range as the end of a very long natural gas pipeline. New research shows that gas stoves pollute our indoor air, but Americans have yet to embrace alternatives, like induction stoves. In this episode, Better Off asks: When it comes to our health, are we better off giving up on natural gas? Guests: Drew Michanowicz, senior scientist, PSE Healthy Energy Brady Seal...
Introducing Better Off Season 2: Home
October 19, 2022 20:15 - 1 minute - 1.76 MBWhat makes a healthy home? In 2022, that question feels more important than ever. What are the right foods to eat? The least-toxic shampoos and sunscreens? The best way to prevent loneliness while working from home? On Season 2 of the Better Off podcast, we’ll look at the research behind some of those big questions. We’ll also ask what happens to our health when “home” is a tent encampment, or a 6x9 solitary jail cell. Through six new episodes, host Anna Fisher-Pinkert will talk to leadin...
Update: We’re better off when we can breathe easy
April 12, 2022 10:00 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBThis episode was first released in December, 2020. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us didn't think about indoor air very much, if at all. But healthy buildings expert Joseph Allen has been studying indoor air for years. He says that since we spend 90% of lives inside, we need to do more to make our offices, homes, and schools places where we can breathe easy. Guest: Joseph Allen, Associate Professor of Exposure Assessment Science, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health For a full ...
We're better off when we unstick the stereotypes around eating disorders
August 26, 2021 09:00 - 18 minutes - 17 MBEating disorders affect a population the size of the state of Texas, cost the economy tens of billions of dollars, and kill 10,000 Americans per year. If eating disorders are so common, expensive, and deadly, why don't we talk about them more? Bryn Austin, director of the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED), says we need to start by getting rid of our "sticky" stereotypes about who is affected by eating disorders. Guest: S. Bryn Austin, professor i...
We’re better off when we age with resilience
August 02, 2021 09:00 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBDuring the earliest days of the pandemic, younger people were told to protect the older adults in their lives from COVID-19 by isolating at home. Concerns about the virus and pandemic restrictions have taken a toll on everyone's mental well-being. But it turns out that when it comes to mental health, older adults might actually be faring better than their children and grandchildren. On this episode of Better Off, aging and mental health expert Oliva Okereke explains why. Guest: Olivia Okere...
We're better off with Juneteenth
June 24, 2021 21:15 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBIn a special bonus episode, recorded a day before Juneteenth was made a federal holiday, we listen in on a conversation between Opal Lee, an activist and teacher often called the "grandmother of Juneteenth," and Harvard University professors Annette Gordon-Reed and Evelyn Hammonds. Guests: Opal Lee, Activist Annette Gordon-Reed, Carl M. Loeb University Professor, Harvard University; author, On Juneteenth Evelynn Hammonds, Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science an...
We're better off with health equity
May 05, 2021 10:00 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBThis spring, public health officials have been laser-focused on getting more Americans vaccinated against COVID-19. So why do racial disparities persist around vaccination? And once more Americans are vaccinated, how do we ensure that Black and Latino families aren’t left vulnerable to future public health crises? In the latest episode of Better Off, Mary Bassett talks about the historical roots of health inequities, and the big changes needed to close those gaps. Guest: Mary T. Bassett, di...
We’re better off when we stop pandemics before they start
March 17, 2021 10:00 - 20 minutes - 19.4 MBWhen Aaron (Ari) Bernstein met his first pediatric patient infected with COVID-19, he realized that this little girl's health was connected to an infected bat on the other side of the world. Climate change and deforestation have made it easier for new pathogens to spread across the globe. On this episode of Better Off, Ari Bernstein explains how protecting the environment could also secure the future of our own species. Guest: Aaron (Ari) Bernstein, Interim Director of The Center for Climat...
We’re better off when life-altering illnesses can be eradicated
March 05, 2021 11:00 - 26 minutes - 24.7 MBIn the 1980's, there were millions of cases of Guinea worm disease across the globe, mostly in rural Africa. Donald Hopkins, MPH '70, has spent 40 years working to eradicate this painful and debilitating disease – and he's had remarkable success. Last year, there were only 27 cases worldwide. In the latest episode of Better Off, Donald Hopkins talks about eradicating a disease that many people thought wasn't worth fighting. Watch the inaugural Donald Hopkins Scholars Lecture. Learn more ab...
We're better off with mRNA vaccines
February 24, 2021 11:00 - 21 minutes - 20 MBThe technology that is helping us combat COVID-19 is also poised to help us tackle tough infectious and non-infectious diseases. Immunologist Sarah Fortune explains how these vaccines work, and how the mRNA platform could transform the prevention and treatment of deadly diseases. In this episode of "Better Off," Harvard Chan School immunologist Sarah Fortune takes on common misconceptions about COVID-19 vaccines, and discusses the ways that mRNA technology could be used to create vaccines f...
We're better off when we swipe right on public health
January 20, 2021 10:30 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MBWhen Antón Castellanos Usigli was asked to help bring younger LGBTQ people into a Brooklyn clinic for sexual health services, he thought it would be a piece of cake. But after his first attempts failed, Antón turned to the one place where young people talk about sex every day: dating and hookup apps. In this episode of "Better Off," DrPH student Antón Castellanos Usigli talks about creating positive conversations about sexual health, and the parallels between sex education and the public he...
We're better off when kids are resilient
January 06, 2021 10:30 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBWe’re better off when kids are resilient Are kids going to be okay when the pandemic is over? That’s the question on many parents’ minds as remote learning continues, and friends and family remain six feet apart. Better Off talks with psychologist and researcher Archana Basu about kids’ mental health and the COVID-19 crisis. Guest: Archana Basu, Research Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health For a full transcript of this episode, visit our website. Subscribe to get new epis...
We're better off when science leads the way
December 16, 2020 10:30 - 17 minutes - 16 MBBetter Off talks with Harvard Chan School's Howard Koh about lessons learned from the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, also known as swine flu, and how the incoming administration can use those lessons to respond to COVID-19. Guest: Howard Koh, Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health For a full transcript of this episode, visit our website. Subscribe to get new episodes of Better Off in your podcast feed every other W...
We're better off when we can breathe easy
December 11, 2020 10:30 - 17 minutes - 16.1 MBUntil the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us didn't think about indoor air very much, if at all. But healthy buildings expert Joseph Allen has been studying indoor air for years. He says that since we spend 90% of lives inside, we need to do more to make our offices, homes, and schools places where we can breathe easy. Guest: Joseph Allen, Associate Professor of Exposure Assessment Science, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health For a full transcript of this episode, visit our website. Subsc...
Introducing: Better Off
December 08, 2020 21:04 - 1 minute - 1.35 MBHow can we make our families, communities, and our world a little bit better during the COVID-19 crisis, and beyond? That's the question we're asking on Better Off, a new podcast from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In each episode of Better Off, host Anna Fisher-Pinkert will introduce you to the people who are hunting down solutions to current public health challenges, and innovating to solve public health problems that we haven’t even imagined yet. Subscribe to Better Off wher...
Confronting the Climate Crisis: Earth Day at 50
April 21, 2020 20:20 - 25 minutes - 23 MBWhat has the environmental movement accomplished since the first Earth Day in 1970? Where is the movement headed? Gina McCarthy, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council and chair of the Board of Advisors at the Harvard Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE), reflects on the strides we’ve made and the need to frame climate change as a public health crisis going forward. For full transcript, visit: https://hsph.me/earthdayat50
Gaining insight into women's health
March 06, 2020 14:18 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MBCould an app help scientists better understand menstruation, fertility, and menopause? On the latest episode of This Week in Health, Shruthi Mahalingaiah and JP Onnela talk about the groundbreaking Apple Women’s Health Study. Shruthi Mahalingaiah, an assistant professor of environmental, reproductive, and women’s health, and JP Onnela, an associate professor of biostatistics, are two of the Harvard Chan School researchers involved in a new study seeking to gain more insight into women’s hea...
Addressing the Opioid Crisis: Lessons Learned from New York City
February 06, 2020 11:00 - 14 minutes - 13.3 MBBefore Mary Bassett was director of Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, she was New York City’s Health Commissioner. Bassett talks about her experience dealing with the growing opioid epidemic in the city—what worked, what didn’t, and what New York can teach other cities coping with the same problem. She sat down with Kimberlyn Leary, an associate professor at Harvard Chan School and a psychologist at Harvard's McLean hospital who specializes in public health policy. Full tran...
Addressing the Opioid Crisis: Unpacking Stigma
January 30, 2020 19:29 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBShelly Greenfield to unpacks the stigma that surrounds addiction. A psychiatrist from Harvard’s McLean hospital, Greenfield specializes in addiction—how patients cope with it, how it factors into treatment, and how it works its way slowly into policy. Greenfield sat down with Mary Bassett, director of Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. Full Transcript: https://hsph.me/stigma-pod You can subscribe to Harvard Chan: This Week in Health by visiting Apple Podcasts or Google Play ...
Addressing the Opioid Crisis: Ending Over-Prescription
January 28, 2020 21:33 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBPhysicians’ over-prescription of opioid painkillers opened the door to the current opioid crisis. What can health care providers do to fix it? Chad Brummett, a pain management specialist from the University of Michigan, shares a new approach to combat Michigan's opioid crisis that could be a model for the rest of the nation. Brummett sat down with Mary Bassett, director of Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. Full Transcript: https://hsph.me/prescription-pod You can subscribe...
August 8, 2019: Using music to combat HIV in Zambia
August 08, 2019 09:00 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBEach year in Zambia, 60,000 people are infected with HIV, and more than 20,000 die of AIDs. In all, it’s estimated that more than 1.2 million people in the country are living with HIV. Research shows that over 90% of Zambians have heard of HIV but less than 40% have a thorough knowledge of the virus or how to protect themselves. In this week's episode, we're talking to the people behind a collaborative project working to fill that knowledge by harnessing the influence of some of Zambia’s mos...
July 25, 2019: Professional sports and health
July 25, 2019 09:00 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBIn this week’s episode we're talking about new research comparing the health of athletes in the National Football League and Major League Baseball. The study looked at 6,000 athletes between the years of 1979 and 2013. During that period, there were 517 deaths among NFL players and 431 deaths among MLB players, translating into a 26% higher mortality rate among football players compared with baseball players. The findings showed that while NFL players died of neurodegenerative diseases at a ...
July 11, 2019: Human flourishing and public health
July 11, 2019 14:31 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBWhat does it mean for someone to flourish? Flourishing is more than just being happy—although that’s a part of it. But the idea of flourishing expands beyond happiness to look at a person’s overall well-being, taking into account things like life satisfaction or someone’s sense of purpose. That’s why studying flourishing is an interdisciplinary science drawing on public health, philosophy, psychology, and more. In this week’s episode we’re talking to two researchers from Human Flourishing P...
June 19, 2019: Creating an inclusive environment for transgender and gender-nonbinary teens
June 19, 2019 14:44 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBA new study shows that transgender and gender-nonbinary teens face a greater risk of sexual assault in schools that prevent them from using bathrooms or locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. In this week's episode we speak with the study's author, Gabe Murchison, a doctoral student at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Murchison explains why restrooms and locker room policies are so critical and outlines steps that schools, parents, and physicians can take to create mor...
June 6, 2019: Women are America's 'supermajority'
June 06, 2019 15:26 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBIn this week's podcast we're sharing a special conversation between Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood and one of the co-founders of Supermajority, and Mary Bassett, director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. Richards spoke about how Supermajority is working to empower women and organize them around key issues related to gender equity, including equal pay and child care. The two also spoke about the recent spate of anti-abortion laws across the United States...
May 31, 2019: A new approach to fighting malaria
May 31, 2019 11:59 - 25 minutes - 23.3 MBEach year, more than 200 million people around the world are infected with malaria and more than 400,000 die. For the past two decades, the most successful method of malaria prevention has involved treating bed nets with long-lasting insecticides that kill mosquitoes. But that progress is being threatened as mosquitoes increasingly grow resistant to the most commonly used insecticides. Now, new Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health research offers a potential fresh approach to fighting ...
May 10, 2019: Transforming America's 'sick care' system
May 10, 2019 22:35 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBRear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams has been caring for people since she was just a child. When Trent-Adams was just 12 she volunteered as a candy striper at Lynchburg General Hospital in Virginia. The Rear Admiral later served as a nurse in the U.S. Army before rising up the ranks of the U.S. Public Health Service to become Deputy Surgeon General. In 2017, she was named Acting Surgeon General for six months, becoming just the second nurse, and the first registered nurse to hold that position. T...
April 25, 2019: There are no 'low-hanging fruits' in science
April 25, 2019 09:00 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MBNoncommunicable diseases—or NCDs—are the leading cause of death around the world. And of those NCDs, chronic cardiometabolic conditions—such as heart disease and diabetes—are particularly deadly. For more than two decades, Gökhan Hotamışlıgil, James Stevens Simmons Professor of Genetics and Metabolism and and director of the Sabri Ülker Center for Nutrient, Genetic and Metabolic Research, has been working to understand the root causes of these diseases—what goes wrong at the cellular and mol...
April 18, 2019: The future of cancer prevention (part 2)
April 18, 2019 09:00 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBIn 2018, colorectal cancer was the third-most common diagnosed cancer among both men and women in the U.S., and data indicate that younger adults are increasingly being diagnosed with it. A new research initiative will examine how the microbiome—a collection of trillions of microorganisms throughout the body—affects the development of colorectal cancer. Scientists on the team will also seek out ways to manipulate the microbiome to better prevent and treat colorectal cancer. In this week's e...
April 4, 2019: The future of cancer prevention (part 1)
April 04, 2019 12:37 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBThe statistics on cancer worldwide are staggering: In 2018, more than 18 million people worldwide were diagnosed with the disease, and nearly 10 million died from it. And the burden of cancer is only expected to grow in the coming decades, thanks to a combination of the world’s aging population, the adoption of unhealthy lifestyles, and environmental exposures linked to cancer. The challenge of combating cancer may seem daunting, but research has shown that one-half to two-thirds of all ca...
March 22, 2019: What can design do for public health?
March 22, 2019 19:34 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MBWhen many people think of design they’re probably picturing a product, like a new smartphone or car. But the design principles that lead to the creation of those products—such as the focus on human behavior or the use of prototyping—can also be harnessed to tackle complex public health challenges. In this week’s episode you’ll learn how one of the world’s top public health researchers, Ashish Jha, dean for global strategy at Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health and director of the Harva...
March 7, 2019: Many U.S. schools aren't testing drinking water for lead
March 07, 2019 13:57 - 24 minutes - 22.9 MBThe traditional public health mantra is that there is no safe level of lead for kids. But a new report from the Harvard Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity finds that many kids in the U.S. could be exposed to lead through the water they drink at school. The team from the Harvard Prevention Research Center analyzed data from 24 states that have lead testing programs in schools, plus Washington, D.C. Only 12 of the states had useable results. Among those, 12% of all ...
February 21, 2019: The connection between coral reefs and human health
February 21, 2019 14:17 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBCoral reefs aren’t just beautiful. They’re the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the oceans, and can provide food, jobs, and protection from storms for coastal communities. But reefs around the world are under threat from a variety of a factors including environmental changes, pollution, and overfishing. And that could have major implications for communities that rely on these reefs for the seafood that sustains their diet. A new research project is trying to tackle that problem by ta...
Feb. 5, 2019: The toll of gun violence in America
February 05, 2019 11:00 - 54 minutes - 49.9 MBEach year in the U.S. more than 30,000 people are killed by guns—with two-thirds of those deaths being suicide. And there are tens of thousands non-fatal injuries. Yet research into preventing firearm violence remains limited and under-funded. In a special collaborative episode with Review of Systems we’re taking an in-depth look at gun violence in America: why we know so little about the toll of firearm injuries and deaths, what researchers want to know, and how they are engaging gun owners...
January 24, 2019: Heat is a 'silent killer'
January 24, 2019 15:37 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MBClimate change will mean more extreme weather, including heat waves. And it’s not a distant threat—we’re already seeing the effects now in the United States. In this week’s episode, we explore the health threat posed by severe heat and how our society needs to adapt in the decades ahead. You'll hear from Augusta Williams, a doctoral student at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who studies how extreme heat can affect our bodies and minds. She'll explain why heat is considered a "sile...
January 10, 2019: A virtual visit with your doctor
January 10, 2019 17:48 - 22 minutes - 21 MBFor many Americans, a visit with their doctor no longer requires an actual trip to the doctor’s office. More physicians are offering so-called “telemedicine” services, where they provide care to patients via smart phones, tablets, and computers. And while telemedicine is being more used more frequently across the U.S., it’s still relatively uncommon, according to a new study led by Michael Barnett, assistant professor of health policy and management at Harvard Chan School. In this week's epi...
December 19, 2018: The simple solution that has saved millions of lives
December 19, 2018 14:07 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBOral rehydration solution (ORS)—a mixture of water, sugar, and salt that is administered as part of oral rehydration therapy (ORT)—is credited with preventing tens of millions of deaths from cholera and other diarrheal diseases. In this week's podcast you'll hear from two scientists who helped bring this simple, low-tech, and cost-effective treatment into worldwide use. Richard Cash, senior lecturer on global health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and David Nalin, professor eme...
December 7, 2018: The power of a family meal
December 07, 2018 11:54 - 21 minutes - 20 MBFor busy families, gathering together for a meal—whether it’s breakfast or dinner—can be difficult. But a growing body of research shows that these meals together can have an important influence on the quality of food that children and teens eat. However, there’s been less research on effective ways to encourage families to eat together more often. In this week’s episode we’re speaking with Kathryn Walton, research fellow at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and a PhD student at the ...
November 21, 2018: A conversation with a public health pioneer
November 21, 2018 11:00 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBIn this week's episode we bring you an in-depth conversation with a public health pioneer. During her five-decade career, Marie McCormick, Sumner and Esther Feldberg Professor, emerita, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has worked on a range of issues: from the health of pre-term babies to vaccines to cannabis. McCormick began her career as a pediatrician and conducted groundbreaking research on the outcomes of high-risk infants, especially preterm infants, and the evaluation of ...
Nov. 02, 2018: How accurate are health headlines in your social media feed?
November 02, 2018 09:00 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBEvery day we are bombarded with health news in our social media feeds: from studies touting the benefits—or harms—of a particular food to research on a new treatment for a disease. But how accurate are those headlines? That's the question a multidisciplinary research team led by Noah Haber, ScD '19, tried to answer. And their findings showed that health news shared in social media is likely to be overstated and/or inaccurate. In this week’s episode, we speak with Haber about how that happens...
October 18, 2018: Your phone knows how you feel
October 18, 2018 10:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBMany of us spend hours each day on our smartphones, whether it's texting friends or using our GPS for directions. And each of those actions leaves behind a digital breadcrumb. In this week's episode we're digging into our archives to explain how researchers are mining this data to improve health. JP Onnela, associate professor of biostatistics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, will explain how harnessing smartphone information can be used to improve everything from our mental hea...
Sept. 27, 2018: Can we solve the migration crisis?
September 27, 2018 13:24 - 29 minutes - 27 MBEvery minute 24 people around the world are forced to leave their homes—and it’s estimated that more than 65 million people are currently displaced. In this week’s episode, we explore the global refugee and migration crisis with Jacqueline Bhabha, Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Director of Research at the FXB Center for Health and Human rights. Bhabha has studied migration extensively, and focuses on potential solutions t...
September 6, 2018: A call for redesigning American streets
September 06, 2018 15:00 - 21 minutes - 19.4 MBIn this week’s podcast we’ll explore how America’s streets can be redesigned to benefit bicyclists and pedestrians—and we’ll explain why doing so may even help mitigate the effects of climate change. A new study from Anne Lusk, research scientist in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, analyzed how bicyclists and pedestrians responded to various placements of trees along cycle tracks—barrier-protected bicycle-exclusive paths between the road and the side...
August 10, 2018: Designing for climate change
August 10, 2018 16:11 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBA new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that students who lived in dormitories without air conditioning during a heat wave performed worse on a series of simple tests compared with students who lived in air-conditioned dorms. The findings show that the effects of extreme heat are not just felt by those typically thought of as vulnerable—such as the elderly. And with global temperatures on the rise, the research underscores the need for sustainable design solutions in...
July 24, 2018: Food Insecurity as a public health issue
July 24, 2018 14:49 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBThe Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps 40 million low-income Americans afford food each month. But the program's future is uncertain as Congress debates the Farm Bill, a multi-year spending bill that will expire on September 30. The Trump administration has proposed significant changes—including cuts in funding—that could shape SNAP in the years ahead. In this week's episode we examine how changes in SNAP are likely to affect the health of food insecure Americans. You'll...