Debbie re-runs the single most popular of 100+ episodes of [B]OLDER. Two years ago, in 2021, she asked plague expert Nicholas Christakis, a Yale professor and author, the burning question: when will the COVID-19 pandemic end? His answer: 2024. That startled her. Now it makes sense. And of course, it was prescient.
Today, Debbie re-runs the single most popular of 100+ episodes of [B]OLDER. Exactly two years ago, in the spring of 2021, she asked plague expert Nicholas Christakis, a distinguished Yale professor and author, the burning question: when will the COVID-19 pandemic end?
His answer: 2024. It startled her and burst her bubble of optimism. Vaccines were widely available by then and it seemed like the beginning of the end. Surely he was exaggerating how long it would take for the COVID pandemic to wind down? No, it was only the end of the beginning, he told her.
Today that makes sense. And of course, it was prescient.
Tune into a re-run of one of the most fascinating episodes of [B]OLDER. (Note that Debbie refers to it as The Gap Year Podcast, the name she gave the podcast during the height of the pandemic. It's now the [B]OLDER podcast. Same podcast; different name.)
PHOTO CREDIT: Evan Mann
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SHOW NOTES from the original interview with Nicholas Christakis (May 7, 2021)
Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, and a Sterling Professor at Yale, has been named to TIME magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. His fluency in explaining the intertwined science, epidemiology, psychology, sociology and history of pandemics - and his sense of humor - make this a compelling episode.
Debbie asks him point blank: when is the next pandemic? The answer is unnerving – sooner than you might think.
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