The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

Episode Title: The Truth About the MAHA Movement — with Dr. Jessica Knurick
Date: September 11, 2025
Host: Scott Galloway
Guest: Dr. Jessica Knurick, Nutrition Scientist, Registered Dietitian, Science Communicator

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the state of public health in America and takes a critical look at the rise of the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) movement. Scott Galloway and Dr. Jessica Knurick explore how misinformation, systemic issues, and cultural trends are impacting wellness—and what real policy solutions could look like. The discussion moves from food policy and chronic disease to social media's role in shaping (and distorting) health conversations, concluding with reflections on science, politics, and practical advice for parents.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The State of Public Health in America (07:31–09:49)

• Dr. Knurick describes a landscape where infectious diseases are largely under control but chronic, lifestyle-related illnesses are rampant.
• Half of Americans live with at least one chronic condition; 30% with more than one.
• There are stark health disparities, with particular groups disproportionately burdened.

“What I would say is right now what we're looking at is a situation where about half of Americans are living with at least one chronic health condition... And a lot of those are lifestyle related chronic diseases.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (08:32)

2. Structural Contributors to Poor Health Outcomes (09:49–15:09)

• Systems are built for corporate profit, not health.
• The food system is dominated by ultra-processed foods due to historical policy choices, subsidies for commodity crops, and deregulation.
• The built environment prioritizes car culture over walkability, contributing to inactivity.

“What we have done in our country is really built systems for the most people to fail from a health perspective… our food system has been built over the course of several decades for profitability.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (10:15)

3. Wealth as the Primary Predictor of Health (15:09–18:04)

• Scott posits, and Dr. Knurick confirms, that wealth is the strongest predictor of health and life expectancy.
• Lower-income Americans face drastically worse health outcomes.

“If you were to look at people's health outcomes… doesn't it mostly come down to money?”
— Scott Galloway (15:09)

“The main predictor of health in this country is wealth. So you're absolutely spot on. There's evidence to show… a 15 year life expectancy age gap for men and a 10 year life expectancy age gap for women between the highest, lowest income brackets.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (16:29)

4. Public Policy: Money, Food, and Pharma (18:04–22:00)

• The US spends $1.5 trillion on obesity-related conditions.
• The abundance and marketing of ultra-processed foods are policy-driven.
• GLP-1 drugs (e.g., Ozempic/Wegovy): promising for obesity, but systems change is needed more than pharmaceutical fixes.

“I am somebody who likes to think of more like root cause and fix the underlying systems before thinking of treating with a pharmaceutical med.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (21:34)

5. The MAHA Movement: Right Problems, Wrong Solutions (22:00–25:04)

• MAHA correctly identifies systemic problems but misattributes causes and prescribes ineffective, sometimes harmful, solutions (e.g., vilifying specific food additives or regulatory agencies).
• Solutions are often cosmetic rather than systemic.

“They get, they do get those problems largely correct... Where we kind of diverge is in the causes of those problems... It's a very conspiratorial anti science, anti regulatory agency rhetoric.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (22:07)

“If you swap red dye 40 out of Skittle and you add in... beet juice instead, like a natural food color additive and it’s still Skittles... That’s very much a distraction.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (23:46)

6. Universal Healthcare: An Unfinished Project (28:26–31:07)

• Medical debt is the top cause of bankruptcy and stress.
• Dr. Knurick makes a strong case for a universal healthcare system, emphasizing preventive care and economic benefits.

“I'm a big advocate for... some kind of system that gets everybody basic access to health care and then we can have private insurance on top.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (28:34)

7. Real Solutions: Income, Access, and Systemic Reform (31:07–34:01)

• Dr. Knurick lists main health determinants: healthcare access, food access, and especially income inequality.
• Calls for policies targeting income inequality, improving healthcare and food access, and campaign finance reform (overturning Citizens United) to reduce corporate influence in policy.

“It starts with overturning Citizens United and getting money out of politics... there's not a lot of money on the front end in public health.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (33:00)

8. Social Media and Misinformation (34:01–37:59)

• The MAHA movement uses social media tactics honed by wellness influencers, blending fearmongering and sales pitches.
• Conspiratorial, fear-laden content thrives in algorithms, crowding out evidence-based messaging.
• Dr. Knurick’s debunking efforts have revealed to many followers that alternate perspectives from real experts even exist.

“They scare the shit out of you. And then it always ends with, oh, and by the way... buy my supplement.”
— Scott Galloway (34:53)

“Unfortunately, the way that social media algorithms are is that that's what plays really well... And so unfortunately social media, I think, takes most of the blame, to be honest.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (35:47)

9. COVID and the Shift in Wellness Culture (37:59–40:39)

• Wellness culture, formerly left-leaning, has shifted rightward since COVID due to growing distrust of regulatory agencies.
• Poor scientific communication and the social media ecosystem fueled this polarization and skepticism.

“Covid completely changed the landscape... I think the underlying shift that's happened is this distrust in regulatory agencies and distrust in science.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (38:05)

10. Vaccines, RFK Jr., and Anti-Science Policy (40:39–47:41)

• RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary has amplified anti-vax rhetoric and canceled major mRNA vaccine research funding.
• Describes this as dangerous: mRNA technology is vital for future breakthroughs, including cancer.
• CDC is being dismantled; experienced scientists are resigning.

“He canceled half a billion dollars in mRNA vaccine research... We're basically giving up... leadership by canceling this research.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (43:13)

11. Erosion of Science and Its Consequences (47:41–50:38)

• Attacks on science lead to practical consequences: resurgence of preventable diseases, reduced innovation.
• Cuts to NIH and other research funding threaten the US’s position in global science.

“If we disregard the scientific method, we don't really have to look far to see what would happen... 30 to 35 was life expectancy that was certainly disproportionately young people were dying of infectious diseases or lack of sanitation and those types of things.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (48:03)

12. Brain Drain and Challenges for Young Scientists (50:38–53:05)

• Funding cuts and abuse of health professionals are causing a “brain drain” as top scientists leave the US or the profession.
• Long-term consequences could be severe for public health and research.

“We're seeing, like, some of our best researchers in some of our fields leave the country... And so that is very concerning to me...”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (51:12)

13. Practical Advice for Parents (53:05–55:06)

• Stop obsessing over individual food ingredients and focus on basics: whole foods, daily movement, good sleep, and play.
• Food anxiety is being amplified by social media, especially among parents.

“The basics that may go into somebody's health are... they've been long standing for decades... Try to emphasize whole foods as much as possible, try to get movement every single day, try to have a good sleep schedule...”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (53:18)

14. Science Communication and Personal Backstory (55:06–60:26)

• Dr. Knurick’s interest in public health stems from personal loss and early academic discouragement from public-facing science communication.
• Now, she emphasizes the need for real experts to enter social media to combat misinformation.

“I think we lost a lot of ground for years and years, particularly in the sciences. It was frowned upon for us to go to spaces where people were going for information. And so we started allowing kind of this, these narratives to be owned by people who didn't necessarily have the background to be talking about these topics.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (59:15)

15. Closing Message: Health as a Bipartisan Goal (60:26–62:53)

• Dr. Knurick believes improving health is a bipartisan goal, and urges people to look past easy narratives to address real root causes in policy and systems.

“Health is bipartisan. Right. And wanting a healthier food environment, wanting healthier systems, is really bipartisan. And so we have to understand the problem and how we got here in order to understand the solution.”
— Dr. Jessica Knurick (60:48)

Notable Quotes and Moments

• On health disparities:
  “There's a 15 year life expectancy age gap for men and a 10 year life expectancy age gap for women between the highest, lowest income brackets.”
  Dr. Knurick, 16:33

• On social media and misinformation:
  “If I went online and I just started educating... what I found is that it works a lot better when I show the video and then I like reply to the video. ...that's me kind of playing into social media algorithms because that's what works.”
  Dr. Knurick, 36:23

• On vaccine research cuts:
  “MRNA is a technology... they believe it's going to do for the 21st century what antibiotics did for the 20th century.”
  Dr. Knurick, 41:38

• On science erosion:
  “If we stop investing in science, we will see consequences of not investing in science, and that will be that we'll see, you know, diseases that we could have had progress on, on we won't have progress on. Right.”
  Dr. Knurick, 49:19

• On food anxiety and kids:
  “I feel especially protective... because we just want to do what's best for our young kids... So, try to emphasize like whole foods as much as possible, try to get movement every single day, try to have a good sleep schedule...”
  Dr. Knurick, 53:14

Segment Timestamps

| Time | Segment | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 07:31 | The state of public health in America | | 09:49 | Systems, policy, and the corporate-built environment | | 15:09 | Wealth as a determinant of health | | 18:04 | Obesity, food abundance, policy, and drugs (GLP-1s) | | 22:00 | The MAHA movement: right problems, wrong solutions | | 28:26 | Universal healthcare and medical debt | | 31:24 | Policy and private sector solutions | | 34:01 | Social media's amplification of the MAHA movement and misinformation | | 37:59 | COVID's impact on wellness culture and science distrust | | 40:39 | Vaccines, RFK Jr., anti-science policies, and CDC leadership purge | | 47:41 | Consequences of science erosion and US innovation | | 50:38 | Brain drain and the loss of young scientists/doctors | | 53:05 | Advice for parents and fighting food anxiety | | 55:06 | Dr. Knurick's backstory: from academia to science communicator | | 60:48 | Dr. Knurick’s closing message: health is bipartisan; focus on root causes | | 62:23 | Would Dr. Knurick consider running for office? |

Final Thoughts

• Dr. Knurick is optimistic that the MAHA movement's mainstreaming of public health concern is a unique opportunity for experts to clarify root systemic causes and advocate for evidence-based solutions.
• She urges listeners to see health as a bipartisan cause and prioritize genuine system reform over fear-based, fragmented fixes.
• Scott Galloway underscores the need for more health experts in public life and media, expressing hope for Dr. Knurick’s continued public engagement and influence.

For those who haven’t listened:
This episode offers a thoughtful, accessible deep-dive on health policy, the roots and risks of the MAHA movement, and how misinformation is both symptom and accelerant of American public health woes—laced with practical advice and cogent analysis from an expert who’s pushing back against the noise.