Vaccine Nation: a Causes or Cures Podcast with author Dr. Elena Conis.

Hi guys!  Hope everyone is doing well. I posted my most recent Causes or Cures Podcast which is with medical historian and the author of Vaccine Nation, America’s Changing Relationship with Immunization, Dr. Elena Conis. I had the opportunity to read the book over the holidays and really enjoyed it. It’s balanced, very well-researched and well worth your time if you are interested in public-health related books. I read a lot and for 2023, I will try to feature more public-health related authors on the podcast. Next up in that department is Susan Salenger who will come on Causes or Cures and discuss her book : SIDELINED: How Women Manage and Mismanage Their Health. While both of these books are more historical accounts ( and nonfiction)  there are a lot of public-health issues depicted in fictional books. And movies, for that matter. For example, on my “to see” list is The Whale, which stars Brendan Fraser and dives into the issue of obesity. Sometimes I think presenting public health topics through fictional works is more powerful than almost anything else. It has to do with the power of art. That is, if it’s well done. Of course things can backfire. But back to Vaccine Nation…

In the episode, Dr. Conis describes her interest in the history of America’s relationship with vaccines and why she decided to write this book. She will discuss how the history of vaccination in the USA (particularly from the 1960s and onward) ties into the prevailing culture, societal beliefs and movements, political initiatives, an evolving body of epidemiological and scientific research, and biotechnological breakthroughs. She’ll describe how and why the American public’s views on vaccination changed over time, as well as changes in regulatory power when it comes to things like mandates. She’ll discuss anti-vaccination sentiment and vaccine skepticism and when and why they spiked in the population and how that impacted both political and scientific agendas and vice versa.

Dr. Conis is a writer, historian of medicine and an associate professor at the graduate school of journalism in the department of history at the University of California, Berkley. Previously she was a professor of history at Emory University and an award-winning health columnist for the Los Angeles Times. You can learn more about her here and order her book Vaccine Nation here to read.

Listen to the podcast HERE! 

By the way… if you are interested in knowing upcoming guests and topics on the podcast, I share them in my newsletter. You can subscribe to that here.

In addition to the podcast on Vaccine Nation, consider checking out past episodes, such as this one on how The Amish Community responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Of course, feel free to check out other content on the blog that I write.  Some of the content is advertisement blogs written by guest writers. They are usually awful, because the goal of them is to share links to other websites, not enlighten anyone. Sigh…such is the nature of the digital landscape! I usually don’t read them, and I clearly state that they are written by other people and not reviewed by me. A tthe same time, it brings in extra cash to support the podcast, so as reluctant as I was to start posting them, I did it for “my” greater good. ;)

Okay. That’s it from me. Thanks for your support with the podcast and my writings and see you around. :)

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