Chasing Life

For those struggling with an opioid addiction, COVID-19 has created a perfect storm of stress and isolation. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to Dr. Andrew Kolodny, the medical director of opioid policy research at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. They discuss the pandemic’s effect on the opioid crisis in the U.S. and the efforts underway to end the decades-long epidemic. 

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Last December, the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine became the first covid-19 vaccine to be authorized for use in the world following large-scale clinical trials. Today, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta sits down with Dr. Ugur Sahin and Dr. Ozlem Tureci, the husband-and-wife scientists who designed the vaccine.

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Last month, the C.D.C. released new guidelines to help schools stay safe as they reopened, and now educators across the country are beginning the tricky work of putting that guidance into action. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Herring about how she’s been reopening schools and balancing safety precautions with students’ educational needs. 

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With over 2.5 million global coronavirus deaths, millions more have faced the daunting task of saying goodbye to a loved one from a distance. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at the ways funeral homes and mourning families are navigating the process.

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One year ago this week, CNN called the spread of the coronavirus a pandemic. Two days later, the World Health Organization followed. At this official one-year mark of the pandemic, Dr. Sanjay Gupta checks in with Maria Van Kerkhove, a leader in the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 response. They talk about what they’ve learned and what still lies ahead. 

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This pandemic has highlighted how essential it is for people to feel like they can trust public health officials. But that’s easier said than done in Flint, Michigan, where locals are still dealing with serious repercussions from the 2014 water crisis. CNN’s Omar Jimenez reports from Flint, talking to members of the community about their lasting distrust in government and how that's impacted their views on the coronavirus vaccines.

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The CDC just released new guidelines for fully vaccinated people. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains the latest recommendations for what you can do safely with friends and family once you've received your shots.

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Infectious disease researcher Laurel Bristow has made a name for herself disseminating helpful, pandemic-related information on Instagram, and that name is @KingGutterBaby. She talks to CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta about her rise to fame, the pressures that come with it, and what her username means.

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Seattle-based artist Jayashree Krishnan has painted more than 150 portraits of first responders from around the world since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, she shares her experiences capturing the fatigue, fear and hope in the faces of frontline workers.  

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Coronavirus has fundamentally changed the American workplace, but which changes can we expect to stick around permanently? Analyst and remote work expert Andrew Hewitt shares his predictions for the post-pandemic future of office work and what’s surprised him so far.

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We’re just months away from the start of the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics. The games were supposed to showcase Japan’s recovery from the deadly Fukushima earthquake but things have not gone according to plan. In today’s episode, CNN International Correspondent Selina Wang explains how the host country is preparing for the world’s largest sport event during a global pandemic. 

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Almost a year ago, athletes around the world learned that the Olympics would be postponed. For those who hoped to compete in the games, navigating this additional year has been incredibly challenging, especially as Covid restrictions forced many professional sports facilities to close. On today’s episode, pole vaulter Sandi Morris and long jumper Tyrone Smith, share their struggles and sacrifices to train over the last year and compete in one last Olympics together, as a married couple.

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What will it take to achieve herd immunity? CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks with Dr. Christopher Murray, who directs the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, about the role of vaccinations, variants and preventative behavior.

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Covid-19 has disproportionately impacted Native American communities, but when it comes to vaccine distribution, tribal health providers are actually outpacing many states. CNN’s Harmeet Kaur speaks with Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. about his tribe’s vaccine success and what he thinks the U.S. government could learn from the Cherokee health system.

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CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to Harvard dream researcher Deirdre Barrett about her Covid-19 dream survey and why we're having good and bad dreams a year into this pandemic. This is an update to a May 1, 2020 episode.

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Zoologist and president of EcoHealth Alliance Peter Daszak has just returned from Wuhan, China. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to him about what it’s like there now, and his findings as part of a World Health Organization investigation.

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The United States reached an unfathomable milestone: 500,000 deaths from COVID-19. As we honor those lost to the pandemic, there are still many among us who continue to live with persistent symptoms of the virus. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta discusses post-Covid syndrome and speaks with patients who describe themselves as "long haulers".

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Black women have made significant contributions to medicine and public health but all too often, their stories are overlooked and forgotten. Today, we’re honoring the life of Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, a pioneer in our country’s medical history as the first Black woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, back in the 1860s.

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A disturbing spate of recent attacks on Asian Americans is the latest reminder of the bigotry this community has faced throughout the pandemic. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks about the history of discrimination against the Asian American Pacific Islander community, and what can be done now to address it. 

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In the United States alone, nearly half a million people have now died from the coronavirus. Rationally, we know this is devastating. But emotionally, why can we feel so removed from it? CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to Associate Professor Azim Shariff about the limits of human empathy, and what a computer game might teach us about our response to this pandemic. 

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What does the latest CDC guidance mean for the safe return to classrooms? Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Evan McMorris-Santoro explain why parents and teachers don’t always see eye to eye when it comes to in-person learning; the effectiveness of key mitigation strategies; and whether there can ever be true safety without teacher vaccinations.

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In this episode, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers listeners’ questions about the vaccine, from new avenues of distribution to side effects to the question on everyone’s mind: What am I allowed to do now that I’ve had my shots?

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Black faith leaders around the country are working together to combat vaccine hesitancy in their communities. Today, Nicquel Terry Ellis, CNN's senior writer on race & equality, speaks to Reverend Horace Sheffield in Detroit, about what he and other pastors around the country are doing to help their congregations through this crisis. 

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More than 33 million Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer/BioNtech or Moderna. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine candidate could receive an emergency use authorization in the coming weeks. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is optimistic, and he’s going to tell you why. 

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As Valentine’s Day approaches, we explore how our relationships and dating lives have been impacted by this pandemic. Biological anthropologist and Match.com Chief Scientific Adviser, Helen Fisher shares some of the ways looking for companionship has changed. 

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Be careful as authorities warn of emerging scams related to the Covid-19 vaccine. CNN’s law enforcement and national security correspondent, Josh Campbell walks you through the different types of scams out there and how you can protect yourself.

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With the authorization of two Covid-19 vaccines, pregnant women around the country are wondering if they should get the shot when their time comes. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta speaks with Dr. Emily S. Miller, an obstetrician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and a member of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s COVID-19 task force to answer listener questions. 

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Surveys have shown that Black Americans have been more hesitant than White Americans to get a Covid-19 vaccine. CNN Correspondent Stephanie Elam enrolled in a vaccine trial in the hope that other Black people would see someone like them going through the process. On today’s episode, Stephanie speaks with a nurse who still isn’t ready to get the vaccine.

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Super Bowl LV is happening this weekend and it won't be your regular championship game. The CDC and the NFL teamed up to study not only how the league played through a pandemic, but how the general public could benefit from the lessons they learned. NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills tells CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta why he thinks the 2020-21 season was worth the risk. 

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The light at the end of the tunnel is in sight, but there are still a lot of unknowns. When will life go back to normal? How do we grieve all the people we’ve lost? And what will be the long-term effects on our society? In today’s episode, physician and sociologist Dr. Nicholas Christakis shares his opinion on what lies ahead for our post-pandemic world. Check out the accompanying video.

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Inequities and racism continue to exist within the U.S. health care system and profoundly impact Black communities. It’s a complex history that’s often misunderstood. Sanjay will interview Dr. Leon McDougle, president of the National Medical Association. Dr. McDougle is an expert in racial disparities in health care and will discuss the organization’s history and how the past can shine some light on the challenges of reaching Black Americans with the COVID-19 vaccine.

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Older adults around the country are struggling to get a vaccine appointment thanks to limited supply, overwhelmed phone lines, dysfunctional websites. Today, CNN checks in with seniors on the search and tries to figure out why this is happening. 

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Masks are crucial, but not all of them are created equal. The N95 respirator mask has been the gold standard from the beginning, and our need for its efficacy is only becoming clearer. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks about the latest guidance on mask wearing, and how to upgrade the masks you may already have.

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An adventuring Swedish doctor takes on a decades-long medical mystery: What exactly was the 1918 flu? This week, we’re sharing an episode of Science Vs, a podcast from Gimlet, a Spotify Studio. They talk to Dr. Johan Hultin, Eileen Hultin, Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger, Ann Reid, Rita Olanna and Annie Conger.  

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The Biden administration is beginning to put its Covid-19 strategy into action and lay out their plans to bring this pandemic to an end. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper spoke to three key members of President Biden’s Covid response team in a CNN Town Hall: CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Biden’s Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, and head of the White House’s new Health Equity Task Force Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.

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The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines has proven to be a logistical challenge unlike anything the United States has faced before, and some states are handling things better than others. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at some of the different vaccine distribution strategies employed in West Virginia and Georgia, and why one state is doing so much better than the other. 

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With a new administration in the White House, and a new director at the CDC, there is a lot of hope that the CDC can now more effectively steer the public out of this pandemic and rebuild its reputation in the US and abroad. But doing so is not going to be easy. CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks with former acting director of the CDC, Dr. Richard Besser, about the challenges that lie ahead. 

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Dr. Dan Barouch is the director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and is helping develop Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine candidate. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to him about how this vaccine is different, and how soon it could reach Americans. 

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With the release of two COVID-19 vaccines we’re one step closer to pre-pandemic life. However, after months inside, our social skills may be a bit rusty. Social isolation during the pandemic can have surprising effects on the brain. Research suggests our social skills may be suffering. CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to University of Chicago Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience Stephanie Cacioppo about how and why this is happening. This episode originally aired on Sept. 15.

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It’s hard to believe that it has been a year since Covid-19 made its way into the United States. One year ago, this week, a man walked into a clinic in Washington state, becoming the first patient to test positive for Covid-19 in the US. CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks back on the painful lessons of this tragic year

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With a new presidential administration comes new opportunities to slow the transmission of Covid-19. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks about some of President Joe Biden’s goals, and what experts would recommend he do first.

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We usually have to wait days to get the results from our nose-swab PCR tests, and meanwhile, we might be spreading the virus without even knowing it. What if instead we could all be tested twice a week and know the results in just minutes? CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks with Harvard epidemiologist Dr. Michael Mina about the game-changing potential of affordable at-home rapid testing. 

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One in three LA County residents have tested positive for the virus and hospitals are struggling to treat everyone who needs critical care. CNN Correspondent Sara Sidner has been covering the devastation for months. Today she has a frank conversation with CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta about why things have gotten so bad and how difficult it's been to report on the front lines of this crisis.

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As human activity ventures further into the wilderness, scientists believe more diseases will emerge. CNN Senior International Correspondent Sam Kiley takes Sanjay on a journey deep into the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the hunt for the next pandemic pathogen continues. 

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For a lot of children, the pandemic has been an unsettling time. Socializing is limited, school is not the same, and parents are often stressed out themselves. CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks with psychologist and best-selling author Lisa Damour about what children want and need right now.

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Some people call the mental and emotional stress that healthcare workers have faced this past year ‘burnout.’ But burnout existed in the industry long before Covid-19. So what do you call something that’s more exhausting and enduring than that? Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks with emergency physician Dr. Megan Ranney and psychiatrist Dr. Jessi Gold about the mental health effects of their jobs.

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A lot of people have been feeling stressed out by this pandemic, and unfortunately, it’s been that way for a while now, but what is this unrelenting stress doing to our brains? CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks with Stanford University neuroscientist Prof. Robert Sapolsky about the potentially damaging effects of chronic stress on the human brain, and what we can do to help.

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What’s the latest news about vaccines, and what are the delays with the rollout? In this episode, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers listener questions about the distribution process and post-vaccination transmission. 

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Imagine a country that is not under a strict lockdown or scrambling to find hospital beds to care for Covid patients; where people regularly dine and drink inside. This country exists –it’s Singapore. One of our associate producers, Emily Liu, makes the trip back home, to a place where life feels almost normal again. 

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New variants of the coronavirus are circulating around the globe and causing some concern among experts. One in particular, variant B.1.1.7, has been found to more easily spread from one person to another.  This new variant has already been identified in several states in the US. To understand how this will affect the course of the pandemic, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks with virologist Angela Rasmussen.  

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