Can RFK Jnr ‘make America healthy again?’
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 2 January 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Robert F Kennedy Jr, nephew of America's 35th President, John F. Kennedy, has been nominated to be the next US health secretary by President-elect Donald Trump. The post oversees everything from medical research to food safety and public welfare programmes.
Kennedy has been the face of “Make America Healthy Again”, a movement dedicated to “public health, sustainable practices and a government that truly serves the people”.
This week of The Inquiry, we look at how MAHA wants to tackle chronic disease, in particular obesity. Will RFK carry these ideas into public office? How will food corporations and colleagues in the US Congress react? How feasible is it for the US Health Secretary to shift the dial on healthy eating?
Contributors: Bill Dietz, Director of the Stop Obesity Alliance at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., US Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump State Department official, US Professor Jerold Mande, CEO of Nourish Science, US Professor Colleen Heflin, Professor of public administration and international affairs at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, US
Production Team: Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producers: Vicky Carter and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinator: Liam Morrey Technical producer: Richard Hannaford Editor: Tara McDermott
Photo Credit: Bloomberg via GettyImages
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to quickly tell you about some others. |
| 0:05.1 | My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland. |
| 0:11.3 | It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter to people here, |
| 0:16.2 | but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world. |
| 0:19.6 | And because the team has such a diverse |
| 0:21.1 | range of skills and strengths, we have trained journalists, people who love digging through |
| 0:25.9 | archives, we've got drama and even comedy experts. We really can do those stories justice. So if you |
| 0:31.9 | like this podcast, head to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories from all around the UK. |
| 0:38.8 | Welcome to the inquiry. I'm Charmaine Cozier. Each week, one question, four expert witnesses, |
| 0:45.0 | and an answer. November 2024. Days after winning the US presidential election, Donald Trump is busy on social media. |
| 0:58.8 | One post starts with a nomination. It reads, I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. |
| 1:11.1 | RFK Jr., as he's more widely known, is the phase of a movement called Make America Healthy Again. |
| 1:18.2 | He's been a fierce critic of federal government agencies and parts of the food industry for many years. |
| 1:24.6 | If senators confirm his appointment, he'll lead the top US department for improving health and wellbeing, including food safety. |
| 1:33.2 | He's also new to politics, but that's not the only reason he's a controversial nominee to lead on public health. |
| 1:40.9 | So this week we're asking, can RFK Jr. make America healthy again? |
| 1:50.3 | Part 1. The crisis unfolds. |
| 1:55.0 | As it is in the U.S., we have one of the highest prevalences. But everywhere in the world, obesity is increasing. |
| 2:01.5 | There's no country which has been able to achieve a decline in the prevalence of obesity. |
| 2:06.7 | So we're not alone in this. |
| 2:08.9 | We're just overrepresented. |
| 2:12.2 | Bill Dietz is director of the Stop Obesity Alliance at the Milken Institute School of Public Health |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.