The Great American Vaccine Debate (with Ken Burns)

In the Bubble with Andy Slavitt

Lemonada Media

News

4.6 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2022

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When he wasn’t busy taming electricity and being a Founding Father of the United States, Benjamin Franklin was encouraging inoculations to combat the smallpox pandemic of the 18th century. Franklin bitterly regretted not inoculating his 4-year-old son, Francis, who died from smallpox when an outbreak hit Philadelphia in 1736. Andy talks to filmmaker Ken Burns, whose new PBS documentary on the founding father comes out April 4, about Franklin’s role during the smallpox pandemic, how he balanced his libertarian views with scientific and public health reasoning, and whether Franklin would support a COVID-19 vaccine mandate if alive today.

Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt and Instagram @andyslavitt.

Follow Ken Burns @KenBurns on Twitter.

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Throughout the pandemic, CVS Health has been there, bringing quality, affordable health care closer to home—so it’s never out of reach for anyone. Because at CVS Health, healthier happens together. Learn more at cvshealth.com.

Check out these resources from today’s episode:

Watch Ken Burns' four-hour documentary, “Benjamin Franklin,” which premieres on PBS April 4-5: https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/benjamin-franklin/
Watch this extended scene on inoculation that did not make it into the final film: https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/unum/playlist/innovation#benjamin-franklin-inoculation
Order free at-home COVID-19 tests through the USPS: https://special.usps.com/testkits
Order Andy’s book, “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response,” here: 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.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Mental health challenges are affecting people in the US at high levels, particularly among
0:05.0	adolescents.
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0:23.2	increased access to digital tools and telehealth services.
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0:46.8	has over 40,000 positive customer reviews, and were recommended by the New York Times.
0:53.2	They have an extensive selection of masks with different sizes from kids to larger adults
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1:20.7	You raise the question of vaccine mandate, where to some people that's just an absolutely
1:32.4	no brainer, and to others it is exactly arbitrary power.
	...

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