Introducing EPIDEMIC with Dr. Celine Gounder and Ron Klain
EPIDEMIC is a new, weekly podcast on the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19). Hear from some of the world’s leading infectious disease and public health experts. We’ll help you understand the latest science, the bigger context, and bring you diverse angles—from history and anthropology to politics and economics—depth and texture you won’t get elsewhere.Hosted by Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist who has worked on tuberculosis and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, and was an Ebola worker during the West African epidemic. And co-hosted by Ron Klain, the U.S. Ebola czar from 2014 to 2015.As we transition from regional epidemics to a full-on pandemic, we’re likely to see coronavirus spread here in the U.S. There are things we can do to prepare, to care for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
Celine Gounder: I’m Dr. Celine Gounder,
Ron Klain: And I’m Ron Klain.
Celine: And this is EPIDEMIC.
Ron Klain: On this show, we’ll bring you the latest news and analysis about what’s happening with the coronavirus epidemic. We’ll hear from some of the world’s leading infectious disease and public health experts.
Celine Gounder: We’ll also help you understand the bigger context. We’ll bring diverse angles, from history to anthropology, to politics and economic –depth and texture you won’t get elsewhere.
Ron Klain. But first, a little about us. Celine and I met back in 2014.
Celine Gounder: I’m an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist. I spent the earlier part of my career working to tuberculosis and HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. I later served as assistant commissioner for tuberculosis in New York City. I started covering the Ebola epidemic in my writing and on T.V. in June 2014, where I went over to Guinea as an Ebola aid worker myself.
Ron Klain: I worked in government for most of my career and in October 2014, President Obama asked me to serve as the White House Ebola response coordinator.
Celine Gounder: It’s a small world when it comes to people working on Ebola. So inevitably, Ron and I crossed paths.
Ron Klain: It’s been almost five years since that epidemic in West Africa ended. You would think that the world and the United States would have used that time to get ready for the next epidemic. But, as we learned each day, sadly, that is not true.
Celine Gounder: As we transition from regional epidemics to a full-on pandemic, we’re going to see coronavirus spread here in the United States. But there are things we can do to prepare to take care of ourselves, our families, and our communities.
Ron Klain: We also need to see how our government is doing in the job to fight the disease and protect us here in the United States. Are the right people making the right decisions using the right science?
Celine Gounder: So join us, starting Friday, February 28thand start tweeting us your questions @celinegounder @ronaldklain. That’s c-e-l-i-n-e-g-o-u-n-d-e-r or r-o-n-a-l-d-k-l-a-i-n. Every week, we’ll answer a few. I’m Dr. Celine Gounder,
Ron Klain: And I’m Ron Klain.
Celine Gounder: This is EPIDEMIC
