August 12, 2026

Whenever I feel like the zombie apocalypse is approaching–which, to be honest, has been happening a lot more lately–I know I can turn to epidemiologist and health communicator Jessica Malaty Rivera. For me, she’s a light that can penetrate the sometimes murky atmosphere of all things health-related, especially when it feels like we have so much conflicting information coming at us from sources that we used to think of as reliable.

Just think about the public health news we’ve been living through lately. Lettuce contaminated with cyclospora. Cruise ship passengers contracting a deadly form of hantavirus. Legionnaires’ disease (yet again) in big cities. RFK Jr. refusing any responsibility for measles outbreaks. That’s just a brief list from this summer and I haven’t even mentioned Dr. Anthony Fauci being held in contempt of Congress during a hostile Congressional hearing over the Covid-19 pandemic.

So, this week we’re bringing Jessica back to help us make sense of what’s happening with our food, our health, and how the Trump administration is (or in many cases is not) responding. It’s a great conversation like always and I hope you check it out.

— Al Letson, host of Reveal and More To The Story

Fauci, RFK Jr., and the Latest in American Health

Epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera breaks down the public health breakdowns

BY REVEAL

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