Deep Background with Noah Feldman
Pushkin Industries
Behind every news headline, there’s another, deeper story. It’s a story about power. In Deep Background, Harvard Law School professor and Bloomberg View columnist Noah Feldman will bring together a cross-section of expert guests to explore the historical, scientific, legal, and cultural context that help us understand what’s really going on behind the biggest stories in the news.iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.
Episodes
Mentioned books
May 1, 2020 • 22min
What to Read During a Pandemic
Marta Figlerowicz, an associate professor of comparative literature and English at Yale, discusses classic works of literature about pandemics from Boccaccio's The Decameron to Camus' The Plague. Plus, she psychoanalyzes Noah's love of detective novels.Marta Figlerowicz's Pandemic Reading List The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman Everything Flows by Vasily Grossman Molloy by Samuel Beckett Malone Dies by Samuel Beckett Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez The Plague by Albert Camus Occupation Journal by Jean Giono Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 29, 2020 • 27min
A New Strategy in the Fight Against COVID-19
Dr. Louise Ivers, the executive director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health, explains why states like Massachusetts are investing in a strategy called contact tracing to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 23, 2020 • 25min
The Way out of the Pandemic? Generosity.
Pardis Sabeti, a computational biologist at Harvard and the Broad Institute, discusses when and how to re-open colleges and universities, why the US is behind other countries when it comes to containing the spread of coronavirus, and a plan to stop pandemics in the future Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 22, 2020 • 28min
The Roadblocks to Mass Testing
Omai Garner, the director of clinical microbiology testing at UCLA Health, explains why more Americans have not been tested for COVID-19. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 16, 2020 • 28min
Modeling the Coronavirus
Carl Bergstrom, a computational biologist at the University of Washington and co-author of the forthcoming book "Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World," explains how to make sense of all the different coronavirus models and discusses the impact of misinformation on public health. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 15, 2020 • 29min
A Profound Economic Problem
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers helped get us through the 2008 financial crisis. He has some ideas about what to do to get through this one. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 8, 2020 • 18min
Passover, Plagues, and Coronavirus
To mark the start of Passover, Idan Dershowitz, a biblical scholar and junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, discusses the ten plagues of Egypt in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 7, 2020 • 26min
What Happens If We Run out of Ventilators?
Lydia Dugdale, the Director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at Columbia University, discusses how medical supplies will likely be allocated if there are shortages. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 1, 2020 • 29min
The Search for a Treatment
Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, discusses what treatments for COVID-19 are currently being researched, and why rushing the scientific process can be risky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 31, 2020 • 26min
A Nobel Prize Winner’s Suggestion for Fixing the Economy
Paul Romer, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at New York University, argues that we can keep the economy from tanking during the coronavirus pandemic without risking people's health. We just need many, many more tests. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
