Health Affairs Pathways explores the avenues and alleyways of the health care system through a variety of storytelling – from investigative journalism and health policy explainers to long-form interviews.

Unique series are created by fellows at the Health Affairs Podcast Fellowship Program, designed to support early to mid-stage professionals pursue an audio project, tell a unique health care story, and highlight voices that may not be heard otherwise.

Our third and final series for the 2021 cohort, The Earth Disease, is from Jared Downing, a journalist based in New York City. In this series, Jared Downing explores the intersection of climate change and health policy.

Jared produced this series in 2021 as part of the Health Affairs Podcast Fellowship Program.

Guests on this episode include Ashish Jha, Aaron Bernstein from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Mariel Fonteyn from Americares, and Ed Gerber from the Lestonnac Free Clinic.

At the time of this recording, Dr. Jha was the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. He is currently the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator and Counselor to the President. The views represented in this podcast are his own.

Works Cited:

• Climate Change (World Health Organization)
• Spreading Like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Landscape Fires (United Nations Environment Programme)
• It's Not Your Imagination. Allergy Season Gets Worse Each Year (Vox)
• Record-breaking Temperatures Have Been Reported In the Northeast, And Some Cities Could Feel As High as 110 Degrees Fahrenheit (Insider)
• Mental Health and Stress-Related Disorders (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Understanding Lyme and Other Tickborne Diseases (CDC)

Music produced by Seth Kennedy.