Happy Thursday.

It is August 7th here.

I know it's supposed to be deep into the summer, but there's also plenty of places that have either started school this week or we'll be starting school next week.

It is, I know it can feel, and the only way you know it's still vacation time in Washington

is that traffic's been kind of smooth on this front.

But let's not kid ourselves.

There's a lot going on.

And then some.

By the way, I hope you did catch my episode yesterday on the Atomic Bowl

on the, in the 80th anniversary sort of three-day period of the United States

dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the conversation and the sort of the way Nagasaki in particular

is lost in some ways is lost in history. I think that Greg Mitchell just did a great job

servicing that. So I know I really am telling you to go back to a pod, but if you've if you've missed

it, it is worth your time and I hope you take a look at it.

I also had a bunch of political updates on that pod, and there was a couple things.

Before I get to my main point, I want to get to, which has to do with American public health.

We're going to get to that in a minute.

By the way, my guest today is Terrence Lester, Dr. Terence Lester.

He wrote a book that caught my eye.

It's called From Dropout to Doctorate.

It's a personal memoir, but also sort of a call to action, if you will.

First-hand account of what it's like to grow up without the resources that perhaps

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