A Mysterious Health Wave Is Breaking Out Across the U.S.

A Mysterious Health Wave Is Breaking Out Across the U.S.

Why do Americans die younger than citizens of other rich countries? The most important reason is that life in America is inexcusably dangerous. The U.S. has more fatalities from gun violence, drug overdoses, and auto accidents than just about any other similarly rich nation, and its obesity rate is about 50 percent higher than the European average. Put this all together, and the U.S. is rightly considered a “rich death trap” for its young and middle-aged citizens. That’s the bad news. Now here’s the good news. In the past 12 months, quietly and without much media fanfare, the government reported that drug deaths declined, murders declined, traffic fatalities declined, and the standard measure of obesity declined. This inside straight of good news has never happened before in the 21st century—and perhaps decades before that. Today’s guest is Charles Fain Lehman. He’s a fellow at the Manhattan Institute whose expertise is unpacking complex trends in the most gruesome areas, like drugs, murder, and death, in America. Today, he explains why the U.S. seems to be experiencing a sort of mysterious health wave and whether we should expect it to last. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Charles Fain Lehman Producer: Devon Baroldi Link: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/12/violence-obesity-overdoses-health-covid/681079/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Avsnitt(361)

Nate Silver on Why This Midterm Election Could Be the Weirdest in Decades

Nate Silver on Why This Midterm Election Could Be the Weirdest in Decades

Earlier this year, it appeared that Democrats were going to get destroyed in the midterms. Joe Biden's approval rating was in the toilet, inflation was raging, and everything was going wrong. It would...

2 Sep 202255min

The Messy Debate Over Student Loan Forgiveness

The Messy Debate Over Student Loan Forgiveness

The level of student debt in this country represents a massive policy error. But is forgiving up to $20,000 of student debt really the best way to help low-income Americans, or fix the nation's educat...

30 Aug 202242min

Burning Questions on Media: Streaming’s Summer of Hell, Movie Theater Woes, and CNN’s Risky Pivot

Burning Questions on Media: Streaming’s Summer of Hell, Movie Theater Woes, and CNN’s Risky Pivot

Today’s episode is about the entertainment and media industry’s tumultuous summer, the streaming wars, a come-to-Jesus moment for movie theaters, and a dramatic revamp at CNN—which tells a lot about t...

26 Aug 202250min

What’s the Secret of Success in America? This Economist Has Answers.

What’s the Secret of Success in America? This Economist Has Answers.

The economist Raj Chetty has spent much of the last decade trying to answer a very big question: What happened to the American Dream? In 1940, a child born into the average American household had a 92...

23 Aug 202250min

Why Does It Seem Like Everybody Hates Everything?

Why Does It Seem Like Everybody Hates Everything?

Bestselling author Chuck Klosterman talks to Derek about the death of the monoculture, how the internet creates cults of fans and anti-fans, and how “hating things” became a mainstream personality tra...

19 Aug 202252min

Donald Trump vs. the FBI: Everything We Know About the Investigation So Far

Donald Trump vs. the FBI: Everything We Know About the Investigation So Far

I've never before recorded an episode specifically about Donald Trump. I guess I’ve been holding out for the chaos that typically swirls around him to exceed an extremely high bar of freaky nonsense. ...

16 Aug 202242min

A New Way to Think About Racism in America

A New Way to Think About Racism in America

Several years ago, the writer, researcher, and policy advocate Heather McGhee traveled around the country to report on how racism in America holds us back from policies that would benefit everybody. I...

12 Aug 202244min

Carbon Removal Might Be the World’s Most Important Technology. How Does It Work?

Carbon Removal Might Be the World’s Most Important Technology. How Does It Work?

Last year, somebody explained the problem of climate change to me with a metaphor that I’ve never been able to forget. They said: Imagine a bathtub. The bathtub is the planet’s atmosphere. The faucet ...

9 Aug 202246min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

aftonbladet-krim
svenska-fall
p3-krim
rss-krimstad
spar
fordomspodden
flashback-forever
rss-sanning-konsekvens
aftonbladet-daily
rss-vad-fan-hande
motiv
rss-expressen-dok
rss-frandfors-horna
dagens-eko
rss-krimreportrarna
politiken
blenda-2
rss-aftonbladet-krim
rss-flodet
olyckan-inifran