Podcasts about Rockefeller Institute

May 9, 2025 - Rockefeller Institute of Government President Bob Megna, a former state budget director, talks about the power governors have to unilaterally control spending and addresses Gov. Kathy Hochul's expanded authority over budget cuts.

With a new presidential administration come new (and dimmer) prospects for the rescheduling of cannabis. The rescheduling process, which began under President Biden, has met with legal hurdles and will now be overseen by a group of Trump appointees that view the drug less favorably. On a new episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute director of operations, fellow, and resident cannabis policy expert, Heather Trela, provides an update on where we are in the process, the new players, and what to expect in the coming months.

Educators await governor's budget proposal The Rockefeller Institute of Government, a public-policy think tank, fulfilled Gov. Kathy Hochul's request last month by issuing a 314-page analysis of New York's formula for allocating unrestricted funding known as "foundation aid" to nearly 700 public school districts, including Beacon, Haldane and Garrison - a system that many parents and educators believe is flawed. At the same time, Columbia University's Center for Educational Equity and the American Institutes for Research are publishing additional reports with recommendations for a more equitable distribution of educational dollars. The partnership is led by Michael Rebell, an attorney who in 1993 brought the lawsuit that, 14 years later, forced state leaders to begin sending foundation aid to schools. But the million-dollar - or in this case, $25 billion - question is what Hochul will recommend when she presents her 2025-26 budget proposal during the annual State of the State address on Tuesday (Jan. 14) in Albany. This year's budget includes $25 billion in foundation aid, an increase of $934 million over 2023-24, but it almost didn't. Hochul last year raised alarms by proposing a budget that would have seen more than 300 districts, including Beacon and Garrison, receive less aid than the year before. Beacon, the largest of the three districts, would have lost about $1.3 million, or 6 percent, compared to 2023-24. By mid-April, however, the governor and Legislature agreed on a final spending plan that restored Beacon's foundation aid to $21.3 million, the same as the year before. (Districts receive other state aid, but because foundation aid is the largest source and there are no restrictions on how the funds can be spent, it is considered the most critical.) Foundation aid accounts for about 25 percent of Beacon's $84 million budget. By contrast, the Garrison district received $600,000 in 2024-25, or 4.5 percent of its $13.4 million budget. Haldane received $2.9 million, or 10 percent of its $29.2 million budget. The final state budget last year also included $2 million for the Rockefeller Institute to study the foundation aid formula. When it released its report on Dec. 2, after holding five public hearings and parsing 1,800 written comments, the institute largely agreed with critics, saying the state should update poverty measures to better reflect economic distress, update cost-of-living differences, account for the greater instructional needs for new English language learners and change the formula to remove some elements better treated separately. The report also acknowledged that districts face burdens that previous generations did not, such as providing mental health services and the transition to electric buses. The New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) called the Rockefeller report "a worthwhile starting point" but noted that, given the quick turnaround, its recommendations "understandably lack the type of detail necessary to know how they will impact individual school districts." NYSSBA also addressed recommendations regarding "hold harmless," or the guarantee that a district won't receive less one year than it did the year before, saying the report proposes formula changes that would likely lead to reductions in foundation aid for many districts. Melinda Person, the president of New York State United Teachers, which represents nearly 700,000 current and retired educators, said in a statement that her organization is concerned about suggestions that "arbitrarily lower the foundation aid amount instead of considering the necessary support for our schools' evolving student populations." Changes to the formula "must prioritize stability and predictability," she said. Since October, the Columbia University and American Institutes for Research coalition (CEE/AIR) has published 10 bulletins and short reports as its study continues. On Dec. 18, the agencies issued their response to the Rockefeller report, in...

Dec. 13, 2024 - Brian Fessler, of the New York State School Boards Association, and Bob Lowry, of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, think the Rockefeller Institute made some good first steps with their review of education funding distribution in New York and are waiting to see how policymakers use their state-commissioned report.

This spring, state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul - after a contentious battle over education funding in the state budget - directed the Rockefeller Institute of Government to examine how the state doles out the bulk of school funding and consider how to improve this process. We discuss the think tank's report with their president, Bob Megna, who explains the approach they took to this project and outlines some of the key recommendations.

At all levels of American government, voters were asked to weigh in on cannabis policy in last week's election. On this episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute of Government Director of Operations and Fellow Heather Trela breaks down the results of state ballot initiatives to legalize cannabis, local government efforts to decriminalize possession, and what a Trump presidency might mean for federal cannabis policy. Guests Heather Trela, Director of Operations and Fellow, Rockefeller Institute of Government Learn More Buds on the Ballot—Marijuana and the 2024 Election (blog) In the Weeds

fWotD Episode 2732: Hadji Ali Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Sunday, 27 October 2024 is Hadji Ali.Hadji Ali (Arabic: حاج علي; c. 1888–1892 – November 5, 1937) was a vaudeville performance artist, thought to be of Egyptian descent, who was famous for acts of controlled regurgitation. His best-known feats included water spouting, smoke swallowing, and swallowing nuts and handkerchiefs before disgorging them in an order chosen by the audience. Ali's most famous stunt, and the highlight of his act, was drinking copious amounts of water followed by kerosene, and then acting by turns as a human flamethrower and fire extinguisher as he expelled the two liquids onto a theatrical prop. While these stunts were performed, a panel of audience members was invited to watch the show up close to verify that no trickery was employed.Although he never gained wide fame, Ali had a dedicated following on the vaudeville circuit in the United States. He performed for heads of state including Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Judy Garland named him her favorite vaudevillian and David Blaine identified Ali as his favorite magician. Portions of his act were captured in the short film Strange as It Seems (1930) and in Politiquerias (1931), the Spanish-language version of Laurel and Hardy's Chickens Come Home. Two documentaries contain footage of Ali taken from Politiquerias: 1977's Gizmo!, and 1999's Vaudeville. Ali's unusual gastric abilities led to rumors that the Rockefeller Institute had offered a large sum of money to obtain his stomach post-mortem. After he died in England, his body was offered to Johns Hopkins University for study, though the offer was declined.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 06:48 UTC on Wednesday, 6 November 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Hadji Ali on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Amy.

Steering committee members discuss need for hospital bond issue faced by local voters; road to be built to port site as progress continues on economic development project; Rockefeller Institute to host marketing summit; 2000 spirit athletes to be in Morrilton Saturday for competition at Devil Dog Arena; Morrilton football takes 7-1 record to Vilonia tonight; Perryville hopes to secure 2nd place in conference, while Bigelow tries to keep perfect conference record intact; we talk with Shannon Autrey of the Conway County Extension Service.

Levenberg seeks re-election for second term Michael Capalbo began a debate with state Assembly Member Dana Levenberg at the Ossining Library on Oct. 7 by condemning antisemitism and asking spectators to remember the killing and kidnapping of Israelis a year earlier by Hamas. But a comment he made 11 minutes later overshadowed that gesture. Responding after Levenberg, who is Jewish, spoke of her support for increased funding and municipal aid in this year's budget, the Republican and Conservative party candidate said: "They throw her some shekels to do some work in her community." On Tuesday (Oct. 15), Capalbo said it was a "clumsy use of words" and that he had Jewish supporters attending the debate who took "no offense to it whatsoever." But Levenberg, whose name appears on the Democratic and Working Families lines, said she was offended. "Especially following his comment about how he's against antisemitism, I thought it was so tone-deaf," she said. The rest of the nearly one-hour debate, organized by the League of Women Voters for Northwest Westchester County, and subsequent telephone interviews this week gave the candidates opportunities to highlight their other contrasts in the race for the 95th District, which includes Philipstown. Levenberg, who has a campaign cash advantage ($88,477 to $11,814), is a former Ossining supervisor and chief of staff to her predecessor, Sandy Galef, who held the seat for 30 years. During Levenberg's first term, which began in January 2023, she has supported core progressive issues such as the environment, education funding and efforts to build more housing to drive down costs. She voted for the Climate Change Superfund Act, which the Legislature passed in June. The bill, which Gov. Kathy Hochul has yet to sign, requires that companies responsible for the buildup of greenhouse gases help fund infrastructure projects that reduce the impact of climate change. Levenberg said she is crafting legislation requiring climate risks to be factored in for transit-oriented developments built near public-transportation stops like those along Metro-North's Hudson Line, which is prone to flooding from the Hudson River. The 95th District runs along the river from Briarcliff Manor to Philipstown. "We have to be cognizant of those issues, particularly in my district," said Levenberg. In the state budget approved in April, Levenberg and Democrats in the Legislature negotiated for a bigger increase to foundation aid than Hochul originally proposed for local school districts. She also supported spending the $2 million that is funding the Rockefeller Institute study of the formula the state uses to distribute foundation aid. In areas like Ossining and Philipstown, data showing high incomes can mask the needs of their school districts, said Levenberg. In Ossining, "we kept getting knocked down by the formula because there are wealthy pockets that were bringing up the median income," said Levenberg, a former school board member for the district. She also plans to re-introduce legislation that would require each city, town and village to develop a plan to increase its supply of housing "for everyone." Those plans would be subject to a public hearing and have to be submitted to the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal. Some of that new housing needs to be affordable, including for middle-income households, said Levenberg. "We need it for our kids, we need it for our seniors, we need it for people on fixed incomes and people who are just trying to get a foot in the door in Westchester and Putnam counties," she said. By contrast, Capalbo said during the debate that "hostile laws toward landlords" have left tens of thousands of housing units vacant because their owners "can't get the rent stabilization reviewed" so they can make a profit. "They're sitting there because it's more worthwhile for landlords to do it," said Capalbo, a business analyst who lives in Yorktown. He railed about the control by Democrat...

Beacon especially faces uncertain funding When Superintendent Matt Landahl spoke to the Beacon school board in January, two weeks after Gov. Kathy Hochul's State of the State address, he reported that funding in the governor's proposed 2024-25 budget was "not great for a lot of local school districts." On the surface, Hochul's proposal to increase foundation aid - the unrestricted funds for general operations sent annually to each of the state's 673 public school districts - by $507 million was impressive. But that was only about half of what districts expected for 2024-25. More important for the long term, Hochul also suggested rethinking the formula used to determine allocations, which could mean the end of a provision that, for many districts, including Beacon, guaranteed they wouldn't receive less aid than in the previous year. "We were shocked, especially since the previous year [2023-24] was the first time foundation aid had been fully funded," i.e., districts received what they had expected to get, said Flora Stadler, the president of the Beacon school board. "This is going to be a challenge across the state moving forward. We have to make it clear that schools aren't just about academics, that they provide an ecosystem of services to students that need funding to be implemented." In Beacon, property taxes cover about 60 percent of the district's $84 million budget. Foundation aid takes care of about 25 percent. Under Hochul's proposal, Beacon would have seen its foundation aid cut by 6 percent, or about $1.3 million. By the time the governor and state lawmakers agreed on April 20 to a final budget that raised foundation funding by $935 million, Beacon's aid had been restored to $21.3 million, the same amount the district received in 2023-24. Even so, costs rise each year, and the district was forced to implement a policy to determine, case-by-case, whether to replace staff members who resigned or retired. The state budget also included $2 million for the Rockefeller Institute of Government, a public-policy think tank in Albany, to study whether the foundation aid formula should be revised. The institute is expected to issue its report by Dec. 1 and, as Landahl said this week, "every single superintendent and business official in the state is going to be reading it that night." Beacon is one of many districts that could be in trouble if it can no longer count on predictable foundation aid while staying within the state property tax cap, which limits tax-levy growth to 2 percent per year or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. Because they are smaller and wealthier, the Garrison and Haldane districts receive far less foundation aid than Beacon. Garrison will get about $600,000 in 2024-25, or 4.5 percent of its $13.4 million budget, and Haldane will receive $2.9 million, or 10 percent of its $29.2 million budget. Although they are less dependent on state aid, budgets are always tight and the superintendents at the two districts are equally concerned about potential changes to the formula. "Any decrease in foundation aid, combined with the tax cap, is problematic," said Carl Albano, the interim superintendent at Haldane. "It could really negatively impact children." Gregory Stowell, the superintendent at Garrison, said the formula needs to better account for the rising costs of special education, mental health services, transportation and building security. Foundation aid Foundation aid dates to 2007, when New York State began to distribute funds to districts using a highly complex formula that measures enrollment, regional costs, local taxes and census data on poverty, among other factors (see Page 7). It was meant to add $5.5 billion in additional state funding, with the most aid going to the neediest districts, while providing more stability to everyone. The timing was terrible. In 2008, the national economy collapsed. By 2021, the state was $4 billion behind in its phased-in increase. Brian Fessler, the directo...

Sept. 6, 2024 - It's been five years since New York's Red Flag law took effect, so we look back on the implementation of this gun safety measure, examine how it has evolved, and consider what it should look like in the future. Our guests are Lisa Geller and Spencer Cantrell, scholars with the regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, who work for the John Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.

Sept. 4, 2024 - Former state Budget Director Bob Megna is back in the center of Planet Albany, as he is leading the Rockefeller Institute of Government's examination of how New York doles out the bulk of its education aid and tasked with recommending a new distribution model. We talk about the process and what the future could look like.

Immortality is a long-coveted fantasy of many a fictional supervillain and one which has intrigued many among us. It's an idea which invokes both wonder and fear, but often sought by those who desire to stay alive for varied reasons. How does one gain immortality? Is modern transhumanist science – combining the powers of tech with one's human bran and body – the answer? At what cost would one want to become immortal? Would it a gift, curse or perhaps both at the same time? Dr. David Martorano explores the questions from varied points of view while telling a fascinating story in Immortality.In the book, Dr. Martorano takes the reader to New Babylon, a post-E-pocalypse technology-dominated future world run by artificial intelligence and occupied by the results of humans merging with computers (similar to the vision of today's transhumanists, some of whom are devising microchips for human brains).The author's fictional world has some interesting parallels to our own: The corporate technocrats, the tech-worshippers, those wary of the dangers of a technocracy, anti-tech extremists and many who are caught in the middle.Dr. Mortorano cleverly balances the positive impacts of alternative intelligence and transhumanist tech with its destructive potential, asking two rather interesting questions: What happens if people lost much of their humanity in exchange for computer-based convenience and could powerful artificial intelligence gain a level of humanity as the two entities interact? He offers perspectives on the latter through an AI named MARTIN, who balances his role in the world and his familiarity with humans. Dr. Martorano takes a rather intriguing look at the world today's Transhumanists fantasize about through their ambitious lenses. He also looks at the extreme on the other side, which see technological progress as dangerous and, in some cases, evil. Readers will both be engulfed by the story and provoked into thought about a question scientists, theologists, philosophers, storytellers, politicians and free-thinkers have asked for decades: Could Artificial Intelligence, as it keeps moving toward its full potential, evolve or destroy humanity?About Dr. David Martorano:  Dr. Martorano is a visionary board-certified informatician and psychiatrist with a distinguished career in management and clinical care. After completing his medical training at Columbia University and his residency in psychiatry at UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute, Dr. Martorano has dedicated over a decade to advancing clinical services and medical leadership.His expertise spans psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, and addiction treatment. He has honed his skills at prestigious institutions such as UCLA's Addiction Medicine Clinic, Mood Disorders Clinic, Anxiety Disorders Clinic, and Interpersonal Psychotherapy Clinic. His research background includes groundbreaking work in reproductive neuroendocrinology at the Rockefeller Institute and contributions to electrophysiology and alternative medicine literature.

Assemblymember Brian Cunningham joins Policy Outsider for the latest in the "Freshmen Perspectives" series, which invites freshmen legislators in the New York State Senate and Assembly to share what they're working on, what they've learned, and what they're excited about tackling next. Cunningham (who stretches our definition of freshman as a winner of a special election before winning his first full term in 2022), shares insights into how he approaches legislating, the unique perspective one gets working in the State Legislature, and the important work still to be done in housing, the green energy economy, and AI. Guests Honorable Brian Cunningham, New York State Assemblymember, Assembly District 43 Bob Megna, President, Rockefeller Institute

In the early 1980s, the New York State Division of the Budget released a retrospective on the executive budget process. The book, The Executive Budget in New York State: A Half-Century Perspective, describes how the executive budget process came to be, how it evolved over 50 years, and how it helped the state function through the Great Depression, World War II, the postwar period, and the 60s and 70s. Now, as we sit in view of 100 years of executive budgets in New York, the Division, in collaboration with the Rockefeller Institute, is beginning the process of telling the story of the next half-century. On this episode of Policy Outsider, Dominic Colafati, DOB's unit head for the Expenditure/Debt unit, joins Rockefeller Institute President Bob Megna to talk about the project: what they hope to emulate, what they might do differently, and what comes next for the executive budget process. Guests Dominic Colafati, Unit Head, Expenditure/Debt Unit, New York State Division of the Budget Bob Megna, President, Rockefeller Institute of Government

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Bloomberg Television and Radio broadcast live from the Milken Institute Global Conference featuring Kipp DeVeer, CEO at Ares Capital, TCW CEO Katie Koch, Steve Klinsky, CEO at New Mountain Capital, Andy Sieg, Citigroup Head of Wealth Management, Raymond McGuire, President at Lazard, Victor Khosla, Founder and CIO at SVP Global, Mike Gitlin, CEO at Capital Group and Dr. Ali Rezai, Neurosurgeon and Neuroscientist at West Virginia University's Rockefeller Institute.Hosts: Carol Massar and Romaine Bostick. Producer: Paul Brennan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A report we released in February 2024 found that foster youth at SUNY who received funding from the Foster Youth College Success Initiative (FYCSI) tended to reenroll after their first year of college at higher rates than their peers; they also tended to post higher graduation rates for associate degrees and, after six years, bachelor's degrees. This episode of Policy Outsider goes beyond the numbers to hear from an FYCSI award recipient and an FYCSI advocate how this funding can change the trajectory of students' lives. Guests Tanajah Malachi, Licensed Master Social Worker, FYCSI Award Recipient Deidra Nesbeth, Director, Fostering Youth Success Alliance Brian Backstrom, Director of Education Policy Studies, Rockefeller Institute of Government Learn More Fostering Success at SUNY: Financial Support through the Foster Youth College Success Initiative (report) New York State Education Department – Foster Youth College Success Initiative

Assemblymember Dana Levenberg represents the 95th district in the New York State Assembly. Her road to statewide elected office included a stint as chief of staff for former New York State Assemblymember Sandy Galef, time on the Ossining School Board, and four elected terms as Ossining Town Supervisor. On this episode of Policy Outsider, Assemblymember Levenberg speaks with Rockefeller Institute President Bob Megna about her path to the Assembly and the common thread that weaves together her work across different issues and different levels of government. Guests: Honorable Dana Levenberg, New York State Assemblymember, Assembly District 95 Robert Megna, President, Rockefeller Institute

Jessica Scarcella-Spanton was 21 when she first served as executive director of the Democratic Party on Staten Island. Now, she's serving as a freshman senator in the New York State Legislature, representing New York's 23rd District, which covers the North and East Shores of Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn. As a mother of two and wife to a disabled combat veteran, she brings a unique and fresh perspective to the State Senate. On this episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute President Bob Megna speaks with Senator Scarcella-Spanton about her road to the senate, how she approaches being a public servant and legislator, and what she's proud of in her first year as an elected official. Guests: Honorable Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, New York State Senator, Senate District 23 Robert Megna, President, Rockefeller Institute

Budget season is underway in New York and New Jersey. On this episode of Policy Outsider, guest Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff, a former New Jersey State treasurer, joins Rockefeller Institute President Bob Megna to discuss spending plans in the Garden and Empire State. The conversation covers what is included and excluded from reported budget numbers and how differences in budget formulation make it difficult to do apples-to-apples comparisons between states. Guests: Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff, former New Jersey State treasurer Bob Megna, president, Rockefeller Institute of Government Learn More: Op-Ed: How big is New Jersey's budget?

On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute President Bob Megna and Kevin Younis, executive deputy commissioner and chief operating officer at Empire State Development, return to the podcast to discuss the latest $10 billion investment in Albany's NanoTech Complex for a new High Numerical Aperture Extreme Ultraviolet (NA EUV) Lithography Center. The conversation covers who the stakeholders are in this $10 billion deal, how partnerships between private industry and government came together and landed on upstate New York as the future of the semiconductor industry, and what that means for the New York economy. Guests: Bob Megna, president, Rockefeller Institute of Government Kevin Younis, chief operating officer and executive deputy commissioner, Empire State Development Learn More: Ep. 62. New York's $100 Billion Micron Deal. How Did It Happen? Ep. 63. New York's Investment in Innovation Infrastructure

The latest episode of Policy Outsider dives deep into the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare. Rockefeller Institute's Senior Fellow for Health Policy, Courtney Burke, follows up on her latest blog, "The Healthcare Industry Mega Trend to Watch in 2024: “Today” and “Tomorrow” Players and the Emergence of the “Striving Survivors”" that expands on her earlier work that identified 10 key trends in 2023 that are shaping the health care industry and discusses what we can expect in the coming year. The episode unravels the interaction between these trends and examines the existing challenges of today's health care marketplace, including labor shortages, price inflation, and declining margins; how tomorrow's healthcare entities are dynamically changing the playing field through private equity, consolidation, and technology; and the striving survivors–the existing health care businesses that are trying to navigate the evolution of healthcare in real time. Guest: Courtney Burke, senior fellow for health policy, Rockefeller Institute of Government Learn More: 2024 blog Top Health Trends for State Health Policymakers to Watch in 2023 Part One: Broad Workforce, Economic, and Health Policy Shifts Part Two: Internal Industry Economic Trends Part Three: Service Delivery, Quality, and Equity Trends A Mid-Year Update on 2023 Healthcare Trends

In this episode, Truth in Accounting discusses the federal bailout for cities with Liz Farmer, a fiscal policy expert and journalist. Moderated by Sheila Weinberg, CEO and Founder of TIA. _______________________________ Subscribe to Truth in Accounting here: https://bit.ly/2uygGER The official Truth in Accounting YouTube channel is your primary destination for informative and entertaining videos on government finances. For more about Truth in Accounting's work, visit: https://www.truthinaccounting.org Follow Truth in Accounting here: Facebook: https://facebook.com/truthinaccounting Twitter: https://twitter.com/truthinacct Instagram: https://instagram.com/truthinacct LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truth-in-accounting ------------ Liz Farmer is a fiscal policy expert and journalist, writing for a national audience about the many ways state and local governments spend our taxpayer money. Her areas of expertise include budgets, fiscal distress, tax policy and pensions. She is a regular contributor to Forbes and Route Fifty, and has also been published in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Chicago Tribune, and other top publications. She is also deeply interested in remote work and is a research fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government's Future of Work Research Center. In addition to writing, Liz's insight and expertise is a valuable asset in her consulting work with Former GOVERNING publisher and Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser at his firm Funkhouser & Associates. Sheila Weinberg is the founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting. Since 2002 Ms. Weinberg has led Truth in Accounting's research initiatives. Because of her expertise in governmental budgeting and accounting, Ms. Weinberg has testified before the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB), the Government Accounting Standards Board, and numerous state legislative hearings on matters of proper government accounting. Her commentary on the federal budget, Social Security, Medicare and other national issues has appeared repeatedly in numerous publications, including USA Today, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. She has been a guest on local and national television and radio shows, and is often engaged to speak on federal and state budget and accounting issues.

Recently, in coordination with New York Congressman Paul Tonko, the Rockefeller Institute hosted the Locally Sourced Capital Region Climate Policy conference, which examined ways local governments and organizations within New York's capital region are addressing climate change through policy and practice. As part of the Rockefeller Institute's ongoing look at municipal solutions to improving our climate and environmental sustainability, Carm Basile, CEO of the Capital District Transit Authority (CDTA) and a panelist during the Locally Sourced conference, joins the podcast to detail what programs and initiatives CDTA is embarking on that help reduce the regional carbon footprint by increasing access to and use of public transportation, as well as reduce its own carbon footprint by increasing green transit infrastructure. Guest: Carm Basile, CEO, Capital District Transit Authority Learn More: Locally Sourced Capital Region Climate Policy | An Integrated Approach to Zero Emissions, Carm Basile, CEO, Capital District Transit Authority Locally Sourced Capital Region Climate Policy | Entire Conference

In 2021, overdose death rates in Sullivan County were 108% higher than the New York State average. How did we get here? Are our efforts to fight this epidemic keeping things from getting even worse, or are we missing the mark? What policies actually make a difference? Dr. Patricia Strach from the Rockefeller Institute of Government at SUNY Albany and Dr. Katherine Zuber from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice have been working to answer these big questions since 2017 when their team launched the "Stories from Sullivan" project, which seeks to develop a better understanding of how our communities respond to the opioid crisis through a mix of quantitative data analysis and 200+ on-the-ground interviews with local stakeholders.

Prior to the late 19th century, trash in many American cities accumulated in streets, in backyards, in privies, in empty lots, and in crawlspaces underneath homes. There were no organized municipal efforts to remove the trash and, as they grew in size and density, cities became smelly, foul, and unhealthy places to live. In their book, The Politics of Trash: How Governments Used Corruption to Clean Cities, 1890–1929, authors Patricia Strach, professor of political science and public administration & policy at the University at Albany and a fellow at the Rockefeller Institute, and Kathleen Sullivan, associate professor of political science at Ohio University, describe how this began to change. On this episode, Patricia and Kathleen discuss their book, the lessons we can learn about how cities develop new services, and how those lessons apply to some of the problems governments are facing today. Guests: Patricia Strach, professor of political science and public administration & policy, University at Albany, & fellow, Rockefeller Institute of Government Kathleen Sullivan, associate professor of political science, Ohio University Joel Tirado, director of communications, Rockefeller Institute of Government  Learn More: The Politics of Trash: How Governments Used Corruption to Clean Cities, 1890–1929

A recent report from the Congressional Research Service suggests that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is likely to approve a US Department of Health and Human Services recommendation to reschedule marijuana, which is currently a Schedule I drug. On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, Director of Operations and Fellow Heather Trela explains what such a change would mean for the marijuana industry and federal enforcement of the drug. The episode provides an overview of the drug scheduling system and its history, the challenges and limitations of rescheduling, and what comes next in the ever-changing marijuana policy landscape. Guest: Heather Trela, director of operations & fellow, Rockefeller Institute of Government Learn More: The High Court: How the Judiciary is Influencing Marijuana Policy The High Courts II In the Weeds

Dr. Peter Hotez is a veritable force. He has been the tip of the spear among physicians and scientists for taking on anti-science and has put himself and his family at serious risk.Along with Dr. Maria Bottazzi, he developed the Corbevax Covid vaccine —without a patent— that has already been given to over 10 million people, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Here an uninhibited, casual and extended conversation about his career, tangling with the likes of RFK Jr, Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, and an organized, funded, anti-science mob, along with related topics.Today is publication day for his new book, The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science.Transcript (AI generated)Eric Topol (00:00):Hello, this is Eric Topol with Ground Truths, and I'm with my friend and colleague who's an extraordinary fellow, Dr. Peter Hotez. He's the founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and University professor at Baylor, also at Texas Children's founding editor of the Public Library Science and Neglected Tropical Disease Journal. and I think this is Peter, your fifth book.Peter Hotez (00:28):That's my fifth single author book. That's right, that's right.Eric Topol (00:32):Fifth book. So that's pretty amazing. Peter's welcome and it's great to have a chance to have this conversation with you.Peter Hotez (00:39):Oh, it's great to be here and great to be with you, Eric, and you know, I've learned so much from you during this pandemic, and my only regret is not getting to know you before the pandemic. My life would've been far richer. AndPeter Hotez (00:53):I think, I think I first got to really know about you. You were are my medical school, Baylor College of Medicine, awarded you an honorary doctorate, and that's when I began reading about it. Oh. I said, holy cow. Why didn't, why haven't I been with this guy before? SoEric Topol (01:08):It's, oh my gosh. So you must have been there that year. And I came to the graduation.Peter Hotez (01:12):No, I actually was speaking at another graduation. That's why I couldn't be there, . Ah,Eric Topol (01:18):Right. As you typically do. Right. Well, you know, it's kind of amazing to track your career besides, you know, your baccalaureate at Yale and PhD at Rockefeller and MD at Cornell. But you started off, I, I think deep into hookworm. Is that where you kind of got your start?Peter Hotez (01:36):Yeah, and I'm still, and I'm still there actually, the hookworm vaccine that I started working on as an MD-PhD student at Rockefeller and Cornell is now in phase 2 clinical trials. Wow. So, which is, I tell people, is about the average timeframe --about 40 years-- is about a, not an unusual timeframe. These parasites are obviously very tough targets. oh man. And then we have AOIs vaccine and clinical trials and a Chagas disease vaccine. That's always been my lifelong passion is making vaccines for these neglected parasitic infections. And the story with Covid was I had a collaboration with Dr. Sarah Lustig at the New York Blood Center, who, when we were working on a river blindness vaccine, and she said, Hey, I want you to meet these two scientists, New York Blood Center. They're working on something called coronaviruses vaccines.(02:27):They were making vaccines for severe acute respiratory syndrome and SARS and ultimately MERS. And so we, we plugged their, their, some of their discoveries into our vaccine development machine. And they had found that if you were using the receptor binding domain of the, of the spike protein of SARS and ultimately MERS it produced an equivalent protective immune response neutralizing antibodies without the immune enhancement. And that's what we wrote to the NIT to do. And they supported us with a $6 million grant back in 2012 to make SARS and MERS vaccines. And, and then when Covid 19 hit, when the sequence came online and BioXriv in like early 2020, we just pivoted our program to Covid and, and we were able to hit the ground running and it worked. Everything just clicked and worked really well. And stars aligned and we were then transferred that technology.(03:26):We did it with no patent minimizing strings attached to India, Indonesia, Bangladesh. any place that we felt had the ability to scale up and produce it, India went the furthest. They developed it into Corbevax, which has reached 75 million kids in India. And another 10 million as their, for their primary immunization. Another 10 million is adult booster. And then Indonesia developed their own version of our, of our technology called IndoVac. And, and that's also reaching millions of, of people. And now they're using it as a, also as a booster for Pfizer, because I think it may be a superior booster. So it was really exciting to s you know, after working in parasitic disease vaccines, which are tough targets and decades to get it through the clinical trials because the pressure was on to move quickly goes to show you when people prioritize it. And also the fact that I think viruses are more straightforward targets than complex parasites. And well, so that in all about a hundred million doses have been administered andEric Topol (04:33):Yeah, no, it's just a spectacular story, Corbevax and these other named of the vaccine that, that you and Maria Bottazzi put together and without a patent at incredibly low cost and not in the us, which is so remarkable because as we exchanged recently, the us the companies, and that's three Moderna, Pfizer, and Novavax are going to charge well over $110 per booster of the, the new booster updated XBB.1.5. And you've got one that could be $2 or $4 that's,Peter Hotez (05:11):And it's getting, so we're making, we're making the XBB recombinant protein booster of ours. And part of it's the technology, you can, you know, it's done through microbial fermentation in yeast, and it's been in a big bioreactor. And it's an older technology that's been around a couple of decades, and there's no limit to the amount you could scale. The yields are really high. So we can do this for two to $3 a dose, and it'd even be less, it wasn't for the cost of the adjuvant. The C P G, the nucleotide is probably the most expensive component, but the antigen is, you know, probably pennies to, to, you know, when you're doing it at that scale. And, and so that, that's really meaningful. I'd like to get our XBB booster into the us It's,Eric Topol (05:55):Yeah, it's just no respect from,Peter Hotez (05:58):We're not a pharma company, so we don't, we didn't get support from Operation Warp Speed, and so we didn't get any US subsidies for that. And it's just very hard to get on the radar screen of BARDA and those agencies and, 'cause that's, they're all set up to work with pharma companies.Eric Topol (06:16):Yeah, I know. It's, it's just not right. And who pays for this is the people, the public, because they, you know, the affordability is going to have a big influence on who gets boosters and is drivingPeter Hotez (06:27):. Yeah. So, so what I say is we, we provide, you know, the anti-vaccine guys, like the call me a Shill for pharma, not knowing what they're talking about. We've done the opposite, right? We've provided a path that shows you don't need to go to big pharma all the time. And, and so they should be embracing what we're doing. So we, we've, you know, have this new model for how you can get low cost vaccines out there. Not, not to demonize the pharma companies either. They, they do what they do and they do a lot of important innovation. But, but there are other pathways, especially for resource coordination. So we'd love to get this vaccine in, in the us I think it's looking a little work just, just as well, it's, you know, butEric Topol (07:12):You, yeah, I mean, it's not, I don't want ot demonize the vaccine companies either, but to raise the price fivefold just because it's not getting governed subsidy and the billions that have been provided by the government through taxpayer monies. Yeah.Peter Hotez (07:28):Well, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that they did an analysis that, that pharma, I think it was Pfizer and Moderna got 25 to 30 billion Yeah. Dollars in US subsidies, either for development costs for Moderna. I think Pfizer didn't accept development costs, but they both took advanced purchase money, so $30 billion. And you know, that's not how you show gratitude to the American people byEric Topol (07:55):JackingPeter Hotez (07:56):Up the price times for, I think I said, guys, you know, have some situational awareness. I mean, do you want people to hate you? Yeah.Eric Topol (08:04):That's what it looks like. Well, speaking of before I get to kind of the anti-science, the, THE DEADLY RISE OF ANTI-SCIENCE, your new book, I do want to set it up that, you know, you spent a lot of your career besides working on these tropical diseases, challenging diseases, you know, Leischmania, and you know, Chagas, and the ones you've mentioned. You've also stood up quite a bit for the low middle income countries with books that you've written previously about forgotten people, Blue Marble Health. And so, I, I, before I, I don't want to dismiss that 'cause it's really important and it ties in with what the work you've done with the, the Covax or Covid vaccine. Now, what I really want to get into is the book that you wrote that kind of ushered in your very deep personal in anti-science and anti-vax, which I'm going in a minute ask you to differentiate. But your daughter, Rachel, you wrote a book about her and about vaccines not causing autism. So can you tell us about that?Peter Hotez (09:11):Yeah. So as you point out, my first two books were about these, what I would call forgotten diseases of Forgotten people. In fact, that's what the first book was called, forgotten People, forgotten Diseases, which my kids used to call Dad's Forgotten book on Forgotten people, Forgotten Diseases, all the, all the, now it's in his third edition. So, but it talks about, you know, the, how important these conditions are. It's just that they're widely prevalent. It's just that they're occurring among people who live in extreme poverty, including people in poverty in the United States. That's why we set up our School of Tropical Medicine on the US Gulf Coast. I didn't do it for the summer weather which is these days in this heat dome. It's like, well, living on planet Mercury right now, in here, here in Texas.(09:58):But then, so that, that's what, that's how I started learning how to advocate, you know, for people and for diseases through neglected diseases. But, you know, when we came to Texas, we saw this very aggressive anti-vaccine movement, and they were making false claims that vaccines cause autism. And, and I said, look, I'm, you know, I'm a vaccine scientist here in Texas. I have a daughter with autism, Rachel, with an, an intellectual disabilities. And so if I don't say something who does, and, and then wrote the book, vaccines did not cause Rachel's Autism, which unfortunately made me public enemy number one or two with anti-vaccine groups. but you know, it, it, it does a deep dive explaining the science, showing there's absolutely no link between vaccines and autism, but also an absence of plausibility because what we know about autism, how it begins in early fetal brain development through the action of autism genes.(10:54):And we actually did whole exome genomic sequencing on, on Rachel and my wife Ann and I, and we found Rachel's autism gene, which is like many of them in, involved in early neuronal communication and connections. It was actually a neuronal cytoskeleton gene, as are many, in this case, a neuronal spectrum. And that one hadn't been reported before, but other neuronal cytoskeleton genes had been reported by the Broad Institute at Harvard, m i t and others. And, and that was important to have that alternative narrative because the refrain from always was, okay, doc, if vaccines don't do it, what does cause autism? And, and being able to have that other side of the story, I think is very compelling.Eric Topol (11:37):What was it, the, the fabricated paper by Andrew Wakefield and the Lancet that, that got all this started? Or did it really annotate the ? There wasPeter Hotez (11:47):Something before in the eighties about the DPT, the diptheria, pertussis tetanus vaccine claiming it caused, you know, seizures and then could lead to neurodevelopmental difficulties. But it really took off with the Wakefield paper in 1998, published in The Lancet. And that claimed that the MMR vaccine, a live virus vaccine, had the ability to replicate in the colon of kids. And somehow that led to pervasive developmental disorder. That was the term used back then. And I was Rachel's diagnosis. And it never made sense to me how something, 'cause the reason it's pervasive is it's, it's global in, in the central nervous system in, in the brain. And how, how could something postnatally do something like that? I mean, there is, there are epigenetic underpinnings of autism as well, and that's fun. Eric, you ever talk to, ever try to talk to lay audience about epigenetics? That's a tough one. That's, that's a tough one. You start talking about microRNAs and DNA methylation, histone modification. The, the lights go out pretty quickly, butEric Topol (12:46):Chromatin and histone modification. Right? Bye-bye. Yeah, you got that one.Peter Hotez (12:51):That, so that's,Eric Topol (12:52):But that, that was your really, you knowPeter Hotez (12:55):But that's when, you know, I started going up against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And, and, and all that was, that was pre-pandemic.Eric Topol (13:03):That was in 2018, right?Peter Hotez (13:05):2017 Trump came out and said, you know, it was about to be inaugurated and, and RFK Jr said he was going be appointed to run a vaccine commission by the Trump administration. And, and I actually was sitting, you know, in my office and my assistant said Dr. Francis Collins and Dr. Anthony Fauci are on the phone. Do you have time to talk with us ? And I said, yeah, I think so. And they arranged, they had arranged for me to, because I have a daughter with autism could articulate why vaccines don't cause out arranged for me to speak with RFK Jr threw it through a mediator and, and, and it didn't go well. He was just really dug in and, and soEric Topol (13:49):He, he was just as bad then as now.Peter Hotez (13:52):Yeah. I mean, it was just, you know, kept on, you know, as I say, moving the goalposts, you couldn't pin him down. Was he talking about MMR? Was he talking about the am Marisol, was he talking about spacing vaccines too close together? He just, that always kept on moving around and, and then it was not even autism at times. You were talking about it was something called chronic illness, you know, you know, what do you do with that? Mm-hmm. . So I, and that's one when I was challenged by, you know, Joe Rogan and Elon to debate RFK Jr, one of the reasons I didn't want to do it, because I, I knew, you know, doing it in public would be no different from doing this in, in, in private, that it would not be a productive conversation.Eric Topol (14:39):Yeah, no, that I can, I do want to get into that, because that was the latest chapter of kind of vicious anti-science, which was taking on covid and vaccines and the whole ball of wax whereby you were challenged by Joe Rogan on his very big podcast, which apparently is, you know, bigger than CNN  various cable news networks,Peter Hotez (15:07):Which I had done, I had been on his show a couple of times. Yeah. And that was, and that was okay. I mean, I actually liked the experience quite a bit. AndEric Topol (15:15):And he challenged you to go on with RFK Jr. And then Elon Musk, you know, joined and, you know, basically Peter Hotez (15:21):Actually, he started before then, about the week before, or a few days before, Steve Bannon publicly declared me a criminal. And you know, which I said, wow, that's, that's something. And then Roger Stone weighed in. So it was this whole sort of frontal attack from, well, people with extremist viewpoints. And there'sEric Topol (15:41):Been a long history, and a Tucker Carlson in the book, you quote, he referring to Hotezis a misinformation machine constantly spewing insanity. Speaking of projecting things, my goodness. Yeah.Peter Hotez (15:54):Yeah. Well, he did that. You know, he, that was the, that was in 2022. It was, he went on his broadcast the evening after the evening of the, in the, during that day I, with Maria, I was, we were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. And I guess, and I don't know if the two are related or not, I think it may have driven him off the edge, and then he just went on this rant against me. And, you know, claimed I have no experience anything about Covid. I mean, we had made two covid vaccines, right. And transferred the technology nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and just, you know, omitted all of that. But this is how these guys work. It's, it's all about asserting control. And, and it seems to come from an extremist element of the, of the far right.(16:39): and, and, and it's not that I'm a very political person at all. I mean, you know, I've been here in Texas now for 12 years, and I've gotten, you know, I've gotten to know people like Jim Bakker and his wife Susan Baker and, and you know, a lot of prominent Republicans here in Texas, that that wasn't an issue. This is something sort of weird and, and twisted. And, and the point that I make in the book is, and it's not just a theoretical concern or a construct, it's the fact that so many Americans lost their lives during the delta and BA.1 omicron waves in 2021 and 2022, after vaccines were widely and freely available because they refused a vaccine. so vaccines were rolled out in 2021. we started strong and then vaccination rates stalled. And then we didn't get very far by this after the spring because there was this launch of an, of, of a wave of what I call anti-vaccine or anti-science aggression, convinced that deliberately sought to convince Americans not to take a covid vaccine.Eric Topol (17:56):Chapter, yeah. Your chapter in the book Red Covid. Yeah, gets into it quantifies it, hundreds of thousands of lives lost. And I know you've seen some of the papers whereby studies in red states or states like Ohio and Florida showing the, the, the connection between this.Peter Hotez (18:15):Yeah, I, I relied heavily on this guy Charles Gaba, who has a, a website called ACA signups. And he did some really in, you know, strong analysis showing that the, that the people who were refusing covid vaccines and losing their lives were overwhelmingly in red states and could even show the redder the county as measured by voters, the lower the immunization rate and higher the death rates. And the term Red Covid came from David Leonhart of the New York Times wrote an article about Charles Gaba's work, and he called it Red Covid and did a lot of updates. And the data is so strong. I mean, so much so that one person at the Kaiser Family Foundation wrote, if you wanted to ask me whether or not a person was vaccinated, and I can only know one thing about them, you know, she said, the one thing I'd want to know is what political party they're affiliated with.(19:09):It was, it's, it's that strong. And it's, and it's not that I care about your politics, even your extreme views, but somehow we have to uncouple this one from it, right. Because somehow not getting vaccinated been added to the canon of stuff that you're supposed to believe in. If you are, if you're down that rabbit hole watching Fox News every night, or, or listening to Rogan Podcasts and that sort of stuff. And somehow we have to uncouple those two, and it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. First of all, it's unpleasant to talk about, because all of, you know, your training, Eric mine as well is, you know, said you don't talk about politics and you're, you know, we're supposed to be above all that. But what do you do when the death and dying is so strong on, on one side?(19:58):And, and I, I was in east Texas not too long ago, giving grand rounds at a new medical school in East Texas and Tyler, Texas, and very conservative part of the state. And, you know, basically everyone you talked to has lost a loved one mm-hmm. because they refused a Covid vaccine and died. I mean, that's, that's where you really start to see that. And then, and these people are wonderful people. I gave you know Bob Harrington at oh yes, at at Stanford Medicine, now he's going be the Dean of Cornell. He, he invited me with Michelle Berry to, to give grand rounds, medical grand rounds at Stanford. And I said, look, if, if my car had broken down and the flat had a flat tire, and you, and I can't fix, I'm, I'm a disaster at fixing anything.(20:49):So if you said, okay, where you had the choice, where, where do you want your car broken down in Palo Alto, California, or Stanford is, or very wealthy enclave or East Texas, I'd say I'd pick East Texas in a second. 'cause in East Texas, they'd be fighting over who you know, is going to rush to help you change your tire. Right? And these are, you know, just incredible people. And they were victims. They were victims of this far right. Attacks from, from Fox News. And one of the things I do in the book is, you know, the documentation is really strong media matters. The Watchdog group has looked at the evening broadcast of Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingram, and, and Hannity, and, you know, can I, you know, actually identify the anti-vaccine content with each broadcast during the summer and fall. And then our a social science research group out of ETH Zurich, the Federal University of Technology of Zurich, where Einstein studied, actually, you know, one of the great universities did another analysis and showed that watching Fox News is one of the great predictors of refusing a vaccine.(21:52):And, and so that, those were the amplifiers, but those generating a lot of the messages were elected leaders coming out of the House Freedom Caucus, or Senator, you know, Johnson's conservative senate that, I don't even like to use the word conservative, because it's not really that they're conservative, they're extremists. And yeah, a Senator Johnson of Wisconsin, or Rand Paul, you know, of, of Kentucky, you know, all the physician know what Yeah. And know physician and the CPAC conference of conservatives in Dallas, in 2021, they said, first you're gonna, they're going to vaccinate you, and then they're going to take away your guns and your Bibles. And as ridiculous as that sounds to us, people in my state of Texas and elsewhere in the South accepted it and didn't take a covid vaccine and pay for it with their lives. And, and how do we, you know, begin walking that back?(22:45):And, and the point of writing the book said, well, the first step is to at least describe it so people can know what we're talking about. Because I think right now, when you look at the way people talk about anti-vaccine or anti-science stuff, they, they call it misinformation or the infodemic, like it's just some random junk that appears out of nowhere on the internet. And it's not any of those things. It's, it's organized, it's well financed. It's politically motivated, and it's killing Americans on, on a massive scale. So I said, look, you know, I, I went, I'm did my MD and PhD in New York at Rockefeller and Cornell. I devoted my life to becoming a vaccine scientist. You know, the motto of Rockefeller universities to be the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research translates to science for the benefit of humanity. And, and I believe making vaccines is one of the high expressions. And I think most physician scientists believe, I think you believe that too. And that's why you're, you're in this as well, you know, not vaccines, but you know, other lifesaving interventions. And, and so I said, well, now making vaccines is not enough. 'cause now we have to counter all of this anti-vaccine stuff, and there's, there's nobody better, you know, in terms of my training and my background going up against anti-vaccine movements because of Rachel to do this. So I, I've done it and yeah.Eric Topol (24:11):Well, you've done it. All right. you,Peter Hotez (24:14):That's my wife. Ann says you've done it. Alright, .Eric Topol (24:17):Well, as I wrote in your, with your book of blurb about you are a new species, the physician scientist warrior, and you are Peter, because you're the only one of all the physicians. We're talking about a million docs almost in this country who has stood up and you've put your life at risk, your family at risk, you've had death threats, you've had the people you know, come right to your house. and so what you've described this kind of coalescence of political will of extremists, media, of course, amplification because it benefits them. They, they're selling more you know, they get more viewers, more the spots for commercials and more they can charge. And then you're even, as you described in the book, so well, is you even have outside interested parties like Russia as part of this organization, of this coalescence of forces that are taking on the truth, that are promoting anti-science, that are winding up, people are dying, or, yeah. Or having a, you know, serious morbidity,Peter Hotez (25:26):Right? Yeah. In the case of, in the case of Russia, , it's a slightly different motivation. What they're doing is they're filling the internet and social media with both anti-vaccine messages and pro-vaccine messages. Because they have a different agenda. Their agenda is destabilized democracies. So what they're doing is they're cherry picking certain issues that they can use as a wedge to sow discord. And so when they saw the stuff about vaccines, yeah, they'll flood it with both pro and anti-vaccine message. And you see the stuff on Twitter, so much of it is computer generated, and it's just repeats the same stuff over and over again. And, and a lot of that are, you know, some of that not only, only Russia, I think China's doing it, North Korea, Iran's doing it, but particularly Russia. And that was documented by a colleague of mine, David Broniatowski who's a computer scientist at George Washington University, has really done a deep dive in that. So so'sEric Topol (26:22):I think a lot of people are not aware that's what your book, book brings to light of how organized, how financed, you know, how this thing is a machine from coming from many different domains, you know, and for different interests as you, as you just summarized, it's, it's actually scary. And besides you standing up and facing, you know, the really ultimate bravery with the, all of the, these factions attacking you, literally ad hominem, you know, personally attacking you, then you have you know, this continues to get legs throughout the pandemic, and there's no counter as you've, as you've touched on what is going to be done. You can't stand up alone on this.Peter Hotez (27:09):Well, there's, there's a couple of things. First of all, it's not only attacking the science, it's attacking the scientists. Right, right,Eric Topol (27:15):Right.Peter Hotez (27:16):Exactly. It's, it's portraying and you get get it too, as well. I mean, it's basically portraying scientists as enemies of the state. which I think is so dangerous. I mean, as I like to say, you know, this is a nation that's built on science and technology, right? The, you know, the strengths of our research universities and institutions like Scripps, like Baylor, like Rockefeller, like MIT and Stanford, and University of Michigan and University of Chicago. This is what, you know, helped us defeat fascism in World War II as evidenced by the Oppenheimer movie, right. Or, and or allowed us to achieve so many things, why people so admire our nation. When I served as US Science Envoy and the Obama administration, the State Department, and the White House. I mean, that's where people loved our country, is they all wanna study at our research universities, or they want their kids to study at our research universities.(28:10):And, and by attacking not only science, but the scientists, I think it's weakening our stature globally. And, and, and, and I think that's, that, that's another aspect. I think the other problem is we, we don't get the backing that I think we should from the scientific societies in the Times, even the National Academies. I think they, they could be out there more. exactly why, you know, I think part of it is they see, they see how I get beat up and they say, well, what's that? Right? Yeah. And I, and I understand that, but I think also, you know, they, they depend on, oftentimes on government funding. And I think they're worried that, you know, if they're, again, it's this idea that you have to be politically neutral, even if it favors the torment or the aggressor to paraphrase Desmond Tutu, that's part of it as well.(29:09):I mean, it, I mean, I do find it meaningful. It's scary at times, and I, but I do find it meaningful to ha to have this role. But getting, getting more help and backing, I mean, we're our, our university, I mean, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital has been pretty good. You know, Stan, you know, having my back, it's not that way at every, and I know Scripps has been really strong with what Kristian Anderson's had to deal with around you know, all the phony bologna around covid origins. But, but not all academic health centers are that way. And, and I think we need our university presidents to be more vocal on this issue. And, and too often they're not as well as our academies and our, our scientific societies, because this is, I believe, going to do irreparable harm to, to science. Well, yeah.Eric Topol (30:04):You know, in my experience too, we, we've actually seen, you know, academic physicians who have basically, you know, supported conspiracy theories who have detracted from evidence and science, you knowin a major way. Some of the leading universities here as you, as you mentioned. And when I've contacted and others, their leadership, they say, well, freedom of speech, freedom of speech. 'cause they're afraid to confront them because, you know, all the different things. We've, we, you've mentioned social media, but no, the universities don't want to get attacked on social media. They're afraid of that. They're afraid of, of calling out, you know, one of the people, faculty members who are deliberately, you know garnering a lot of, yeah. And,Peter Hotez (30:56):And the point is, is it's not just, you know, freedom of speech in the sense of espousing you know, crazy views. It's the fact that they're going on the attack against mm-hmm. . I mean, I don't attack these guys, but they attacked me with, with impunity and Yes. Say terrible thing, untrue things about me. I mean, where's there's, isn't there something called professionalism or, or ethics, yeah. Right. That don't, don't, don't, don't we, aren't we supposed to be in instilling that in our, in our faculty and, and that that doesn't seem to happen.Eric Topol (31:28):So that'sPeter Hotez (31:28):Troubling asEric Topol (31:29):Well. They're, they're making credible scientists who are doing the best they can into pinatas Right. And attacking them. And with, and it can't, it can't be reciprocated because that's, that's beneath professionalism. I mean, just as you say. So, you know, you just keep, they just keep going at it. So what you have is now we've added all these different entities and all add more. One more is ai, which is going to further blur the truth.Peter Hotez (31:59):Yeah, Renee DiResta at the Stanford Internet Observatory, I don't if you know Renee, she does fabulous work. And she's written about, you know, what happens when, you know, all of the anti-science, anti-vaccine stuff is now imbued with ai, and, you know, it's going become even more sophisticated and more difficultEric Topol (32:17):To No, there's, there's gonna be a video of you saying that, you know, these vaccines are killing people but don't get a booster and it'll be just like you with your voice. Yeah.Peter Hotez (32:28):Well, they already, they already have. Now these, there's these few things on YouTube that, that claim, I'm secretly Jack Black, the actor . And that the CIA has arranged it so that Jack Black plays this fictional character named Dr. Peter Hotez. And they do all these things like, you know, focus in on my eyes and do like eye identification. It's just, it's just nuts. I mean, what, what's out there?Eric Topol (32:54):Well, has there been a time in these months where you were very scared you, you're for yourself or your family because of all the incredible density and, and what appears to be very serious threats and duringPeter Hotez (33:08):, during, during the day, during the day, I'm okay. I mean, in, you know, when the, when the, when the Steve Bannon in stuff and Joe Rogan stuff, then I had the stalking at the house, and, you know, I had to have a Houston Police Department officer parked in front of my house or a Harris County Sheriff that, that was troublesome. But it, it's more of during the day, I am fine. I'm working, I'm talking, you know, to people like you and in lab meetings, doing what scientists do, writing grants and throwing pencils at the wall when you get a paper with a major review or, or a major revision or rejection. But, but it's, I think at night, you know, wake up in the middle of the night and the, it's, the stuff does start to mess with your head at times. And it'sEric Topol (33:54):Well, and you travel a lot and you, you've, I think expressed that, hey, you could be given a talk in an innocent place and somebody could come, you know, attack youPeter Hotez (34:04):There. Yeah. So I have to, I have, I have security now at, in major venues when I speak. and, you know, I had an, there was an incident at the World Vaccine Congress in Washington. There were protesters out in front of the, out in front of the convention center waiting for me that that wasn't fun. And so, even, you know, we've got, we'll see what happens with the, when the, you know, I'm doing a number of events around the book in Washington DC and New York and elsewhere. We'll, we'll see how that goes. soEric Topol (34:38):Well take it. You, you're, I know you well enough to know that you're an optimistic person. I mean, you've been smiling and we've been laughing during this and discussing some very heavy, serious stuff. What gives you still optimism that this can someday get on track?Peter Hotez (34:57):Well, I think it could get worse before it gets better, first of all. And, and two fronts. One, you know, I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Tedros, the World Health Organization Director, general of World Health Organization towards the end of last year. And to say this could be the warmup act in the sense that now it's globalizing. I'm anticipating spillover all childhood immunization rates. And, you know, you're starting to see the same US style of anti-vaccine rhetoric now, you know, even in low and middle income countries on the African continent in South Asia. So I worry about, you know, measles and polio, both in the US and, and globally. I think that's, that's, I'm worried about that. The other is, you know, a lot of this is heating up, I think because of the 2024 presidential election. I think one was that with, with our, our mutual friend and colleague Anthony Fauci, now that he's out of government he's not as visible as he was.(35:58):I think they're, the, the extremists are looking around for another, they need a monster right. To, to galvanize the base. And I think I've become that monster. You know, that's, that's one thing I'm worried about. But also you with, I talk to probably someone you've seen on Twitter. and I've gotten to know her somewhat, I'm very impressed with her. Molly Chong Fast, who's a commentator on c n at M S N B C, and she, you know, put out there, and she told me privately and put it out in public that, you know, one of the reasons why things are so vicious around RFK Jr, as they see him as a third party candidate that could take Biden votes away and help create a path for Trump being elected. So by, you know, by having me debate him, it, it kind of elevated in, in its own way, elevated his stature and made him seem like a more serious person. Right, right. And my refusal, you know, popped their bubble. And that, that's one of the reasons why, why they're so angry. So this is very much tied, I think, to the 2024 presidential look. And that's what you're having seen with the House subcommittee hearings too, portraying scientists as enemies of the state. It's all for, I mean, I don't know if you've seen this, the, that House Subcommittee Twitter site, it actually says something like, we're selling popcorn, you know, we'reEric Topol (37:18):Yeah, I know. I mean,Peter Hotez (37:20):They're, they're not, they're not even pretending it's anything, theEric Topol (37:23):PoliticalPeter Hotez (37:23):Theater for Fox News soundbites. So I think we're gonna see they're the word.Eric Topol (37:27):Alright. Yeah.Peter Hotez (37:28):Yeah. And, and, but, you know, but the attacks on biomedical science, I think are gonna be, you know, have a long-term effect. If for no other reason, I think people are gonna think twice about wanting to do a PhD in biomedical scientist or become an MD PhD scientist when they see that, you know, we'reEric Topol (37:47):. Well, that's what you, you also covered that really well in the Yeah. In the book. But when you think about where we are now with climate crisis, or we're facing future pandemics, not just the one we're still working through here where is the hope that we can counter this? I mean, we need armies of people like you. We need, as you say, the scientific establishment and community all stand up. That, that gets me to one of the things that makes you differentiates you from most physicians and scientists. You write books, you are active on social media. You, you appear on the media. Most scientists grew up to have their head do the work, do good science, get their stuff published, and get grants and, you know, try to advance the field and physicians doing that, are taking care of patients, same kind of thing. What prompted you in your career to say, Hey, you know, that's not enough. I got another dimension. And why, how can we get millions of clinicians and scientists to rally to do what you'rePeter Hotez (39:01):Doing? Well, in my, in my case, I, it's not that I was deliberately seeking to be a public figure or what some call a public intellectual. It was more the case, the issues that I was most interested in, nobody was talking about. Mm. And nobody was going to talk about it. So if I didn't talk about it, it wasn't gonna be talked about. So neglected tropical diseases, you know? Yeah. For guard people was, and, and I had two colleagues in the uk, Alan Fannick and David Mullen, who felt the same way. And so we began be, we became the three Musketeers of the neglected tropical disease space. And I found that extremely meaningful and interesting. And it was the same with vaccines. So although I, I'm often in the, you know, doing a lot of public engagement, if you notice, I don't try to be like some people who do it very well, like as Sanjay Gupta or, or some others that will, or Megan Rainey that will talk about, you know, just about any health issue.(39:56):I, I don't try to do that. I sort of stay, it's a wide lane, but I try to stay in my lane around infectious, neglected diseases and, and, and vaccines. And I think that's very important. Now, in terms of, you know, the statement, most scientists or physician scientists wanna keep their head done, write their grants and paper. I think that's perfectly fine. I don't think you people should be forced to do it, but I think there's enough of us out there that wanna do it, but don't know how to get started and don't feel safe doing it. I, and so I think we need to change that culture. Mm-hmm. I think we need to offer science communication to our graduate students in their PhD programs or in MD PhD programs for those who wanna do it, or in residency training or fellowship training. And so that, because there, there are things you can learn.(40:46):I mean, we had to do it by trial and error, and in my case, more error than trial. But, but, but there is a, there is, there are things you can learn from people who do this professionally. So I think that's important. I think the other is we need to change the culture of the institutions. You know, I, I get evaluated just like you do like everybody, like any, you know, senior scientist or professor at university, and, you know, what do they ask me about? They ask me about my grants and, and my papers preferably in high impact journals, and they ask me, and I don't see patients anymore, so they don't ask me about my clinical revenue, but they ask me about my grants and papers and my grants and papers, and my grants and papers. There's not even any place on my form, my annual evaluation from, to put in the single author books. I've written much less, you know? Yeah. The, the opinion pieces I've written, or certainly not social media or even, or even the cable news channel. So, so it basically, the academic health center is sending the message. And I don't think that's unique. I think that's probably the rule in most places. I think the, the culture of academic health centers is they're basically, they're sending a message just saying, well, we don't consider that stuff important, and somehow we have to make it important. I think for those who wanna do itEric Topol (42:08):AbsolutelyPeter Hotez (42:09):To send that message,Eric Topol (42:10):You're, you're, you're pointing out a critical step that has to be undertaken in the future. it'll take time to get that to gel, hopefully, but if it's promoted actively, I certainly promote that. I know you do. Yeah. I think,Peter Hotez (42:23):I think most, most offices of communications at academic health centers, as I said, Baylor and Texas Children's is pretty good, better than most, but most, you know, don't even like their docs and scientists speaking out. Yeah. Right. They wanna control the message. It's all about, you know, they're very risk averse. They're protecting the reputation of the institution. They only see the risk side. They don't, you know, you know, you wanna speak about social justice or, or combating anti-science. Well, you know, we guess we can't stop you, but they sort of cringe at, at the idea. And then, you know, they say, well, you know, ultimately you're a professor or a scientist here, you have academic freedom.com, but don't screw this up. Right. And don institution at risk. Right.Eric Topol (43:07):Ab you're describing exactly how university communications worked.Peter Hotez (43:12):Yeah. ButEric Topol (43:13):ThePeter Hotez (43:13):Point is, and so you do it with the sort of Damocles over your head, and, and you know, as you know, and as anyone knows, if you do enough, you will screw it up eventually, right? Everybody does. And, and you know, you're gonna make mistakes. That's how you learn. You make mistakes and you, you auto correct. But, but you have to have that freedom to be able to make mistakes and Yeah. And right now that's not there either.Eric Topol (43:35):What, what you're driving at though altogether is that we're defenseless. That is, if you have an organized finance coordinated attack on science, and also of course on vaccines, and you have no defense, you have, I mean, it's hard for the government to stand up because they're part of what's the conspiracy theory is, is, is against, and you, and, and the scientific community, the clinician community is, you know, kind of handcuffed as you are getting at. And also, you know, that's not the culture that's unwilling, but something's gotta give. And this is one thing I think you're really reinforcing that, that should a pathway to countering. I mean, we can't clone you. You know, we can't, we need lots of warriors. We need, you know, thousands and hundreds of thousands of points of light who support data and evidence, you know, as best that they can. And we don't have that today.Peter Hotez (44:36):Yeah. And we, we need to cultivate that. So I'm in discussions not only with people like yourself, but other colleagues about should we try to create, whether it's a nonprofit of 5 0 1 C three or C four the climate scientists are ahead of the game on this. Yeah. Yeah. I, I talk to Michael Mann every now and then, and, you know, they've got a climate science defense fund. They, they seem to be, 'cause it, they've, they've experienced this for longer than we have. You know, the, this all started a decade before with tax against climate scientists, you know, should, in the book I talk about, should we create something like a Southern Poverty Law Center equivalent to, to protect science and scientists? And, and I think we need that because the existing institutions don't seem willing to, to create something like that. It's somehow seen as too edgy or too out there and Right.(45:30):And it shouldn't be. But, but again, this is a I think a, a great opportunity for college presidents to, to step up and, and they're not doing that. They're, they're also pretty risk averse. So I think, you know, getting, getting the heads of the academic health centers, getting the college president, university presidents to say, Hey, this is important because otherwise science is at risk. And, and you're already starting to see some crazy stuff come out of the N I h now about doing international research. They're trying to put in rules to say they want, you know, if you have international collaborators, you're supposed to collect their notebooks and translate the how are you gonna do that? That's, that's completely, IM it's important. I mean, it's, and who's gonna review it and who's gonna sign off in general legal counsel at the university on, that's basically gonna halt international research. And we have to recognize that we need this because the threats are coming. Right? I mean,Eric Topol (46:33):CliPeter Hotez (46:34):Climate change is real, and pandemic threats are real. We're gonna see another major coronavirus pandemic possibly before 2030 or a flu or an arbovirus. And, and we're, we're, we need, this is a time we need to be reinforcing our, our virology research and our infectious disease research, not a time to, you know, start dismantling it, which is what totally the house hearings are, are meant to do, and what some of these new n i h rulings are meant to do. So it's gonna take a lot of strong players and, and, and government and at universities to stand up to this.Eric Topol (47:14):Well, if we ever need to be vaccinated or immunized, it's against this. And I hope that something will give to start to provide an antidote to what is a relentless progression of united science that you so elegantly eloquently in, in your book, Peter. So thanks for writing that. thanks for joining today. I know we'll have, as we do every week conversations yeah. You,Peter Hotez (47:41):You've been a, you've been an amazing friend and colleague, Eric, and I've learned so much from you. And, andEric Topol (47:46):No, no. I, I feel I can't tell you thank you. I, I, I think it's completely reciprocal from what you bring to this table of trying to make this a better place for advancing science search for, for the truth of what's really going on out there, rather than having to deal with wacky, you know, extremists that are advancing things for various purposes that are, that are nefarious in many cases. So, appreciate it. we'll be talking some more and this has been a really for me, an enriching conversation.Peter Hotez (48:21):Same, same Eric. And thank you so much for giving this attention and the dialect to be continued.Thanks for listening, reading and subscribing to Ground Truths!Please share if you found this podcast worthwhileFull video link Get full access to Ground Truths at erictopol.substack.com/subscribe

The 252 school-based health centers (SBHCs) operating in New York State serve more than 250,000 students. These health centers provide a range of services on school premises, from primary to behavioral health care—and, in some cases, dental and vision care—and augment the health services children receive from traditional healthcare providers. On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, Senior Fellow for Health Policy Courtney Burke interviews Dr. Viju Jacob, a pediatric specialist in the Bronx who works for Urban Health Plan, which operates several SBHCs, and Ronda Kotelchuk, founder of the Primary Care Development Corporation and current chair of New York State Foundation for School-Based Health Centers, to learn more about SBHCs, the positive health and academic outcomes they support, and what is needed to maintain and expand the important services they offer to students. Guests: Courtney Burke, senior fellow for health policy, Rockefeller Institute of Government Dr. Viju Jacob, pediatric specialist, Urban Health Plan Ronda Kotelchuk, founder, Primary Care Development Corporation & Chair, New York School-Based Health Foundation Learn More: New York School-Based Health Foundation New York School-Based Health Alliance Acronyms: H+H: Health and Hospitals HRSA: Health Resources and Services Administration FQHC: Federally Qualified Health Center SBHC: School-Based Health Centers

The recent influx of migrants into New York City has highlighted the barriers that these new arrivals face, including the limitations on their ability to work. In a new episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute Nathan Fellow Sarah Rogerson, an expert in immigration law and director of the Immigration Law Clinic and Edward P. Swire Justice Center at Albany Law School, discusses the legal and logistical hurdles migrants face as they seek to enter the workforce, including federal restrictions that prohibit migrants from working for at least six months, the time, money, and effort work authorization applications require, and the systemic constraints that can delay work authorization and legal residency status. Guest: Sarah Rogerson, Nathan fellow, Rockefeller Institute & director of the Immigration Law Clinic and Edward P. Swire Justice Center

In August 2022, the Biden administration announced a plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for eligible borrowers. The plan, legally challenged almost immediately, was struck down in early July by the Supreme Court, ruling the Executive had overreached its authority. Then, on July 14, the Biden administration announced its latest move: using the negotiated rulemaking process under the Higher Education Act to forgive student loans, revising income-driven repayment plans, and providing more than 800,000 qualifying borrowers with nearly $40 billion in loan forgiveness. On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute Director of Education Policy Studies Brian Backstrom and Fellow Rebecca Natow discuss the Supreme Court's ruling, the Biden administration's latest plan, and what comes next in the lengthy saga of addressing the nation's student loan debt crisis. Guests: Brian Backstrom, director of education policy studies, Rockefeller Institute Rebecca Natow, fellow, Rockefeller Institute & associate professor of educational leadership and policy, Hofstra University Learn More: States Step In: Relieving the Burden of Student Loan Debt Student Debt In New York State: A Compendium of Work by the Rockefeller Institute of Government State-Sponsored Child Investment Accounts: Helping Parents Save for Collage, Helping Students Avoid Loan Debt

The deathcare infrastructure, consisting of frontline public servants who handle the recently deceased, faced an enormous strain during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they were required to manage a tremendous number of excess deaths, often exceeding their capacity and resources to do so. Staci Zavatarro, Nathan Fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government and Professor of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida, joins the podcast to highlight some of the logistical challenges many coroners and medical examiners faced trying to manage the influx of decedents during the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of federal and state government policies and investments to improve death care management systems and provide necessary support to the workforce. Guest: Staci Zavatarro, Nathan Fellow, Rockefeller Institute of Government and Professor, University of Central Florida

Public investments in mental health services are needed to deal with worsening mental health connected to, among other things, the pandemic, economic anxiety, rapidly changing technologies, and global geopolitical distress. On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute Senior Fellow for Health Policy Courtney Burke and New York State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Ann Sullivan discuss the importance and timeliness of New York State's $1 billion investment for mental health services in the 2023-24 budget. The conversation outlines what policies and programs will be enabled by the new funding and the people it will support. Guests: Courtney Burke, senior fellow for health policy, Rockefeller Institute of Government Ann Sullivan, Commissioner, New York State Office of Mental Health

Across the US, the pandemic hit community colleges hard. Enrollment is down and institutions have reduced staff and payroll. And while community colleges are heavily integrated into their local and regional education and workforce development fabric, federal policy is critical to sustaining and advancing these institutions. On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, Fellow Rebecca Natow explains how federal support promotes equity, accessibility, and opportunity in community colleges and how that support is evolving under the Biden administration. Guest: Rebecca Natow, fellow, Rockefeller Institute of Government & assistant professor of educational leadership and policy, Hofstra University Learn More: Federal Policy on Community Colleges: Presidential Priorities and Policy Tools

After years of disappointing results in her quest to treat heroin addiction, Marie Nyswander was more than ready to try something new. When she met a prominent doctor from the prestigious Rockefeller Institute, they embarked on an experiment that would define both of their careers and revolutionize the treatment of addiction for decades to come. But not everyone was happy about it.

The New York Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act (the Empowerment Act) made it easier for New York State residents to initiate the dissolution or consolidation of village governments. On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute Fellow and Daemen University Professor Lisa Parshall discusses her new book, In Local Hands, which examines the social, political, and narrative context surrounding municipal reorganization in the state, especially since the Empowerment Act went into effect in 2010. The conversation touches on questions explored in the book: why do village residents support or oppose dissolutions? How do residents initiate reorganizations? And how do dissolutions affect taxes and government services? Guest: Lisa Parshall, fellow, Rockefeller Institute of Government & professor, Daemen University Learn More: In Local Hands (SUNY Press)  A Comparative Look at the Village Dissolution Movement in Ohio and New York: Assessing State-Level Policy Impacts Is It Time For New York State to Revise Its Village Incorporation Laws? Dissolving Village Government in New York State Ep. 12. Power to the People

As part of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) enacted by Congress, Medicaid programs were required to keep individuals continuously enrolled in the program to receive enhanced federal funding (typically, Medicaid requires an annual eligibility renewal). The continuous enrollment requirement was decoupled from the PHE through the Consolidated Appropriations Act (passed in late 2022) and is set to expire on April 1. States have some flexibility in how they "unwind" the automatic, continuous health coverage provisions that have been in place. To help make sense of how New York is approaching the unwind, Rockefeller Institute Senior Fellow for Health Policy Courtney Burke is joined by Amir Bassiri, deputy commissioner and Medicaid director at the New York State Department of Health, Danielle Holahan, executive director of New York State of Health, and Lisa Sbrana, director of the Division of Eligibility and Marketplace Integration at the New York State Department of Health. Guests: Courtney Burke, senior fellow for health policy, Rockefeller Institute of Government Amir Bassiri, deputy commissioner and Medicaid Director, New York State Department of Health Danielle Holahan, executive director, New York State of Health Lisa Sbrana, director, Division of Eligibility and Marketplace Integration, New York State Department of Health Learn More: New York State of Health

On February 28, 2023, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases opposing President Biden's student debt relief plan, which seeks to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower. Brian Backstrom, director of education policy studies at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, wrote an analysis that detailed how the student debt relief plan made its way to the Supreme Court and previewed the court cases to be heard. On today's episode, Brian joins to highlight the arguments presented in the cases, shares how the justices responded to those arguments, and points to what student loan borrowers can expect as the cases move forward. Guest: Brian Backstrom, director of education policy studies, Rockefeller Institute of Government Learn More: SCOTUS To Decide: Is the Biden Administration's Student Debt Cancellation Program Legal?

New York State has the fourth-largest population of older adults in the US, with 3.2 million New Yorkers over the age of 65, a number that is projected to grow to 5.3 million by 2030. Caring for those older New Yorkers is expensive; the state spends more on long-term care services annually ($32 billion) than any other service. To address the needs of the state's aging population, Governor Kathy Hochul signed Executive Order 23 last fall, which directs the state to develop a Master Plan for Aging. On today's episode, Courtney Burke, senior fellow for health policy at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, and Adam Herbst, deputy commissioner for the Office of Aging and Long-term Care at the Department of Health, discuss the process of developing the master plan, the intricate network of government and healthcare systems dedicated to designing this roadmap, and how New York will provide the necessary care and resources to ensure people can age in place. Guests: Courtney Burke, senior fellow for health policy, Rockefeller Institute of Government Adam Herbst, deputy commissioner for the Office of Aging and Long-term Care, Department of Health

New year, Gilded Age drama! Today we might think of municipal trash collection as a mundane activity. But in the late 1800s, trash collection in the United States was the site of dirty politics, public health debates, and a whole lot of mess. Professors Patricia Strach and Kathleen S. Sullivan join Jonathan to discuss how we went from 16-foot-tall trash piles in the streets to our modern system of trash pick-ups. And we're getting into all the unsavory details... Want to (dumpster) dive deeper into the politics of trash? Check out their new book The Politics of Trash: How Governments Used Corruption to Clean Cities, 1890-1929, published by Cornell University Press. You can visit the book's website for more information! Patricia Strach is professor in the Departments of Political Science and Public Administration & Policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York and a fellow with the Rockefeller Institute of Government. With Kathleen S. Sullivan, she is the author of The Politics of Trash: How Governments Used Corruption to Clean Cities, 1890-1929 (Cornell University Press 2023). Her previous books include Hiding Politics in Plain Sight: Cause Marketing, Corporate influence, and Breast Cancer Policymaking (Oxford University Press 2016) and All in the Family: The Private Roots of American Public Policy (Stanford University Press 2007).  Kathleen S. Sullivan is Associate Professor of Political Science at Ohio University. With Patricia Strach, she is the author of The Politics of Trash: How Governments Used Corruption to Clean Cities, 1890-1929 (Cornell University Press 2023). She is also the author of Constitutional Context: Women and Rights Discourse in Nineteenth-Century America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007). She is currently researching sailors' boardinghouses. You can follow Professor Strach on Twitter @PatriciaStrach and Professor Sullivan on Twitter @kathlsullivan.  Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

In New York, Medicaid provides healthcare for nearly 8 million people and half of all births. With the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting existing health disparities and disrupting the health care system, there is a significant need and opportunity to innovate Medicaid care delivery. On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, we examine how New York is using a Section 1115 waiver to address health equity issues. The State's Acting Medicaid Director, Amir Bassiri, and Rockefeller Institute Senior Fellow for Health Policy Courtney Burke join the show to discuss how the waiver works, the goals the waiver seeks to accomplish, strategies for achieving those goals, and a vision for the future of Medicaid. Terms CBO—Community-based Organization CMS—Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services DSRIP - Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment MRT - Medicaid Redesign Team HERO—Health Equity Regional Organization SDHN—Social Determinant Health Network VBP - Value-based Payment Guests: Courtney Burke, senior fellow for health policy, Rockefeller Institute of Government Amir Bassiri, New York acting Medicaid director & deputy commissioner for Office of Health Insurance Programs

If we had the opportunity to speak to our younger self, what would we say? What wisdom could we give to that younger self about the meaning and purpose of life? What does our experience tell us about why we are here and who we are? This conversation explores these questions and why they may be important to our lives. Jacob Needleman, Ph.D. is a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University and former director of the Center of the Study of New Religions at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He has also served as a research associate at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. His books include Why Can't We Be Good? (Tarcher 2003), The Heart of Philosophy (Tarcher 2003), Time and the Soul: Where Has All the Meaningful Time Gone -- and Can We Get It Back? (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2003), Lost Christianity (Tarcher 2003), Money and the Meaning of Life (Doubleday 1994), The Wisdom of Love: Toward a Shared Inner Life (Morning Light Press 2005), What Is God? (Tarcher 2010), Necessary Wisdom (Fearless Books 2013) and An Unknown World: Notes on the Meaning of the Earth (Tarcher 2012)Interview Date: 6/2/2016 Tags: Jacob Needleman, freedom, ethics, listening, truth, Gurdjieff, essential questions, polarized times, ancient mystical wisdom traditions, Christianity, attention, Denise Levertov poem A Gift, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Science

In this specially commissioned series with Grantmakers in the Arts, The Lost Files, Dr. Durell Cooper invites artists, community organizers, researchers, cultural and racial studies experts, and scholars to think about the narratives driving the arts and cultural sector – as it intersects with systems of structural racism and economic exclusion – and what opportunities for narrative change exist.  In this episode Dr. Cooper speaks with Dr. Rhianna Rogers. Rhianna C. Rogers is the inaugural director of the Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy (CAREP) and a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Rogers is an expert on cultural and ethnic studies, intercultural competencies and diversity education, cultural mediation, and virtual exchange programmatic development and implementation. Her approach centers on participatory action research and community engagement processes. Before RAND, Rogers has held administrative appointments and taught in Higher Education spaces (2002–present). She was most recently an associate professor of interdisciplinary studies (history and anthropology) and the coordinator of the Global Indigenous Knowledge program at State University of New York (SUNY), Empire State College. At SUNY, Rogers held two systems appointments, one as the Ernest Boyer Presidential Fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government (2019–2020) and the other as a SUNY Center for Online Teaching Excellence Fellow (2014–2021). Rogers was also a Stevens Initiative Visiting Professor of Anthropology at the American University of Technology in Kaslik, Lebanon (2017–2018) and served two terms as the SUNY Empire State College Coordinator of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies (2017–2019 and 2014–2017). Rogers developed and codeveloped several successful DEI initiatives in her career, including SPEC/Buffalo Project, a grant-funded and award-winning action-based diversity program focused on the development of culturally inclusive programming and upskilling populations to inform solution-making efforts in college and community environments (2010–present). Rogers holds a Ph.D. in comparative area studies from Florida Atlantic University.

The pandemic changed many aspects of American life from home life, to school, and of course work. Now that some time has gone by, researchers are beginning to look at the overall impact of the shift to remote work, as well as its potential impact on the future of work. We were surprised in reading the report about the variability across the country -- but also the rural vs urban impacts. For this episode of The Future Works, we are joined by Liz Farmer, Future of Labor Research Center Fellow at the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government. She is the author of a new report, Remote Work during COVID-19: What Can It Tell Us About the Future of Work?. Music used in this episode was produced by Jason Shaw on AudionautiX. This episode was edited by Brian Finch.

Oct. 3, 2022 - The patchwork of fire districts that respond to the needs of New Yorkers is costly and ripe for reorganization, according to a new report from Dr. Lisa Parshall, a fellow at the Rockefeller Institute.

We speak with Dr. Leigh Wedenoja of the Rockefeller Institute of Government about the benefits to students of having a teacher for more than one year. Test scores improve, behavior problems subside, absenteeism decreases. Very few schools have intentional looping policies, but many students have a teacher more than once, especially in middle and high school.

After a mass shooting at a school, we tend to hear some of the same "solutions" tossed around: schools should just have one door;buy bulletproof backpacks;arm teachers; andharden schools more broadly.While we know those "solutions" aren't, in fact, solutions to gun violence, they all point to a very serious question: "what can we do to make kids safe, while we fight for gun violence prevention?" To help answer that question, hosts Kelly and JJ are joined by Dr. Jaclyn Schildkraut, an associate professor of criminal justice at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego and the interim executive director for the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. She is also the author of books like the upcoming Lockdown Drills: Connecting Research and Best Practices for School Administrators, Teachers, and Parents and Mass Shootings: Media, Myths, and Realities. Together we detail how lockdown drills should be used, how proper training can save lives, and what we can all be doing to make a future for kids where lockdown drills won't be needed. Want to get involved?Urge your senators to expand and strengthen background checks.Urge senators to confirm a director to lead the ATF, the agency that oversees the gun industry yet has lacked leadership for years.Join a Brady chapter near you and sign up to attend our new volunteer session.Mentioned in this podcast:The Company Behind America's Scariest School Shooter Drills (the Trace)More schools develop clear backpack policies to combat school shootings. Do they work? (ABC 7 Denver)Columbine, 20 Years Later and Beyond: Lessons from Tragedy (Praeger)Effects of Lockdown Drills on Students' Fear, Perceived Risk, and Use of Avoidance Behaviors: A Quasi-Experimental Study (Criminal Justice Policy Review)For more information on Brady, follow us on social media @Bradybuzz or visit our website at bradyunited.org.Full transcripts and bibliographies of this episode are available at bradyunited.org/podcast.National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.In a crisis? Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor 24/7. Music provided by: David “Drumcrazie” CurbySpecial thanks to Hogan Lovells for their long-standing legal support℗&©2019 Red, Blue, and BradyGo to bradyunited.org/credo and vote now! Support the show

In the first 6 months of 2022 alone, there have been over 250 mass shootings in America—in schools, at grocery stores, in churches, and as people were going about their everyday lives. No matter how sad and scary they are to talk about, these mass shootings are Worth Noting.Sources consulted:About mass violence. NMVVRC. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2022, from https://www.nmvvrc.org/learn/about-mass-violence/James Densley Professor of Criminal Justice, & Jillian Peterson Professor of Criminal Justice. (2022, June 10). What we know about mass school shootings in the US – and the gunmen who carry them out. The Conversation. Retrieved July 12, 2022, from https://theconversation.com/what-we-know-about-mass-school-shootings-in-the-us-and-the-gunmen-who-carry-them-out-183812Magazine, S. (2021, March 12). How the 1996 Dunblane Massacre pushed the U.K. to enact stricter gun laws. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved July 12, 2022, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-1996-dunblane-massacre-pushed-uk-enact-stricter-gun-laws-180977221/Martin, M., & Bowman, E. (2021, March 27). Why nearly all mass shooters are men. NPR. Retrieved July 12, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2021/03/27/981803154/why-nearly-all-mass-shooters-are-menMass shooting factsheet. Rockefeller Institute of Government. (2022, June 8). Retrieved July 12, 2022, from https://rockinst.org/gun-violence/mass-shooting-factsheetA Kids Book About School Shootings -  https://akidsco.com/products/a-kids-book-about-school-shootings

Some countries have legalised cannabis, often with the hope of kick-starting a lucrative new source of tax revenue - but just how profitable has it been? Aside from a few fact-finding trips, the prospect of legalising cannabis is not on the political agenda here in the UK - but could it be missing out? Advocates say it's a bad call to let criminals continue to profit when legal businesses and the government could reap the financial rewards instead. Opponents counter that no amount of money is worth the associated public health risks. But in the past decade countries including Canada, Malta, Uruguay and parts of the United States have decided to embrace the so-called green rush. But how is it working out for them economically and what lessons could other places considering legalisation learn? Reporter Datshiane Navanayagam talks to: Christopher Snowden, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs Adam Spiker, executive director of a cannabis trade association in California Amanda Chicago Lewis, a US based investigative reporter covering cannabis Laura Schultz, executive director of research at Rockefeller Institute of Government in New York Rishi Malkani, Cannabis Leader at Deloitte Charlotte Bowyer, Head of Advisory at Hanway Associates Producer: Ben Carter Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Sound engineer: James Beard

Today's episode features Mary Bernstein, Phd, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut.  She is the winner of several national awards from the American Sociological Association. Her research on gun violence prevention advocacy has been supported by a grant from the Bennett Fund for Innovative Education in Health and Society. Mary is also an appointed member of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government.The following are time stamps for different talking points covered throughout the episode. I hope you enjoy.Community Gun Violence: 1:30 Mass Public Shootings: 10:30Conditions Leading to Gun Violence: 15:20Gun Legislation: 22:30 The Use of a Firearm: 30:30 The Senate's Recent Bill: 33:10 (Correction on my end: The Virginia Tech shooting was in 2007 and the Columbine shooting was in 1999) Possible Government Abuse: 37:50Supreme Court Ruling on NY Gun Law: 44:05Music: Coma-Media (intro)                 WinkingFoxMusic (outro)Recorded:  6/25/22