In season 2, episode 1, the four 2021 Public Health Post fellows talk about activism with Craig Andrade, director of the Activist Lab at the Boston University School of Public Health.

What is Activism?

PHPod explores public health careers with career coach Heather Krasna.

Public Health Careers

Rubina Veerakone introduces the 2022 Public Health Post Fellows: Hannah Tremont, Abby Outterson, Bethany Hallenborg, Connor McCombs, and Barbara Espinosa. They talk about health communication and their public health interests heading into the year-long writing fellowship.

Public Health Communication: Where it Matters Most

Andrew Stokes, an assistant professor in the Department of Global Health at the Boston University School of Public Health, discusses under-reporting of COVID-19 deaths in the United States and the ensuing investigations with PHP Fellows Bethany Hallenborg and Connor McCombs. They talk about the interdisciplinary efforts of researchers and journalists to discover where and why COVID-19 deaths may be under-reported and why accurate counts matter in this first episode of PHPod's third season.

COVID-19 and Death Reporting

Kevin Outterson works to improve access to antibiotics and address drug-resistant bacteria. He is the executive director of CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) and a Boston University College of Law professor. Listen his PHPod conversation with Connor McCombs and Bethany Hallenborg to learn what’s being done on a global scale to prevent antibiotic resistance.

Unhealthy Antibiotics?

At the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting & Expo in November, PHPod spoke with Michael Curry, CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers; Nicole Huberfeld, Edward R. Utley Professor of Health Law at Boston University School of Public Health; and Christina Dantam and Rhea Manocha, members of the Grassroots Maternal and Child Health Initiative at Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health, about their work putting public health into action.

PHPod Goes to APHA, Part II

In this month’s episode of PHPod, hosts Bethany Hallenborg and Connor Mccombs sit down with Abbie Green, the founder and executive director of EveryBODY Gymnastics, a gymnastics incubator focused on teaching the sport to anyone willing to learn. Born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, EveryBODY has a mission to show that there is no wrong body, shape, size, or age for gymnastics.

'There Is No Wrong Body for Gymnastics'

PHPod sits down with Jennifer Barnes-Balenciaga to discuss her work with health policy and the ballroom community. As co-director of the Crystal LaBeija Organizing Fellowship and Commissioner for Gender Equity in New York City, Jennifer shares about her work in HIV and Mpox research and what drives her. Join the conversation and learn more about the intersection of Black and trans communities with health policy and research.

The Unsung Intersection of Ballroom and Public Health

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Epidemic

PHPod host host Kara Schmidt sits down with Rev. Dr. Anastasia Kidd, director of Contextual Education at Boston University School of Theology, and Massachusetts State Senator Becca Rausch to discuss the fat liberation movement, weight stigma, and current legislation that has been introduced to address weight discrimination in the Commonwealth.

Fat Liberation and Weight Discrimination

PHPod sits down with Christina Dobbs, an assistant professor at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development and the director of the college’s English Education for Equity and Justice program, to discuss the current onslaught of book challenges and bans in classrooms across the country and the actions being taken to support teachers and students during this time.

Censorship In the Classroom: Book Bans and Challenges, Part 1

PHPod sits down with Leah Watson, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Racial Justice Program, to discuss book bans happening across the country and censorship in the classroom. Watson is a former high school teacher in Atlanta, Georgia, and her current focus with the ACLU is on classroom censorship efforts, otherwise known as educational gag orders.

Censorship In the Classroom: Book Bans and Challenges, Part 2

PHPod sits down with new fellows, Lia Musumeci, Heather Sherr, Jude Sleiman, Abby Varker, and Dani Weissert, to discuss health communications and their public health interests going into their year-long fellowships with Public Health Post.

Meet the 2024 Public Health Post Fellows

Kat O’Hare, a part-time therapist at Mass Bay Counseling and a tattoo artist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, spoke with PHPod about tattooing as a practice of body reclamation, the importance of trauma-informed care in this work, and how she brings patience and empathy to her work to create empowering experiences for her clients.

Artful Healing: The Intersection of Tattoo Artistry and Trauma-Informed Care

Same-sex marriage was legalized in the U.S. in 2015 through the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Most American queer youth and young adults have grown up in a world where they have more rights and opportunities than those who came before them. But sexuality and gender are still strong determinants of health, and many sexual and gender minorities still suffer from systemic bias that affects their health. With all the progress that’s been made, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) young people still struggle to overcome barriers to health, leading to worse outcomes. These youth should be set up for healthy lives, and early intervention may be the key.

In this episode of PHPod, host Abby Varker speaks with experts about the current health landscape that queer youth and young adults are facing in the U.S., touching on gender-affirming care, minor consent laws, substance use, and harm reduction techniques. They also discuss the possible strategies to enable LGBTQ+ people to live healthier lives in the future.

The Lavender Haze: Enabling a Healthy Queer Future

PHPod host Abby Varker explores how public transportation can be a mode of public health improvement with Jed Paul, physician and social media influencer (@jeddeo1), and Jonathan Buonocore, assistant professor of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health.

Fueling the Route to Public Health

PHPod host Abby Varker speaks with Drs. Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Derek Silva, authors of the book "The End of College Football" and co-hosts of The End of Sport podcast, to explore the intersection of football, athlete safety, and public health.

Brain Blitz: Fumbling the Health of our Athletes

What role does public health play in our elections? PHPod host Abby Varker talks with Matt Motta, a political scientist and assistant professor of health law, policy & management at Boston University School of Public Health, and Marjorie Decker, Massachusetts State Representative and Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health, to learn more about how public health is regulated and what we should be paying attention to in an election.

A Healthy Democracy

PHPod host Abby Varker speaks with Krista Fisher, a research fellow at Movember Institute, about the influence of toxic masculinity, intersectionality, and engagement in online spaces on men’s mental health outcomes.

From Facial Hair to Mental Care: Tackling the Crisis of Men’s Mental Health

PHPod sits down with experts to discuss alcohol use in the U.S. and initiatives to promote healthy drinking habits amidst social pressures.

Dry Beyond January

PHPod speaks with Leo Martinez, a global health researcher and tuberculosis expert, to explore the historical and epidemiological complexities of TB.

Talking Tuberculosis

PHPod sits down with the incoming PHP fellows to discuss their interests in public health and health communication as they head into their year-long fellowships.

Meet the 2025 Public Health Post Fellows

PHPod explores the world of health communications, how it can improve, and why we need it now more than ever.

The Health Communications Imperative

In the upcoming season of PHPod, new host Jack Mellom explores the less visible sides of public health to highlight stories of hope.

The Search for Hope in Public Health

PHPod host Jack Mellom speaks with Andy Pulte, professor and undergraduate coordinator of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, about the complex interactions between plants and public health.

Plants, People, and Public Health

PHPod host Jack Mellom talks with Ashlyn Anderson, who has her master’s in public health nutrition and is currently an intern at the Food and Agriculture Organization. They discuss global food systems, agriculture, public health, and how getting involved in one means getting involved in all.

Hey Kids, What’s for Dinner?

Michael Botticelli, Executive Director of the Grayken Center for Addiction, describes the state of the opioid epidemic, explains how policies changed in the eras of Obama and Trump, highlights bi-partisan efforts, and offers advice to the current generation of public health practitioners responding to the epidemic.

Michael Botticelli: The Politics of the Opioid Epidemic

Harper Watters, a soloist in the Houston Ballet, speaks on art and public health, leveraging social media, representation of LGBTQ communities of color, and advice for the next generation trying to make their voices heard about HIV.

Harper Watters Dances for HIV Prevention

Dr. Marian Jarlenski, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, presents her research challenging claims that induced abortion harms women’s health, a line of reasoning that has emerged as state legislators increasingly seek to enact laws to regulate the provision of abortion.

Arguments, Evidence, and Abortion Policy

Cyrus Shahpar, Director of the Prevent Epidemics Team at the Resolve to Save Lives, puts forward his definition of epidemic intelligence and gives his thoughts on what we can learn from the response to Ebola.

A Resolve to Save Lives

PHPod is a podcast brought to you by Boston University School of Public Health and Public Health Post.

Popular tracks by PHPod