Can Americans Come Together to Fight the Next Pandemic? | WSITY Live at WashU Bursky

Could America handle another pandemic? And what would we do differently this time?

For our first-ever live taping of Why Should I Trust You?, recorded at Washington University's Bursky School of Public Health in St. Louis, we tried something different.

We invented a hypothetical pandemic set in 2030 and invited four people with very different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to help America figure out how to respond.

Here's the premise: A mysterious new virus is emerging. The economy is fragile, political divisions run deep, and public trust in institutions remains low.

Our four guests have been called to Washington to advise the president. It's Friday afternoon, and by Monday morning, America needs a plan.

As the conversation unfolds, we introduce new developments and complications—not just about the virus, but about the economic, political, cultural, and social realities of the country confronting it.

Our panelists must weigh competing risks, draw on lessons from COVID, challenge one another's assumptions, and decide what they would recommend. Meanwhile, our live audience plays the role of the American public, responding to the panelists' ideas and raising questions of its own.

While this is on its face a conversation about the next pandemic, it's really a conversation about our values, our competing priorities, and who we are as a country.

What do we owe one another? How much risk are we willing to accept? Who gets to decide? And can we find a way forward when we don't all agree?

We don't know where our guests will agree or disagree. That's part of the point.

This is an experiment in what happens when people with different perspectives try to work through a national crisis together.

MEET OUR PANELISTS

Dr. Nahid Bhadelia is an infectious disease physician and founding director of Boston University's Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases. She served as a senior policy adviser to the Biden White House on the global COVID-19 response and has worked on the front lines of Ebola outbreaks in Africa.

David Zweig is an investigative journalist and author of An Abundance of Caution, which critically examines the evidence behind pandemic-era school closures and other COVID restrictions.

Katherine Wells has served as public health director for Lubbock, Texas, since 2015. She led the city's response to COVID-19 and played a central role in responding to the 2025 West Texas measles outbreak. Before moving to Lubbock, she spent 14 years working at the Texas state health department.

Jeff Hutt is a political organizer and former national field director for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 presidential campaign and sits on the board of the National Republican Liberty Caucus. His work focuses on civil liberties and grassroots political engagement.

SPECIAL GUEST

Dr. Sandro Galea is the inaugural dean of Washington University's Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky School of Public Health. A physician, epidemiologist, and author, he previously served as dean of Boston University's School of Public Health for a decade. His work focuses on the social forces that shape health and on reimagining the role of public health in society.


**Recorded live at the WashU Bursky School of Public Health, St. Louis, Missouri, October 27, 2026.

See it on YT: https://youtu.be/ZCWQ-qJT5pQ?si=DrU0aanBGbOO_Mit

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