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Pediatrician and author Perri Klass joins us to discuss the dramatic fall in child mortality, drawing from her book The Best Medicine. She traces how clean water, vaccines, antibiotics, and neonatal care transformed family life, revisits once-feared diseases and the breakthroughs that conquered them, and reflects on the cultural shift that made childhood death unacceptable. We also explore the return of measles amid misinformation, the evolution of pediatrics from infection-fighting to child development, and what it means to raise kids in the most medically protected era in history.

Find show notes, transcript, and more on our substack and website.

The Nocturnists is made possible by the California Medical Association and donations from listeners like you.

This episode of Conversations is sponsored by The Physicians Foundation.