Five Questions with Dr. Vin Gupta

Today has been about a month’s worth of news, none of it good. It’s clear that Trump is trying to transform the federal workforce into an army of Trump loyalists and align the work that is supposed to be on behalf of the American people with his values, which is to say racism, misogyny, kleptocracy, and the rest of Project 2025. All of this is deeply concerning, as is his effort to deceive Americans about what’s going on.

We will discuss this in the weeks ahead as the news unfolds, but tonight, I want to try to set it aside while acknowledging that it is happening and focusing on public health issues.

Vin Gupta, who you have undoubtedly seen offering information and advice on a range of medical issues if you watch cable TV, is a Harvard-trained lung specialist. For over a decade, he has been working worldwide to improve public health. He is also a force on social media, where he tries to cut through the disinformation and give people the facts they need to know. You can find him on Bluesky and Youtube.

During the Covid pandemic, Vin was one of the people I turned to personally for advice. So as reports began to tick up about the possibility that bird flu might become transmissible from person to person at some point—it hasn’t yet—Vin was the person I wanted to go to for reliable information. The issue comes into sharp focus for us following a week where Robert Kennedy, Jr., displayed a remarkable lack of understanding about the public health system he will have considerable authority over if confirmed.

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