Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s revamped CDC vaccine advisory board stopped recommending certain flu vaccines this week. On this week’s On the Media, a scientist debunks the claims that RFK, Jr.’s appointees are making. Plus, how the media covered the U.S. bombing of Iran.

[00:00] Host Micah Loewinger unspools the Trump administration’s attempts to control the narrative around the war in Iran, including the president’s insistence on the “total obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear sites, conflicting reports over whether or not Iran had a nuclear weapons program in the works, and how the media is missing the mark.

[00:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center and a physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, about how the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., purged the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee members, the controversial figures Kennedy replaced them with, and what impact this will have on the future of vaccines and immunology in the US.

[00:00] Brooke continues her conversation with Paul Offit about the new controversial figures appointed to the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, and how science communication could improve in the next public health crisis.

Further reading:

“Lawmakers and Pundits Speed Run Iraq WMDs-Level Lies About Iran,” by Sarah Lazare and Adam Johnson
“Donald Trump and Sean Hannity Set Off a Wave of Disinformation After Iran Bombing,” by David Gilbert

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Trump Tries and (Mostly) Fails to Control the Narrative on Iran. Plus, RFK Jr. is Bad for Our Health

On the Media