Pandemic Response

On this edition of ST Medical Monday, we look at the status quo of COVID in the Sooner State. How many people have been vaxxed in Oklahoma statewide...and how does our state compare to others in this regard? How many Delta Variant cases are being reported now by our state's hospitals? And is the number going up or down? Among those who, indeed, have been vaxxed, who should be getting a booster shot? And who shouldn't? And what about the flu shot -- who should be getting that? And is it possible, or even desirable, to get one's booster shot and flu shot in a single visit to a clinic?

Our guest on ST Medical Monday is the physician, regular CNBC contributor, and former FDA Commissioner, Scott Gottlieb. His new book explains how the coronavirus and its variants were able to effectively demolish America's pandemic protocols and preparations. "Uncontrolled Spread" also outlines the steps that Gottlieb says must be taken in order to safeguard against the next outbreak. As was noted of this work by Kirkus Reviews: "The author...urges that preparation for pandemics be considered a part of national security.... These and other measures are urgently needed....

Our guest is the noted medical expert, Dr. Leana Wen, a visiting professor at George Washington University's School of Public Health and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She's also a contributing columnist for The Washington Post and a CNN medical analyst, and she was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People.

We've heard often about "essential workers" since the pandemic got underway -- those indispensable individuals who are, alas, in many cases under-appreciated, under-paid, or both. But such vital workers are not, of course, just those working in the medical, science, health, or rescue fields, and these workers were certainly an important part of American society **before** the pandemic ever hit. Our guest is the New York-based author and journalist Eyal Press.

The pandemic, of course, has clearly changed -- and is actually still changing -- how we think about work, play, relationships, entertainment, education, social interaction, and much more. It's also making many of us wonder about city life, i.e., what the pros and cons of living in an urban setting really are in this age of Covid. Are people still as drawn to cities as they used to be? And what does the future of the city look like? Our guest is David Cutler, the Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics at Harvard University.

Our guest is Adam Tooze, a professor of history at Columbia University and the author of "Crashed," which was a New York Times Notable Book of 2018 and one of The Economist's Books of the Year. His timely new book, which he tells us about, mixes finance, politics, business, economics, medicine, and recent world history in order to trace what went wrong -- and why -- during the turning-point year that was 2020. This new book is "Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy." As was noted by Reuters: "Tooze makes a strong case for looking back and beginning to draw some conclusions....

On this edition of StudioTulsa, we speak with Dr Samantha Montano, a specialist on emergency management, and a professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy about her new book, "Disasterology: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis." Although emergency management vowed 'never again' after the mistakes in the response to Hurricane Katrina (Montano's first disaster experience), recent experiences after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and subsequent hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, lead Montano and other emergency management professionals to think that the next catastrophic disa

On this edition of ST, we discuss the Play Tulsa Music program, an initiative of the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (a/k/a Tulsa FMAC). Play Tulsa Music was first launched in September of last year as a pandemic-rooted economic recovery effort made possible by Tulsa County CARES Act funding. More than $190,000 was distributed in 2020 to 26 venues throughout Tulsa County, thereby helping to support 700+ local performances.

We are joined on ST Medical Monday by Dr. Shantanu Nundy, a primary care physician, technologist, and business leader who serves as Chief Medical Officer for Accolade, which provides technology-enabled health services to Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses. Dr.

The well-regarded historian Niall Ferguson is our guest; his many books include "Civilization," "The Great Degeneration," and "The Ascent of Money." He joins us to discuss his newest book, "Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe," which seems especially timely in the wake of the annus horribilis that was 2020. Ferguson's book sets out to show why human beings are getting worse, not better, at handling disasters -- despite advancements in medicine, science, technology, etc.

Our guest is Katherine May, a writer of fiction as well as nonfiction based in the seaside community of Whitstable, England. She joins us to discuss her enjoyable new book, "Wintering," which draws many engaging and far-flung lessons from literature, history, nature, and mythology about the transformative -- and even inspiring -- power of rest, retreat, and recuperation. As was noted of this book by a critic writing for BookPage: "Beautiful.... [May] is a poetic observer of the natural world, and quotable lines abound....

(Note: This discussion originally aired back in August.) How do we learn? And how do we learn best? What are the most effective ways of educating today? Our guest is Dr. Sanjay Sarma, who's the leader of the Open Learning program at MIT. He joins us to discuss his book, "Grasp." This pioneering work looks at the science of learning -- i.e., how the acquisition of knowledge works both in the mind and in the classroom.

(Note: This interview originally aired back in June.) Our guest is Sonia Shah, a science journalist who's long covered the intersection of science, politics, culture, and human rights for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets. Her latest book, which she tells us about, takes on many of our centuries-long assumptions about migration. That book is "The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move." Per The New York Times Book Review, it focuses "with compassion and insight a deeply complex and challenging subject....

Monday the 31st will bring the first day of classes for Tulsa Public Schools, and given the current pandemic, this is certainly going to be a very different school year. All TPS students, for starters, will be participating in either of two distinct programs: Distance Learning or Virtual Academy. How do these differ? And what should TPS parents be expecting -- and/or planning for -- as the new school year begins?

How do we learn? And how do we learn best? What are the most effective ways of educating today? Our guest on ST is Dr. Sanjay Sarma, who's the leader of the Open Learning program at MIT. He joins us to discuss his new book, "Grasp." This pioneering work looks at the science of learning -- i.e., how the acquisition of knowledge works both in the mind and in the classroom. The book also explores which teaching techniques are most effective -- and why -- and how schools should (and should not) use instructional technology, including online teaching apps and programs.

Should schools reopen? Should we be playing (or practicing) team sports right now? And which type of mask is the safest one to wear? On this edition of ST Medical Monday, we speak about these and other matters with Dr. Bruce Dart, executive director of the Tulsa City-County Health Department. Dr. Dart, who last appeared on our show back in March, offers an update on COVID-19 in our community at present.

With COVID cases now spiking across Oklahoma, and indeed, across much of the nation, it seems unlikely that Americans will be able to safely gather in large numbers anytime soon to hear music in a concert hall, arena, or auditorium. But the show, as they say, must go on -- and thus many gigs are lately being performed on Facebook Live, while others are being presented at drive-in movie complexes. Or via YouTube, etc. On this edition of ST, we talk to two local arts administrators on how they're planning to offer concert/orcheestral music to their audiences this fall.

We welcome to our show Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a physician, epidemiologist, public health expert, and progressive activist. He was appointed health director of Detroit, Michigan, at age 30, and he was formerly a professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. El-Sayed's new book, which he tells us about, is "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." As was noted of this book by Bill McKibben with 350.org: "This is a very important book.

Our guest on ST Medical Monday is Dr. Jennifer Clark, a Visiting Associate Professor of Community Health at TU's Oxley College of Health Sciences; she teaches in TU's Health Care Delivery Science Program. Dr. Clark is also a contributor/commentator for the ongoing, thrice-weekly Project ECHO updates regarding COVID-19. These online, open-to-the-public updates, originating from Oklahoma State University and freely streamable, are medically-driven information sessions presented by a multi-institutional array of doctors and scientists.

Our guest is Sonia Shah, a science journalist who's long covered the intersection of science, politics, culture, and human rights for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Scientific American, and other outlets. Her new book, which she tells us about, takes on many of our centuries-long assumptions about migration. The book is called "The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move." This work, per The New York Times Book Review, focuses "with compassion and insight a deeply complex and challenging subject....

On this edition of StudioTulsa, we meet immunologist Dr Eric Fajgenbaum, a researcher on the fairly rare disorder, Castleman's Disease. A survivor of this lymphatic condition himself, Fajgenbaum has devoted his work to discover how FDA-approved drugs can be repurposed to effectively fight Castleman's. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a number of areas where government was unprepared despite years of preparation, but it has also revealed a very un-governmental nimbleness in responding to the economics of the pandemic-induced recession. Economist Joshua Gans says there was no pandemics playbook on how to keep an economy running in a situation like this, and despite the real hardships many are facing today, policymakers have made more right decisions than wrong to this point.