meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Slate Daily Feed

The CDC Under Fire

Slate Daily Feed

Slate

News, Business, Society & Culture

3.91.1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 August 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Two weeks ago, a gunman fired over 500 bullets at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta. Between the anti-public health rhetoric coming from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the top, personnel cuts and firings, and now a literal shooting, many employees are reaching their breaking point.  

 

Guest: Lauren Weber, health science accountability reporter for the Washington Post.


Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, Anna, I've got a new secret weapon for print.

0:02.2

Print?

0:02.9

Vista print, right?

0:04.0

That's not a secret.

0:05.6

Print everything for your business with Vistaprint.

0:08.0

Business cards, stickers, t-shirt, signage, even photo books from your last holiday.

0:12.0

If you need it, we print it at vistoprint.co.uk.

0:19.8

Not long after the shooting at the Centers for Disease Control on August 8th,

0:24.6

Lauren Weber traveled there to talk to workers.

0:27.4

Even just standing on the street corner, you could see the bullet holes in a federal building,

0:34.4

which is just a really striking visual.

0:38.8

Lauren is a health and science accountability reporter at the Washington Post.

0:43.2

She'd just been to CDC headquarters in June, but after the shooting, the scene was strikingly different.

0:50.0

In front of the bullets-carred building, there was a makeshift memorial to David Rose, the police officer who'd been killed.

0:56.9

There were all these heartfelt messages written on it.

0:59.3

I counted by Monday 60-something flowers left for him.

1:03.6

And just some heartbreaking messages for his wife, his two children, his wife is pregnant with a third child on the way.

1:12.6

You know, just heartbreaking messages from CDC employees thanking him for keeping them safe for his sacrifice.

1:17.7

And many folks I spoke to were crying.

1:20.3

I mean, they were devastated that this had happened and they were also starting to become

1:25.5

angry.

1:31.1

Anged? and they were also starting to become angry. Angry at the Trump administration's response to the shooting,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Slate and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.