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Imagine a lawless frontier. It probably wouldn't be so different from the ocean, where abuses like slavery and human trafficking or crimes like rape or murder are hidden from sight. Ian Urbina is a journalist focusing on lawlessness at sea. He has investigated how Chinese fishing vessels are illegally operating in the waters between Korea, Japan and Russia, violating UN sanctions, and recently, how the food security of coastal populations in West Africa is are at risk due to overfishing. After reporting on staff at The New York Times for about 20 years, he's started The Outlaw Ocean Project, a non-profit journalism organization which focuses on telling stories about the environmental, human rights, and labor abuses occurring offshore around the world. In order to reach a broader audience, Ian has also launched The Outlaw Ocean Music Project, which allows artists to create music inspired from journalism on ocean issues. As a result, hundreds of musicians from more than 80 countries have been telling new audiences about issues at sea. On this episode, Ian joins Melissa Wright - who oversees the Vibrant Oceans Initiative, Bloomberg Philanthropies' program that works to protect the ocean and those who depend on it -- from climate change, pollution, and overfishing. Melissa and Ian will tell us more about how reporting at sea has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, how his team uses data from Global Fishing Watch to corroborate his work, and how you can take action to protect our ocean at home.

This marks a very special episode of Follow the Data: It's not only our 100th episode, but this podcast also coincides with the release of the 2020 Annual Report, our yearly review of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ efforts to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. To celebrate our 100th episode, Patti Harris, the CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies, joined the podcast. She oversees our programs focused on the arts, education, environment, government innovation, and public health, as well as Mike Bloomberg's corporate and personal philanthropy and Bloomberg Associates, our pro bono consultancy that works with mayors in cities around the world. She's spent more than two decades working with Mike, and previously served as first deputy mayor during his mayoralty. Patti is the first woman in New York City to have served in this role, which is the city's highest appointed position. Before joining the Bloomberg Administration, she managed Corporate Communications at Bloomberg LP, overseeing Philanthropy, Public Relations, and Government Affairs. Patti sits down with host Katherine Oliver for a socially distanced podcast recording at Bloomberg's global headquarters in New York - our first in-person recording in over a year! - to discuss how Bloomberg Philanthropies worked to make the biggest impact possible during the COVID-19 crisis, how employees at Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies have worked to support communities in need, and what's keeping her hopeful right now.

It's been just over a year since the first coronavirus case was reported in the United States, and the virus continues to spread rapidly through our communities. Last spring, we spoke with Dr. Arturo Casadevall – an infectious disease specialist and Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University who was leading a team of experts to develop a convalescent blood plasma therapy for health care workers and for early treatment of COVID-19 patients. To help launch this research, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and Johns Hopkins worked together to provide early funding for the potential therapeutic uses of convalescent plasma. Fast forward to earlier this month, when the Mayo Clinic published a study showing antibodies in convalescent blood plasma therapy help lower mortality rates in over 3,000 coronavirus patients. While the COVID-19 vaccine continues to roll out, blood plasma therapy can help to save the lives of patients already infected with the coronavirus - and the Red Cross reports that hospital distributions of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 patents have increased by 250% since October. On this episode, Dr. Casadevall joins Dr. Jessica Leighton of the Bloomberg Philanthropies public health team to tell us more about how his research has progressed over the past few months, if convalescent blood plasma therapy and the vaccine are effective for new coronavirus strains, and how you could help save lives in your community. If you’ve recovered from COVID-19 and are interested in donating your blood plasma to others, please visit redcrossblood.org.

From vaccination efforts to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic to the effects of climate change, global leaders face many challenges. Perhaps just as grave of an issue -- but one that's gotten less time in the spotlight -- is the continued rise in obesity rates. The World Health Organization reports that worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. As mayor of New York City, Mike Bloomberg championed policies to help improve diets, from banning trans fats in restaurants and requiring calorie counts to be posted in chain restaurants, to launching the green cart program to provide fresh produce around the city. Today, Bloomberg Philanthropies' food policy program works to raise public awareness around obesity and supports policies to promote healthier diets around the world. One country where our work has grown is Mexico, which has emerged as a leader in food policy. In 2013, our partners in Mexico supported the passage of a one-peso per liter tax on sugary drinks, and was one of the first countries to do so. Robust evaluation of the tax showed that within two years of implementation, it was associated with a drop in sales of sugary drinks by almost 10%. Since that landmark tax, more than 30 countries, cities, and regions have implemented similar policies. More recently, in October of 2020, Mexico implemented a front-of-package warning label regulation, requiring foods and beverages that exceed certain thresholds for calories, sugar, salt, trans fat, and saturated fat to carry warning labels. On this episode, recorded in late 2020, Kristine Momanyi of the Bloomberg Philanthropies food policy team joins Ana Larrañaga, the Advocacy Coordinator at ContraPESO, a civil society organization that works to prevent noncommunicable diseases in Mexico, and Simón Barquera, the Director of the Nutrition and Health Research Center at the National Institute for Public Health in Mexico, to discuss the significance of the country's front-of-package warning labels. This is the third and final episode in a three-part mini series around food policy

Imagine finding a $4,000 check or more from the federal government in your bank account. For many American families of four, that's a real possibility thanks to the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is designed to help low-to-moderate income workers and families get a tax break - and in Detroit, 80% of residents who were eligible were not applying for it, even though the city has one of the lowest median incomes and highest poverty rates in the country. To help Detroiters claim the Earned Income Tax Credit - and to make sure they're not leaving money on the table - Bloomberg Associates worked with Mayor Mike Duggan and the Accounting Aid Society among other Detroit partners, to develop a strategy to spread the word around it and encourage eligible households to apply for it. Since the expanded EITC campaign began in 2016, thousands of additional Detroit residents claim their Earned Income Tax Credit annually – worth tens of millions of dollars in the pockets of Detroiters. On this episode, recorded in late 2020, Rose Gill and Amy Kurland of the Bloomberg Associates Municipal Integrity team sit down with Kathy Aro and Gabrielle Thomas, who run the Account Aid Society, an organization which assists low-to-moderate income residents of southeast Michiganders with free tax preparation and education services. Kathy and Gabrielle discussed how they're giving back to Detroiters and how they shifted operations during the coronavirus pandemic. Tiffany Thomas, a Detroit resident, and Mayor Duggan also join the podcast to discuss the success of the campaign and what it means for Detroiters.

Black patients have better health outcomes when treated by Black doctors - but the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic threatens to worsen existing disparities potentially preventing current Black medical students burdened with medical school debt from completing their degrees. Last fall, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a $100 million gift to the four historically Black medical schools in the U.S. - Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. This gift will help ease the debt burden of medical students currently enrolled and receiving financial aid in order to help increase the number of Black doctors in the U.S. This gift is the first investment of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, an effort to increase intergenerational Black wealth and address systemic underinvestment in Black communities. In this episode, recorded in December, Garnesha Ezediaro, who leads the Greenwood Initiative at Bloomberg Philanthropies, sits down with Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and Dean of Morehouse School of Medicine, and Dr. James Hildreth, President and CEO of Meharry Medical College. They discuss what makes their students and school communities so special, the underlying factors contributing to health disparities in Black communities, and how Bloomberg Philanthropies' gift will enable students to choose what and where they practice medicine based on passion, not a paycheck. This is the second episode in a two-part series around this investment.

2020 will certainly be remembered as a pivotal year in history – defined by a global pandemic which exacerbated challenges to the American public health system, exposed racial and social injustice, and characterized a tense presidential election. For this episode – the last of the year – we wanted to highlight some of this year’s episodes which gave us fresh perspective on the events of this year: Systemic Racism as a Public Health Issue, The Pandemic’s Effect on Gun Violence, How Cities Are Supporting Arts & Culture During COVID-19, Virtual Advising, Does It Work?, and Moving American Beyond Coal. Follow the Data will be on hiatus for the next two weeks during the holidays. In the meantime, here are five podcasts our team is listening to right now: Public Health on Call, Big Tobacco Messed with the Wrong Moms, No Place Like Home, A Matter of Degrees, and The Serpentine Podcast. 

The pandemic has been especially devastating for the Black community – which highlights the need for more Black doctors more than ever. Black communities are 4x more likely to have a shortage of physicians, and just 5% of practicing doctors are Black, even though Black patients have better health outcomes when treated by Black doctors.While Black doctors are more likely to serve those in medically underserved areas, medical school debt often forces them to choose between a career of passion and a career that would pay the bills. And the economic impact of the pandemic only makes it harder for many students to complete their degrees.Earlier this year, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a $100 million gift to the four historically Black medical schools in the U.S. - Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. This gift will help ease the debt burden of medical students currently enrolled and receiving financial aid in order to help increase the number of Black doctors in the U.S. This gift is the first investment of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, an effort to increase intergenerational Black wealth and address systemic underinvestment in Black communities. In this episode, Garnesha Ezediaro, who leads the Greenwood Initiative at Bloomberg Philanthropies, sits down with Dr. David Carlisle, President and CEO of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, and Dr. Wayne Frederick, President of Howard University. They discuss how health and wealth disparities in Black communities are linked, how the pandemic has impacted Black Americans, and how Bloomberg Philanthropies’ gift of up to $100,000 for participating medical school students will impact their school communities and beyond. This is the first episode in a two-part series around this initiative.

This year, the effects of climate change became unavoidable: There were so many storms in 2020, that the group that names them worked their way through the English alphabet and has moved to the Greek alphabet. 2020 is set to be the warmest year on record. And wildfires raged in California, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado. There’s no denying that climate change is playing out in front of our eyes. In fact, President-Elect Biden campaigned on a promise to make climate change central to his administration’s agenda.  But what can the average person do to act before it’s too late?Dr. Katharine Wilkinson and Dr. Leah Stokes seek to answer that question on A Matter of Degrees – a podcast for the “climate curious,” which tells stories around how the climate crisis came to be – and the tools we have to fix it. In addition to hosting the podcast, Dr. Wilkinson and Dr. Stokes are deeply committed to driving the climate movement forward: Dr. Wilkinson is co-editor of “All We Can Save,” a book written by women climate leaders, and is the co-founder of the All We Can Save Project, in support of the feminist climate renaissance. Dr. Stokes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and a faculty affiliate at the Bren School of Environmental, Science & Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. On this episode, Dr. Wilkinson and Dr. Stokes join Antha Williams, who leads the Bloomberg Philanthropies global climate & environment program, and her 10-year-old daughter Azzie Williams, to discuss the opportunities and challenges COVID-19 response provides for a green recovery, the Biden-Harris administration’s climate agenda, and what’s giving them hope for the climate movement going forward. 

City streets have always been our most important public spaces. A well-designed street that works for everyone, whether you're walking or biking, taking a bus or driving a car, becomes not just a way to get from A to B, but a true destination itself. A growing number of cities around the world are embracing public art as an effective and relatively low-cost strategy to activate their streets and make them safer and more inviting to resident and visitors. Bringing light and color to dull asphalt and concrete can reshape the way we experience daily life in our cities – and that holds especially true during the pandemic with people traveling less and spending more time exercising, dining and socializing outside. In 2019, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the Asphalt Art Initiative to help cities use art to improve street safety, revitalize public spaces, and engage their local communities. Our pro bono consulting arm, Bloomberg Associates, produced the Asphalt Art Guide, which highlights successful art activations in cities around the world and provides advice and tips for cities interested in making their own asphalt art projects. We also funded pilot projects in 16 small and mid-sized cities around the country to demonstrate the impact of these low-cost interventions and encourage cities to develop long-lasting processes for implementing effective asphalt art. On this episode, David Andersson of the Bloomberg Associates Arts team and Nick Mosquera of the Bloomberg Associates Transportation team sit down with representatives from three of our funded projects that were installed this fall: Jamie Forbes, a community leader and former city council member from Saginaw, Michigan, DuRon Netsell, a streetscape designer who managed an installation in Kansas City, Missouri, and Mensah Bey, an artist who designed a mural that was implemented in Norfolk, Virginia. They discuss how asphalt art encourages residents to take ownership of their streets, how cities can redesign roads to make them safer, and how to engage community members in cities that may be installing public art projects.

As the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, the challenge of food insecurity has been a constant subject among public health experts. On this episode, the second part in our series about food policy during the pandemic, we meet Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, also known as Dr. T. Join us as Dr. T sits down with Luyanda Majija of Bloomberg Philanthropies partner Vital Strategies, a global public health organization, to discuss how Dr. T plans to advance food justice in her new role, the role that food plays in her native South Africa and how the food environment has shifted during COVID-19, and how Dr. T is working with global UN bodies and agencies during the pandemic.

After seven months, Coronavirus cases continue to surge across the United States. The New York Times reports that 26 states are at or near record numbers for new infections, and that hospitals are recording an estimated 46 percent increase in patients hospitalized from the virus over last month. And while the escalating case numbers have not resulted in lockdowns or curfews in the U.S., European countries are introducing new restrictions to slow the spread of the virus. In France, President Macron has reimposed a nationwide lockdown, while Germany will close bars, restaurants, movie theaters, sports facilities and more through the end of November. Health policy has never been at the forefront like it is now, at least in our lifetimes. The Johns Hopkins University has introduced the Health Policy Forum, a quarterly series of discussions designed to bring Johns Hopkins faculty, students, and experts together with policy makers to explore how health policies are developed and implemented. In this episode, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Dean Ellen MacKenzie joins Dr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for the first installment of the Johns Hopkins University’s Health Policy forum. The webcast originally aired on October 16. The audio is adapted from Public Health on Call, a daily podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dean MacKenzie and Dr. Fauci discuss how public health measures can be the gateway to opening the economy, how the COVID-19 vaccine could change the state of coronavirus response, and how the scientific community can gain trust among the general public. You can access a recording of Dean MacKenzie and Dr. Fauci’s complete conversation at https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/10/16/anthony-fauci-national-covid-response-health-policy/.

Navigating a pandemic, our country’s reckoning with racial injustice, and a divisive presidential election is difficult – but it can be especially difficult for teenagers, whose school communities and peer support systems have been turned upside down this year. In fact, a CDC study conducted earlier this summer suggests that younger adults have experienced disproportionately worse mental health outcomes as a result of the pandemic. Engaging teenagers during tumultuous times is nothing new to Joni Holifield. She created HeartSmiles in 2015, when riots broke out in her native Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray. Today, the program provides enrichment and leadership development opportunities for youth. Joni also runs the Youth Advisory Board, which provides guidance to the Johns Hopkins Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, HeartSmiles convened youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in East Baltimore for personal development programming, leadership training, and college and career mentorship in collaboration with the school's Center for Adolescent Health. HeartSmiles aims to inspire youth to be leaders in their communities and to demonstrate leadership in real time through activities that build character. Since the pandemic hit, HeartSmiles has shifted its programming online – and has started connecting with youth beyond Baltimore, too. Joni and David Carberry, the CEO of Enradius, a Baltimore-based digital advertising company and an alum of the Bloomberg Philanthropies and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program in Baltimore, join this episode of the podcast. David participated in HeartSmiles’ partnership program, which is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, and connects students with mentors and work opportunities at the Baltimore 10,000 Small Businesses, and mentored Kamri Moses – a student and entrepreneur in her own right. Joni, David and Kamri sit down to discuss how HeartSmiles has created a digital space for youth to connect during the pandemic, how building community relationships has changed during the coronavirus crisis, and why it’s important for businesses to collaborate with youth and community-based programs--investment in the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed virtually everything about the way we live – including how we eat. The pandemic has drastically increased the number of people around the world who are food insecure, while obesity and other diet-related conditions like diabetes and hypertension increase the risk of hospitalization and severe illness from COVID-19. Improving the quality of our diets and building resilient food systems is critical to public health – which is why Bloomberg Philanthropies is investing another $250 million over the next five years in order to accelerate progress toward creating healthier food environments globally. On this episode, Dr. Neena Prasad, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ food policy program, sits down with Dr. Marion Nestle - the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, and a Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. She recently wrote Let’s Ask Marion: What You Need to Know About the Politics of Food, Nutrition, and Health, a series of essays around food politics. Neena and Marion join the podcast this World Food Day to discuss why food is political; the connection between hunger, obesity, and climate change; and how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the need - and opportunities - to create a healthier and more socially just food system. This is the first episode in a mini-series around food policy. To learn more about Marion Nestle’s work, you can read her blog here: http://foodpolitics.com/ You can buy her book, Let’s Ask Marion: What You Need to Know About the Politics of Food, Nutrition, and Health, here: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520343238/lets-ask-marion

As wildfires blaze along the West Coast, extreme weather devastates the Gulf Coast and Midwest, and temperatures rise to record levels, a majority of registered voters in the United States say that climate change will be an important issue in the 2020 presidential election. Bloomberg Philanthropies has been working with the Sierra Club to phase out coal power in favor of cleaner, healthier forms of energy. Through our work on the Beyond Coal campaign, we’ve helped retire 60% of domestic coal plants, and are on track to retire 100% of the nation’s coal plants by 2030. Beyond Coal estimates that these plant closures have saved an estimated 7,600 lives, prevented nearly 12,000 heart attacks, and resulted in an estimated annual savings of $3.6 billion in health care costs. Beyond Coal has been named one of the most successful environmental campaigns in the country, and has inspired the launch of grassroots campaigns in Europe, Korea, Japan, and Australia. On this episode, Antha Williams – global head of Climate & Environment programs at Bloomberg Philanthropies – sits down with Mary Anne Hitt, the Sierra Club’s National Director of Campaigns, and Reverend Yearwood, the President and CEO of Hip Hop Caucus. Together, they discuss the impact of retiring coal plants and transitioning to clean energy, how climate justice and racial justice are connected, and why it’s important to vote for candidates who believe in climate change in the upcoming election.

This week, Johns Hopkins University data confirmed that the global coronavirus death toll crossed one million. Though we are learning new information about the virus every day, cities are home to 50% of the global population – and therefore at the forefront of the COVID-19 crisis. So the Partnership for Healthy Cities – which was created by Bloomberg Philanthropies to prevent noncommunicable diseases and injuries in 70 global cities – is stepping up and expanding its support for cities and local leaders during the pandemic. On this episode, Fernando Straface, the Secretary General and Secretary of Foreign Relations of the City of Buenos Aires, joins Dr. Kelly Henning – head of Bloomberg Philanthropies public health team. Together, they discuss how Buenos Aires is collaborating with other Latin American cities to coordinate coronavirus response, how the city government is utilizing data from its COVID-19 dashboard, and what’s keeping local leaders hopeful now.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed many inequities– and for high-achieving, lower-income high school seniors, the cost of higher education may make enrolling in college even more challenging. The National College Attainment Network analysis of FAFSA data through August reports that 1000,000 fewer high school seniors completed financial aid applications for college admissions this year. One of our CollegePoint partners, Matriculate, trains college student Advising Fellows to help high-achieving, lower-income high school students identify colleges that are a good fit, complete resumes, recommendations, and application forms, apply for financial aid, compare aid packages, and prepare academically, socially, and emotionally to succeed in college. On this episode, Jhenielle Reynolds, who works on the education team at Bloomberg Philanthropies, sits down with Mikayla Deckard, Matriculate’s Head Virtual Advising Fellow, and a student at Indiana University - Bloomington, and Freddy Rodriguez, a high school student currently applying to college with the help of CollegePoint. Mikayla and Freddy join the podcast to tell us about how they’re working together to navigate the uncertainties of applying to college during a pandemic and share advice for other students in the college admissions process.

Summer has always been a special time for children to get outdoors and play – but the coronavirus pandemic posed a challenge for summer camps and programs serving youth. The Fresh Air Fund, which was founded in 1877 at the height of the tuberculosis epidemic in New York City was determined to continue its mission of providing free summer experiences for kids. With the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ford Foundation, and The JPB Foundation, The Fresh Air Fund created Summer Spaces, in collaboration with the city, transforming closed New York City streets into age-appropriate, socially distant, play spaces for children. The program also provided employment to local youth ages 18 to 24, who served as activity specialists, coaches, and counselors. Special thanks to the many program partners, including ones mentioned in this episode: Ford Foundation, The JPB Foundation, the American Ballet Theater, Scholastic, and Verizon. In this episode, Fatima Shama, the Executive Director of The Fresh Air Fund, sits down with Megan Sheekey, who leads strategic partnerships at Bloomberg Associates, to tell us more about how The Fresh Air Fund has innovated its programming during the pandemic, how The Fresh Air Fund worked with local partners to support communities, and how cities can more effectively collaborate with partners in order to improve quality of life for their residents.

CollegePoint is a virtual advising program that aims to help as many as 65,000 high-achieving, low-income high school students apply to college, navigate the financial aid process, and decide which college to attend – entirely for free. The program matches each student with a virtual college advisor who provides personalized college application and financial aid support through text messages, e-mails, and video conference calls. On this episode, Jhenielle Reynolds, who works on the education team at Bloomberg Philanthropies, sits down with Rachel Maguire, a CollegePoint advisor, and Logan Balfantz, a recent CollegePoint alum who is now a freshman at the University of Notre Dame. Rachel and Logan joined the podcast to tell us more about what it was like to work together through CollegePoint during Logan’s college application process, to give tips to students who may be applying to college during the pandemic, and to share advice for students and advisors who may be adjusting to tele-education methods during the pandemic.

This episode is a rebroadcast that we first published in late September of 2019 around the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. We spoke with Alice Greenwald - National September 11th Memorial and Museum President and CEO. And she shared with us how a series of stone monoliths at the site of the memorial – known as the Glade – came to be and its purpose. And while it was temporarily closed to the public during the pandemic for safety reasons, the space has reopened to welcome visitors once again.