Pushkin.

It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here?

Fiasco is a history podcast for the co-creators of Slow Burn.

In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics, the 2000 election, which resulted in a high-stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. So if you're trying to make sense at the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore. Listen on theHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

From Pushkin Industries, this is deep background, the show where we explore the stories behind the stories in the news.

I'm Noah Feldman. Since July, President Trump has been calling for schools to open this fall for in-person learning.

Some schools that have already opened, though, had to close after coronavirus cases were detected,

like a district in Georgia.

How should schools be making good decisions about whether to open?

What criteria are relevant to that decision making?

If they do open, how do they make sure things are safe?

And what do they do if cases break out?

To discuss these complicated, difficult questions, questions without easy answers,

we're joined by Dr. Sean O'Leary. He's Professor of Pediatric

Infectious Diseases at the University of Colorado, a practicing pediatrician, and he's the vice

chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Disease. Sean, thank you so much for

joining us. Let's just start with basics.

What is your view about the criteria that school districts should be using to decide whether

they should open in person, and if so, just how open they ought to be? So folks who are using

various metrics to decide how to reopen, I think all of us all along

have been saying we would really love to see community transmission as low as possible before

we safely reopen schools. The metric that is used most commonly is the percent positivity.

...