How Grant Wahl’s Widow Fights COVID Disinformation (with Dr. Céline Gounder)
In the Bubble with Andy Slavitt
Lemonada Media
4.6 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 18 January 2023
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When soccer journalist Grant Wahl died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm during the World Cup, his wife Dr. Céline Gounder was bombarded by messages from online trolls saying that she killed her husband with the COVID vaccine. She decided to fight those trolls. Andy speaks with Céline about the five most common moves in the vaccine disinformation playbook, how artificial intelligence could make things worse, and the emotional toll of protecting her husband’s legacy.
Keep up with Andy on Post and Twitter and Post @ASlavitt.
Follow Céline Gounder on Twitter @celinegounder.
Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium.
Support the show by checking out our sponsors!
- Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada shows: https://lemonadamedia.com/sponsors/
Check out these resources from today’s episode:
- Read Céline’s NYT essay, “Grant Wahl Was a Loving Husband. I Will Always Protect His Legacy”: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/opinion/grant-wahl-celine-gounder-vaccine.html
- Listen to Céline’s podcast, American Diagnosis: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/american-diagnosis-with-dr-c%C3%A9line-gounder/id1282044849
- Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community: https://www.covid.gov/
- Order Andy’s book, “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response”: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165
Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.
For additional resources, information, and a transcript of the episode, visit lemonadamedia.com/show/inthebubble.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | It's CVS Health, they know the women's physical, mental, and sexual health matters. |
| 0:05.0 | That's why they're offering new women's health services available nationwide seven days a week. |
| 0:09.0 | From heart health, blood pressure, and cholesterol screenings available at miniclinic locations, |
| 0:14.0 | to virtual birth control consultations and visits with a board certified provider, |
| 0:18.0 | women's health is it an afterthought. It matters. |
| 0:21.0 | It's CVS Health. Health here happens together. Learn more at CVSHealth.com. |
| 0:28.0 | In the bubbles brought to you by well before, where you can get affordable and high quality medical supplies, |
| 0:34.0 | ship straight to your door. |
| 0:36.0 | It could sometimes be hard to tell which masks are legitimate, KN95s, and N95s. |
| 0:42.0 | But well before, has over 40,000 positive customer reviews, and we're recommended by the New York Times. |
| 0:49.0 | They have an extensive selection of masks with different sizes, from kids to larger adults, |
| 0:54.0 | as well as a multitude of colors. I've got a bunch of them. We had them tested. |
| 0:59.0 | They're really good. So go to well before, that's w-e-l-l-b-e-f-o-r-e. |
| 1:07.0 | .com slash in the bubble, or use code in the bubble for an extra 10% off site wide. |
| 1:14.0 | Lemonada. |
| 1:24.0 | This is in the bubble with Andy Slavitt. Email me at in the bubble at lemonadamedia.com. |
| 1:46.0 | Dr. Selene Gounder is on the show today. There are two ways you may know of Selene. |
| 1:52.0 | If you've been following the news on the pandemic, you know Selene is one of the preeminent epidemiologists |
| 1:58.0 | and public health leaders and communicators in the country. She's assistant professor at NYU, |
| 2:05.0 | renowned AIDS researcher. She's part of the Biden transition team. She has two great podcasts. |
| 2:11.0 | The other way you might know her is through her spouse, Grant Wall, |
| 2:17.0 | who is a reporter, the soccer reporter who died suddenly at the World Cup. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Lemonada Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Lemonada Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.