Episode 10 - When Politics Predicts Mortality with Dr. Haider Warraich

In this episode, Manny and Dylan speak with Dr. Haider Warraich about one of his recent publications on voting behavior and mortality rates in counties across the USA. His research found that overall, American mortality rate is going down (which is a good thing–we’re living longer!) but that the rate of mortality rate decline is higher in Democratic counties than in Republican counties. Manny suggests that there are policy implications from this research. Dr. Warraich suggests that at least part of this can be explained by norms for health and medicine diverging in different parts of the country. We can clearly see this happening now in terms of the Democratic and Republican voters’ response to COVID-19.

• Manny's article on this topic: https://scienceofsocialproblems.com/2022/06/19/who-should-we-vote-for-to-promote-health-and-well-being/
• Dr. Warraich’s webpage
• Dr. Warraich’s paper in BMJ about politics and death
• The Song of Our Scars: The Untold Story of Pain
• Leading causes of death in the USA
• IPCC report on climate emissions

Image by Milos Duskic from Pixabay