Podcast
Why Should I Trust You?
Hosted by Brinda Adhikari, Tom Johnson, Maggie Bartlett, Dr. Mark Abdelmalek · EN
Bold, unfiltered, and uncompromisingly honest, Why Should I Trust You? is a weekly podcast that looks at the breakdown in trust for science and public health. It drops every Thursday, with occasional additional special episodes sprinkled in.
Hosted by Brinda Adhikari, the former executive producer of “The Problem with Jon Stewart” and a former TV news journalist; Tom Johnson, the former executive producer of “The Circus,” and also a former TV news journalist; Dr. Maggie Bartlett, a virologist and assistant research professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Dr. Mark Abdelmalek a skin cancer surgeon, a medical journalist and a dermatologist practicing in Philadelphia - each week we try to figure out what is behind this staggering collapse in trust and see if we can rebuild towards trust again.
43episodes
Episodes
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"We Will Fight Back": Leading MAHA & Dem Voices React To SCOTUS Ruling On Monsanto. Sen. Booker, Rep. Pingree, Zen Honeycutt, Rep. Tim Ryan & Kelly Ryerson Join Us
1w ago00:37:36Tap to summarizeDemocratic Senator Cory Booker, Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine, MAHA leaders Zen Honeycutt and Kelly Ryerson, and former Congressman Tim Ryan join us to react to one of the Supreme Court's big decisions of the year as the High Court sides with Monsanto regarding glyphosate liability. Our panel today represents a powerful, impassioned, and yes, unusual alliance, given MAHA's union with the Republican Party and President Trump. Today, we hear their reactions to this major ruling.With the Court ruling 7–2 that federal law gives the EPA the final say over pesticide warning labels, thousands of pending lawsuits against Bayer-Monsanto will be impacted, marking a win for the company and the Trump administration, which took its side, as well as a significant moment in the ongoing debate over glyphosate.What does the decision mean for this bipartisan coalition united in support of the legal fight against glyphosate and for a future in which American farms transition away from its use? With MAHA and the Trump administration finding themselves on opposite sides in this case, where does the ruling leave that partnership? And finally, we hear about the formation of a new game plan for the movement opposing this ruling. Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie Bartlett (producer)Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (off)Guests:Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)Zen Honeycutt, MAHA activist, Moms Across AmericaRep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME)Kelly Ryerson, MAHA Activist, Glyphosate Girlformer Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH)Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net
Transcribe →Don't Just Fact-Check Misinformation. First, Understand The Value It Holds. A Conversation w Researchers Michael Simeone & Kristy Roschke
1w ago01:06:35Tap to summarizeFighting misinformation is seen as one of the defining challenges of our time. The term itself can be polarizing. And what if we're thinking about it all wrong?In this episode, we speak with researchers Michael Simeone and Kristy Roschke, who recently published a peer-reviewed article in a journal in the Nature portfolio, proposing a new framework for understanding why misinformation spreads. Their central argument is a surprising one: misinformation doesn't spread simply because people are uninformed, uneducated, or unable to distinguish fact from fiction. It spreads because it provides value--a coherent explanation amidst uncertainty and conflicting facts, reinforces identities, strengthens communities, and satisfies emotional and social needs. They also factor in the value misinformation might have for a broader community, a commercial platform, or AI. Rather than asking, "How did people fall for this?", they encourage us to ask a different question: "What is this information doing for them?"The conversation challenges common assumptions about health literacy, fact-checking, and who is susceptible to misinformation (answer: all of us). In an era of algorithms, AI, and increasingly personalized realities, Simeone and Roschke argue that understanding misinformation requires us to look beyond individual biases to examine the broader social and technological systems we all help create.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Michael Simeone, co-lead of the Information Competition Lab at Arizona State University’s School for Complex Adaptive Systems and serves on the senior leadership team for the Global Futures Laboratory’s Decision TheaterKristy Roschke, Associate Research Professor of Communication of Science and Technology; Executive Director of the McGee Applied Research Center for Narrative Studies Vanderbilt UniversitySource:Value and Vulnerability: A Framework for Understanding the Complexity of Misinformation Usehttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44260-026-00079-xThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net
Transcribe →A Conversation with Dr. Mehmet Oz: On the Erosion of Trust in Experts, Rethinking Safety Nets & Fraud
2w ago01:03:20Tap to summarizeDr. Mehmet Oz, the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is our guest today.He oversees the government programs that provide health coverage to nearly half of all Americans and account for roughly a quarter of federal spending.At this moment of enormous change, what does Dr. Oz see as his mission?Alongside Vice President JD Vance, he has been tasked with rooting out fraud. He argues this effort, along with changes to Medicaid in the One Big Beautiful Act, will strengthen thesafety net and preserve it for the Americans it was intended to serve.However, an official nonpartisan government estimate finds that compared with the previous law, the new law will result in hundreds of billions fewer federal dollars going to Medicaid over the next decade and millions more Americans becoming uninsured. Dr. Oz insists America will spend more on Medicaid, not less. We ask him about that.We'll also dig into a larger question at the heart of this debate: Was the ACA's expansion of Medicaid—which has covered roughly 20 million additional Americans—ultimately a good thing? And finally, we ask Dr. Oz, a renowned heart surgeon whose career was built on medical expertise, what he makes of this moment in America, where trust in experts is falling. Is growing skepticism a healthy correction, or is it taking us somewhere more troubling?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonDr. Mark AbdelmalekMaggie Bartlett (producer)Khushi Patel (research)Isabella Didie (research)**Recorded at Switch & Board Studios in Washington, DC.Guest: Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ServicesThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net
Transcribe →A Conversation w Sen. Cory Booker: On Our Health, Corrosive Money in Politics & America’s Urgent Moment. A Message to MAHA, RFK Jr & His Own Party.
3w ago00:55:32Tap to summarizeSenator Cory Booker joins us for a conversation about our dire chronic health crisis, the corrosive effects of corporate money in our politics, the power of making healthy food affordable, and our taxpayer-subsidized systems that fuel our chronic disease epidemic. These are issues he's been sounding the alarm on for years. Today, the New Jersey Democrat has a new message for his own party: rather than resist the supporters of MAHA, it's time to stand with them.Long before MAHA, Booker was raising the very concerns now at the heart of the movement. But while much of his party has greeted MAHA with suspicion and hostility, Booker is making a different argument: Democrats should find common ground wherever possible.So where, exactly, does he see common ground with MAHA? Can Democrats work with the movement while fiercely disagreeing on vaccines and other critical issues? And how does he answer critics in his own party who see MAHA not as a health movement but as an extension of MAGA?Today, as he pitches a new coalition: why should MAHA trust him? And why should his own party?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie Bartlett (producer)Dr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Senator Cory Booker, D-NJNew to us? Check out these three episodes to get a taste! Inside A Rare Conversation Between MAHA Grassroots and Public Health Leadershttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-should-i-trust-you/id1788335471?i=1000706783000The Hepatitis B Birth Dose Vaccine: Do We Need It? An Honest Conversation w Dr. Paul Offit & Dr. Michael Minahttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-should-i-trust-you/id1788335471?i=1000727322530A Conversation with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya: On the NIH, CDC, Funding, DEI & His Vision For Doing Sciencehttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-should-i-trust-you/id1788335471?i=1000751774699Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net
Transcribe →A Conversation w Gen Z On AI: Promise, Populism, Anger & Hope. How Do They Wish Older Gens Spoke About AI?
4w ago01:16:13Tap to summarizeToday, we're widening our lens to take on AI and trust because just like public health, science, and medicine, AI is becoming a trust minefield. As trust in institutions, experts, and Big Tech continues to erode, AI is arriving with enormous promises and profound uncertainties. (And don't worry—we're not taking our foot off the gas on trust and health. We're just doing more!)AI now has us confronting fundamental questions about winners and losers, promises of medical breakthroughs versus warnings of widespread job displacement, and whether the new technology encourages us to offload difficult thinking or frees us to think more deeply. And right in the middle of all these questions is the generation coming of age at the same time as AI.So, today, we've gathered Gen Zers, high school students, college students, recent graduates, young professionals, and people entering the trades. We discuss the issues surrounding AI, especially its impact on education and work, which are already shaping their lives.How do they see the opportunities and risks of AI? What excites them? What worries them? Ultimately, what kind of future do they want to build and what kind of lives do they want to lead?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Elizabeth FrostKhushi PatelSawyer EverittBryson CravenRotimi KukoyiMatt GeistlerKeren Michelle-AsareRohan LichtMichael D. GreenThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net
Transcribe →Is Parkinson’s A Preventable Disease? A Conversation w Dr. Ray Dorsey & Steve Brandenburg On Paraquat & Parkinson’s
May 2800:57:53Tap to summarizeParkinson’s Disease is rising worldwide. It is the fastest-growing neurological disease in the world and is being called a “slow-motion epidemic.” And there is no cure. So what’s driving the increase? There are several culprits, including a body of research associating exposure to the farm herbicide Paraquat. Paraquat is banned in 70 countries. At the same time, in America, the EPA and other major reviews say the evidence still falls short of proving a direct causal link.We speak with one of the nation’s leading Parkinson’s researchers, Dr. Ray Dorsey, along with a man living with Parkinson’s after decades during which he says he was exposed to Paraquat.But this story goes beyond one chemical or one disease. It’s about how we should make decisions regarding health amidst conflicting perspectives over science, data, warning signs, and painful lived experiences.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuests:Steve Brandenburg, worked for 30 years as a producer on a video team in the agricultural industry. He has since been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He hosts a podcast called “The Secret Life of Parkinson’s".Dr. Ray Dorsey, neurologist and one of the country's leading researchers on Parkinson's disease. He is the Director of the Center for the Brain and Environment with Atria Health and Research Institute.Research on Paraquat and Parkinson'shttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21269927/https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra2401857?utm_source=openevidencehttps://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/paraquat-pesticide-parkinsons-disease#:~:text=A%20common%20pesticide%20called%20paraquat,can%20cause%20the%20movement%20disorderhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11491592/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S147444222500287XEPA on Paraquat and Parkinson'shttps://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/paraquat-dichlorideThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net
Transcribe →A Conversation w MAHA Supporters & Public Health Veterans: On Thomas Massie + Cuts To USAID Amid An Ebola Outbreak
May 2101:13:15Tap to summarizeWe’ve got a major news-driven episode today, focused on two stories that hit home for two big parts of our audience: MAHA and public health.First, the political earthquake rocking MAHA: Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie's defeat in his primary after a full-force effort by President Trump and MAGA. Massie was beloved by many in MAHA as an independent-minded fighter willing to challenge both parties and powerful interests. Where does this leave the MAHA-MAGA alliance? Then we turn to the outbreaks of Ebola and Hantavirus. How is the group processing the emergence of these outbreaks, especially after this administration dismantled USAID, which long supported disease surveillance and relief in hot spots, including the site of the current Ebola outbreak? Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark Abdelmalek (off)Guests:Aaron Everitt, video journalist, writer Besides the Revolution, House InHabit, former Kennedy campaign volunteer.Elizabeth Frost, co-founder MAHA Ohio, Independent Force Consultants, former Kennedy campaign grassroots organizer.Jeff Hutt, former National Field Director for the Kennedy campaign; former spokesperson for the MAHA PAC.Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, infectious disease physician, Associate Professor at Boston University School of Medicine, founding director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research.Dr. Craig Spencer, emergency medicine physician and Associate Professor at Brown University School of Public Health.Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net
Transcribe →Special Ep: A Conversation w Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Lead Reporter for the NYT Covering RFK Jr. & MAHA In An Era of Mistrust
May 1501:09:53Tap to summarizeWe are joined today by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, one of the country’s leading health reporters and a correspondent for The New York Times, covering Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the MAHA movement.In her words, Stolberg covers “the intersection of health policy and politics,” a job to which she brings decades of experience covering federal health agencies, Congress, and two presidencies as a White House correspondent for the Times. Before joining the Times, she shared two Pulitzer Prizes for reporting at The Los Angeles Times on racial unrest and an earthquake.We talk with Stolberg about covering the MAHA movement and Kennedy, including the movement’s internal dynamics, the Secretary’s successes and setbacks at HHS, and fresh reporting on the resignation of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. In addition, we discuss what it’s like working as a reporter during a time in which trust in the mainstream media has fallen.Finally, we take up the subject that sits at the center of our discussions about health today—the breakdown in trust in public health, and specifically in the federal health institutions she covers. The history of that breakdown is the focus of a book Stolberg is working on.Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekTom and I wrote a piece, check it out!It's Time to Blow Up The Public Health Events Model:https://whyshoulditrustyou.substack.com/p/its-time-to-blow-up-the-public-healthGuest:Sheryl Gay Stolberg, correspondent for the New York Times, covering healthy policy and politics, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and MAHA. Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net
Transcribe →Are MAHA & Public Health Going About Change All Wrong? A Conversation w Organizational Transformation Author Greg Satell
May 1400:54:31Tap to summarizeThe one thing Americans seem to agree on these days is that our systems need to change. But what actually creates meaningful change?For some, it means tearing broken institutions down to the studs and rebuilding from scratch. For others, it means reforming those institutions while preserving expertise and what still works. Either way, the question remains: how do you turn shared values into sustainable, far-reaching change?Our guest today, Greg Satell, author of Cascades: How to Create a Movement that Drives Transformational Change, has spent years studying how change actually happens. What drives people to adopt change? What are the classic mistakes that prevent movements from succeeding? And in the case of both the Make America Healthy Again movement and traditional public health — two groups that want Americans to be healthier — what are they getting right, and what are they getting wrong in their drive for change?And then there’s us.We began this podcast as a way to get some understanding of the collapse in public health, science, and medicine. Now, as we try to move beyond diagnosing the problem and toward fostering collaboration and action, what lessons does Satell have for us?Hosts:Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie Bartlett (off)Dr. Mark Abdelmalek (off)Guest:Greg Satell, entrepreneur, business executive, author Cascades: How to Create a Movement that Drives Transformational ChangeThanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net
Transcribe →The Most MAHA Democrat We've Met: A Conversation w Former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) On A New Politics in America
May 701:16:27Tap to summarizeTim Ryan, the moderate, 10-term Democratic congressman from Ohio's Rust Belt, has pushed for a different conversation for years: one that reimagines America’s approach to food and health.Long before it had a name, Ryan was championing many of the ideas now fueling the “MAHA” movement: nutritious, “real” food (he wrote The Real Food Revolution back in 2014), regenerative agriculture, openness to alternative therapies, and a reassessment of the unhealthy systems taxpayer dollars continue to support. Then he watched the movement take off and align with the Republican Party.In this episode, Ryan reflects on what it’s been like to see his long-held priorities suddenly gain traction. We ask about tensions around vaccines and whether MAHA’s alignment with MAGA is ultimately sustainable.Most importantly, we dig into his message for Democrats: embrace a modern, forward-looking health agenda that meets Americans where they are—while also calling out Republicans for, in his view, policies that run counter to what MAHA claims to stand for.Hosts: Brinda AdhikariTom JohnsonMaggie BartlettDr. Mark AbdelmalekGuest:Former Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH), who served 10 terms in the United States House of Representatives.Recent articles by Tim Ryan on MAHA and health politics in America:https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/republicans-believe-maha-backing-farm-billhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/05/democrats-rfk-jr-maha-healthy-foodhttps://www.statnews.com/2026/04/28/microplastics-nanoplastics-health-epa-trump-arpa-h/Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe! Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net
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