Bushkin.

Why is Miami, Miami?

What does the heartbreaking fate of the Cheetah tell us about the way we raise our children?

Why do Ivy League schools care so much about sports?

I'm Malcolm Gladwell. In my new audiobook, Revenge of the

Tipping Point, I'm returning to the subject of social epidemics and the dark side of contagious

phenomenon. Find revenge of the tipping point wherever you find audiobooks out now.

From you find audiobooks out now. From Pushkin Industries, this is deep background, the show where we explore the stories

behind the stories in the news. I'm Noah Feldman. In recent weeks, three new variants on COVID-19 have been occupying a lot of attention in the news.

There's a variant in the UK that is apparently more contagious and possibly more harmful.

Then there is a variant in South Africa and one in Brazil, at least one of which and possibly both of which

do appear to be less responsive to existing vaccines or to antibodies created by people who've

already had COVID. How alarmed should we be about these developments? How will they affect

the interaction between the

rollout of the vaccine and the progress of the disease? And what will it all mean for when

we can begin to get back to conditions resembling normal? Here to talk us through these challenging

questions is Mark Lipsich. Mark now qualifies as a friend of a deep background

for his regular appearances on the show to help explain the coronavirus pandemic to us,

stretching all the way back to February of 2020 when he was one of the first epidemiologists

to sound the alarm about the coming pandemic.

Mark is Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, and he's

also the director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics there.

...