Public Health Insight

PHI Media
  • 5.0 (11)
  • SOCIAL SCIENCES
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The Public Health Insight Podcast is a weekly podcast ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally. The podcast covers all things public health and global health, from the sustainable development goals to the social determinants of health, as well as interesting dialogues about the diverse career opportunities that exist in the fields. Since its launch in March 2020, the podcast has featured more than 40 high-profile guests and has built an audience in more than 5,000 cities in over 190 countries.

  1. Debate the Policy, Not the Science

    1D AGO

    Debate the Policy, Not the Science

    You can disagree on policy. You can't disagree on facts. In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, Dr. Brian Castucci unpacks what it really means when science bends to political power, whether silencing dangerous voices is ever justified, why public health is losing the war it should be winning - culminating in an uncomfortable truth: if you can't stand the people you're trying to reach, you've already lost.  References for Our Discussion ◼️About Brian C. Castrucci ◼️A New AI Platform to Strengthen Health Communication and Combat False Narratives ◼️Science to People: VeriSci Guest ◼️Dr. Brian Castrucci, DrPH Host & Producer ◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® Production Notes ◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room Leave Us Some Feedback If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think. Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

    16 min
  2. Turning Data To Action With Community Needs Assessments

    APR 7

    Turning Data To Action With Community Needs Assessments

    How often do public health organizations decide what a community needs — without actually asking them? This episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast sees Gordon sit down with Alexandra Piatkowski, epidemiologist and founder & CEO of Piat Public Health, to unpack one of public health's most foundational — and often misused — tools: the community needs assessment. They explore why existing quantitative data is never enough on its own, how health equity moves from buzzword to practice, and what it really takes to do a needs assessment well when budgets are tight and funders want results fast. References for Our Discussion ◼️Piat Public Health Guest ◼️Alexandra Piatkowski, MPH, PMP Host & Executive Producer ◼️ Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® Production Notes ◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room Leave Us Some Feedback If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think. Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

    35 min
  3. Jumping From Health Systems Transformation to Public Health Consulting

    MAR 31

    Jumping From Health Systems Transformation to Public Health Consulting

    What does it take to hit the ground running after grad school? For Alexandra Piatkowski, the answer started long before graduation — by deliberately building real-world experience while still a student. In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, Gordon sits down with the founder of Piat Public Health to trace a career that blends epidemiology, health policy, and project management into something entirely her own. Alexandra shares how stacking hands-on experience during school set her up to thrive and how that momentum carried her all the way to co-leading the development of Canada's first accredited geriatric emergency department.  References for Our Discussion ◼️Piat Public Health Guest ◼️Alexandra Piatkowski, MPH, PMP Host & Executive Producer ◼️ Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® Production Notes ◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room Leave Us Some Feedback If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think. Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

    35 min
  4. Building A Better Future With 'Just' One Health

    MAR 24

    Building A Better Future With 'Just' One Health

    Prevention is the most powerful public health tool we have and yet the hardest to fund. Dr. Hope Ferdowsian of Phoenix Zones Initiative explains how her organization is changing that: informing global health strategies, training cross-sector professionals, and advancing a justice-centered framework called Just One Health that targets root causes, not symptoms. She also shares a bold 10-year vision — where well-being replaces GDP, animals gain rights recognition, and prevention is the default.  References for Our Discussion ◼️Phoenix Zones Website Guest ◼️Hope Ferdowsian, Co-Founder and President of Phoenix Zones Initiative Host ◼️ Purva Mehta, BMSc, MSc Producer ◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® Production Notes ◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room Leave Us Some Feedback If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think. Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

    23 min
  5. The Cost of Putting Humans First

    MAR 17

    The Cost of Putting Humans First

    Animal abuse is a predictor child abuse. Slaughterhouse locations correlate with violent crime. Over three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases trace back to how we treat animals and ecosystems. In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, Dr. Hope Ferdowsian connects these patterns to a single root cause: systems built on hierarchies that reduce living beings to their financial worth. She challenges public health to stop treating symptoms, expand its moral circle beyond humans, and finally address the conditions that create disease, violence, and exploitation in the first place. References for Our Discussion ◼️Phoenix Zones Website Guest ◼️Hope Ferdowsian, Co-Founder and President of Phoenix Zones Initiative Host ◼️ Purva Mehta, BMSc, MSc Producer ◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® Production Notes ◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room Leave Us Some Feedback If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think. Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

    26 min
  6. It Started With A Sheep Named Crystal

    MAR 10

    It Started With A Sheep Named Crystal

    Healing people requires healing animals and the systems we share. Dr. Hope Ferdowsian traces that conviction from a sheep named Crystal on an Oklahoma farm to sanctuary chimpanzees with PTSD, to asylum seekers she's evaluated across borders. The through-line isn't a coincidence — it's a career built on understanding humanity through animals, following suffering wherever it leads, and finding resilience on the other side. References for Our Discussion ◼️Phoenix Zones Website Guest ◼️Hope Ferdowsian, Co-Founder and President of Phoenix Zones Initiative Host ◼️ Purva Mehta, BMSc, MSc Executive Producer ◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® Production Notes ◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room Leave Us Some Feedback If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think. Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

    28 min
  7. Rx Kids: A Cash Prescription for Pregnant Moms & Babies

    MAR 3

    Rx Kids: A Cash Prescription for Pregnant Moms & Babies

    What if the prescription wasn't a pill, but cash? Rx Kids gives expecting and new mothers up to $7,500, no questions asked. Laura Keen from GiveDirectly explains why giving money to everyone — not just the poorest — actually works better, why nearly every eligible mom in Flint signed up, and what happened to preterm births, evictions, and depression when communities invested in families from day one. Plus, how a program centered on babies united both sides of the political aisle. References for Our Discussion ◼️The US town that pays every pregnant woman $1,500: ‘We’re not OK with our babies being born into poverty’  ◼️Direct Unconditional Cash Transfers Boost Well-Being for Mothers and Babies  ◼️Perinatal Cash Transfers and Birth Outcomes: A Population-Based, Quasi-Experimental Study of the Rx Kids Unconditional Cash Prescription During Pregnancy and Infancy  ◼️Hardship and Hope: The Relationship Between Unconditional Prenatal and Infant Cash Transfers, Economic Stability, and Maternal Mental Health and Well-Being ◼️To End Extreme Poverty, Give Cash — Not Advice | Rory Stewart | TED ◼️New research: Cash for pregnant moms in Flint led to healthier births and millions in healthcare savings  Guest ◼️Laura Keen, U.S. Program Director, GiveDirectly Host ◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® Producer ◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® ◼️Abhinya Gulasingam Production Notes ◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room Leave Us Some Feedback If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think. Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

    23 min
  8. Flint Is (Re)Writing Its Own Story & You Should Pay Attention

    FEB 24

    Flint Is (Re)Writing Its Own Story & You Should Pay Attention

    Flint, Michigan was once known as one of America's most prosperous industrial cities. Decades of deindustrialization and a water crisis changed that, but crisis isn't the whole story. Laura Keen of GiveDirectly joins the podcast to explore the resilience behind the popular headlines, the gaps in America's safety net, and what the expanded Child Tax Credit revealed about child poverty. All of it set the stage for Rx Kids — one of the most ambitious social programs in the country. References for Our Discussion ◼️The US town that pays every pregnant woman $1,500: ‘We’re not OK with our babies being born into poverty’  ◼️Direct Unconditional Cash Transfers Boost Well-Being for Mothers and Babies  ◼️Perinatal Cash Transfers and Birth Outcomes: A Population-Based, Quasi-Experimental Study of the Rx Kids Unconditional Cash Prescription During Pregnancy and Infancy  ◼️Hardship and Hope: The Relationship Between Unconditional Prenatal and Infant Cash Transfers, Economic Stability, and Maternal Mental Health and Well-Being ◼️To End Extreme Poverty, Give Cash — Not Advice | Rory Stewart | TED ◼️New research: Cash for pregnant moms in Flint led to healthier births and millions in healthcare savings  Guest ◼️Laura Keen, U.S. Program Director, GiveDirectly Host ◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® Producer ◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® ◼️Abhinya Gulasingam Production Notes ◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room Leave Us Some Feedback If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think. Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

    16 min
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Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

The Public Health Insight Podcast is a weekly podcast ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally. The podcast covers all things public health and global health, from the sustainable development goals to the social determinants of health, as well as interesting dialogues about the diverse career opportunities that exist in the fields. Since its launch in March 2020, the podcast has featured more than 40 high-profile guests and has built an audience in more than 5,000 cities in over 190 countries.

Information

  • Creator
    PHI Media
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    324
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Public Health Insight Inc.
  • Show Website
    Public Health Insight

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