Pandemics Don't Really End
But podcasts about them do. We're sad to report this is the final episode of PODCAST-19! It's been so rewarding making a show for you over t...
Radio and PodcastLive Radio & PodcastsScience & Medicine
PODCAST-19: FiveThirtyEight on the Novel Coronavirus
FiveThirtyEight's COVID-19 podcast is laser-focused on evidence. What do we know about the novel coronavirus, and what do we know we don't know? COVID-19 has pushed Americans into more uncer...
Episodes
20 of 46 episodesHow The CDC's Blindspots Complicated The Fight Against COVID-19
The CDC wants to be certain, so it typically waits for a critical mass of scientific evidence before making declarative statements. That tak...
The Lab Leak Commotion
We have no hard evidence to support the idea that the novel coronavirus was leaked from a lab, let alone a smoking gun to validate that hypo...
Who Should Decide Who Gets To Make COVID-19 Vaccines?
There's a worldwide shortage of vaccines but plenty of factories standing by to make them. Why is there such a gap between what we need and...
How To Make Sure Your Kid Isn't A Superspreader
Kids can't get a COVID-19 vaccination yet, but they're unlikely to develop serious complications from the disease. But they can still be vec...
You Might Have Given The Coronavirus To Your Cat
We've learned time and again that animals can give diseases to humans. We've seen this happen with coronaviruses, the flu, Ebola -- basicall...
What A Donated Vaccine Can Do
The United States has a surplus of COVID-19 vaccines — more than enough to vaccinate every adult. Poor countries, however, are still struggl...
The Johnson & Johnson Pause Shows The System Is Working
Federal health agencies asked states to pause in their use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while U.S. officials investigate reports of an e...
What The Heck Is Going On With AstraZeneca's Vaccine?
The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has been hailed as the world's vaccine -- it's inexpensive to produce and doesn't need super-cold storage l...
How To Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy
At some point, the U.S. is going to run out of people eager to get the vaccine, and we'll need to work hard to convert those who are still h...
The COVID-19 Endemic
On this week's show, we discuss what the endgame of the pandemic will be. It likely isn't herd immunity. And if herd immunity isn't the goal...
How Variants Complicate Everything
Coronavirus mutations have complicated our path forward. But that doesn't mean that our current plan out of the pandemic is futile.
The Ethical Dilemmas Prompted By The Vaccine Rollout
Should you take a leftover vaccine? Should you pass up a vaccine if you think you don't need it as much as someone else does? We talk to bio...
What Happens Once You Get An mRNA Vaccine
Anna talks with Dr. Margaret Liu, one of the pioneers of gene-based vaccines, about vaccines that use mRNA to help us build immunity to COVI...
Answering All (Or At Least Some) Of Your Vaccine Questions
There are so many questions about a COVID-19 vaccine that we didn't know where to begin. So we began with you! We took to the mailbag to fin...
The Dr. Fauci Holiday Special
On the first day of Christmas, PODCAST-19 gave to me ... an interview with Dr. Fauci. Dr. Anthony Fauci stops by the pod to talk about post-...
Why Emily Oster Made Her Own COVID-19 Database
Data has been such a valuable commodity during the pandemic. Unfortunately, at times data has been in short supply, because US government ag...
How To Trust That A COVID-19 Vaccine Is Safe
It feels like a cure for this pandemic may be in sight. But for many people, injecting a brand-new scientific discovery into their body won'...
There's No Longterm Plan For Long COVID
Our producer, Sinduja Srinivasan, reports on long COVID, and how our health care system might cope with so many patients with ongoing sympto...
What To Make Of Pfizer's Big Vaccine Announcement
This week, Pfizer announced that its coronavirus vaccine may be more than 90 percent effective. Anna and FiveThirtyEight's senior science wr...