In September 2023, Mathematica and Congressman Don Beyer’s office hosted an event on Capitol Hill to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for health equity. This episode of On the Evidence features audio from the September event, anchored by Victoria Knight, a health care policy reporter for Axios, who interviewed Congressman Beyer and moderated a subsequent panel with Ellie Graeden, Jen Roberts, Ngan MacDonald, and Deliya Wesley. • Beyer represents the 8th Congressional Dis...
Nov 29, 2023•58 min
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features Elizabeth Linos, the 23rd recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize. Linos is a public management scholar and behavioral scientist who studies, designs, and tests innovations in how government works. On the episode, Linos talks about what public sector workers and public policy researchers can learn from each other, how she selects research topics that have salience in the policy community, and what she is learning abou...
Nov 08, 2023•29 min
Jennifer Pahlka served as the U.S. deputy chief technology officer under President Barack Obama and founded Code for America, a nonprofit that works to improve government digital services. In her new book, "Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better," Pahlka takes us beyond the basics to explore why policy implementation goes wrong and what we can do to improve delivery of government services and create better outcomes for the American public. On this...
Oct 26, 2023•36 min
Teacher recruitment and retention challenges have increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But even before that, students of diverse backgrounds have historically not seen themselves reflected in the adults in their classrooms and schools. Why does this matter? Students of color do better in school when they have teachers who share similar identities. For example, Black students with at least one Black teacher in grades K-3 are 13 percent more likely to graduate high school and 19 per...
Oct 11, 2023•52 min
For anyone looking to understand Earth’s climate history and the unfolding climate crisis, Michael Mann has got you covered. Mann is the Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media. He has authored numerous books, including The New Climate War and The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars. He was selected by Scientific American as one of the fifty...
Sep 27, 2023•25 min
From helping lead implementation of the Evidence Act to providing technical assistance on activities and initiatives, the Evidence Team at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is on the frontlines of evidence building and use across the federal government. Led by Diana Epstein (Team Lead), Erica Zielewski (Senior Evidence Analyst), Danielle Berman (Senior Evidence Analyst), and Erika Liliedahl (Senior Evidence Analyst), the OMB Evidence Team spends their days doing “anything and everything ...
Sep 19, 2023•39 min
Gayle Smith, CEO of the ONE Campaign, served in many leadership roles in the federal government as a staunch advocate for evidence-based decision making. As Coordinator for Global COVID Response and Health Security at the U.S. Department of State in 2021, Smith led the U.S. effort to end the global pandemic, helping the Biden-Harris Administration map out a response, identify spikes, and target vulnerabilities through monitoring, testing, diagnostics, and other tools. As Administrator of the Uni...
Aug 30, 2023•21 min
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequities that changed how individuals engage with pre-K programs, schools, colleges, employers, and the world at large. Early evidence suggests the pandemic took a toll on student learning, educational attainment, employment, and physical and mental well-being, especially in communities of color and communities experiencing poverty. In recognition of the fact that better data infrastructure will be needed to shift the systems that currently produc...
Aug 16, 2023•57 min
In this special feature, On the Evidence host J.B. Wogan reflects on the first 100 episodes of the Mathematica podcast, and retraces some of the steps taken in the almost five years since the series launched in early 2019. Learn more, listen, and subscribe: https://mathematica.org/ontheevidence
Aug 04, 2023•39 min
In May 2023, Mathematica hosted a convening on Capitol Hill about embedding evidence in federal decision making, with a focus on the legacy of the nearly five-year-old Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, also known as the Evidence Act. One of the attendees that day was Robert Shea, an expert on performance improvement in government who served on the bipartisan U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, a group whose recommendations informed the Evidence Act. Shea is the chief e...
Aug 02, 2023•27 min
Leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, only about one in every seven students served by the National School Lunch Program also participated in free summer meals programs provided by the federal Food and Nutrition Service. The low ratio of students accessing meals in the summer compared to the school year has been dubbed the “summer food gap.” Policymakers and anti-hunger advocates have long worried that millions of children from households with low incomes aren’t getting enough to eat when school ...
Jul 20, 2023•39 min
This episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast focuses on how research informs funding strategies to tackle an urgent social challenge. A couple of years ago, Mathematica reviewed evidence from across the world on whether education programs can prevent or mitigate violence and crime. USAID commissioned the report to help develop effective strategies for leveraging the education sector to address violence and crime in Latin America and the Caribbean. Although Mathematica’s researchers iden...
Jul 06, 2023•43 min
In late May 2023, Mathematica coordinated with Congressman Derek Kilmer’s office to host a discussion on Capitol Hill about the impact of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act) and how to further embed the use of data and evidence in federal decision making. This episode of On the Evidence features edited audio from the event with remarks from Kilmer and his House colleague, Rep. William Timmons, in addition to a panel discussion with experts from government, think ta...
Jun 21, 2023•51 min
The fragmentation of outpatient health care drives up the cost of care and worsens the quality of care that patients receive, posing a risk to patients’ health. On this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, guests James Lee of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, Knitasha Washington of ATW Health Solutions, Bob Phillips of the Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care, and Lori Timmins of Mathematica discuss recent research on the nature of the problem and fed...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr 3 min
The 95th episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features author Tina Rosenberg discussing the role of data and other evidence in supporting solutions journalism. In 2013, Rosenberg co-founded the Solutions Journalism Network, which challenges journalists to show whether a solution they are covering is effective using available data or qualitative results. The episode explores the nature of solutions journalism and how researchers who evaluate policies and programs can contribute to evi...
May 25, 2023•56 min
Episode 94 of On the Evidence is the second installment in a new occasional series on the show called Evidence in Government, where guests talk about new developments in the halls of government and the role that evidence can or should play in decisions that could improve people’s lives. On this episode, Christina Ciocca Eller talks about a recent push at the White House to accelerate the comingling of research and public policy to improve the lives of the American people. Ciocca Eller is an assi...
May 10, 2023•41 min
On this episode, we discuss the Family First Prevention Services Act in the context of one state’s efforts to build evidence for a parent education program thought to prevent child abuse and neglect. Katherine Guffey, Meg Dygert, and Allon Kalisher discuss a parent education program in Arizona that Mathematica evaluated, the Family First law, and the long-term implications of the law’s provisions around prevention services and evidence of effectiveness. Guffey is the executive consultant to the ...
Apr 26, 2023•44 min
In the president’s proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year, the Biden White House outlines a spending plan that would expand health care insurance coverage for more Americans, extend free school meals to more children, and provide financial assistance for child care to more families. The budget includes more than a dozen references to evidence and calls for taking evidence-based or evidence-informed approaches to criminal justice, foster care prevention services, and registered apprenticeship p...
Apr 12, 2023•38 min
Every year, Mathematica publishes dozens of new papers and reports, some of which surface fresh insights about how public agencies and private organizations can be more effective at improving public well-being. For the 91st episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, we’re launching an occasional series focused on examples of solutions that recent research suggests are effective. All three solutions in this episode involve financial incentives that seek to reduce health care costs while im...
Mar 30, 2023•12 min
On this episode, guests Tosin Shenbanjo, Julie Sanon, and Allison Holmes discuss a cross-sector partnership in Memphis, Tennessee, that infused equity into a local nonprofit’s two-generation strategy for alleviating poverty and supporting families. Sanon is the chief operating officer at Agape Child & Family Services in Memphis. Holmes is a senior research associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Shenbanjo is a researcher at Mathematica. They share lessons from a collaboration between Aga...
Mar 15, 2023•1 hr 5 min
On the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, we look at a potential solution to two concerns in K–12 education during the pandemic: student learning loss and teacher burnout. The conversation builds on a national study from Mathematica and the Institute of Education Sciences on a form of individualized, video-based teacher coaching, which improved student achievement. Our guests for this episode include a teacher (Nicole Minor), a teacher coach (Michelle Schmidt), and a Mathem...
Mar 01, 2023•51 min
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast looks at proven ways to help job seekers with low incomes during economic recessions and recoveries. Guests Tyreese Nicolas, Kimberly Clum, and Alex Stanczyk share insights from the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse, a publicly available website about interventions designed to help job seekers with low incomes. They also discuss what the evidence says about the effectiveness of these interventions. Nicolas served as an assistant d...
Feb 15, 2023•37 min
Every year, early-career scholars join Mathematica for a summer to work on independent research related to improving public well-being. As prospective applicants weigh whether to submit an application by the Feb. 28 deadline for the 2023 Summer Fellowship program, Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast spoke with last year’s fellows (Jennifer Kirk, Katherine Engel, and Adrienne Jones) about their experience working with Mathematica staff, the policy implications of their research, why they’re int...
Feb 01, 2023•45 min
Princeton professor Matthew Salganik’s book, Bit by Bit, explores the merging worlds of computer science and social science for timely, policy relevant research in the 21st century. In the book, he shows how traditional research techniques in the social sciences can sometimes be combined with digital tools and big data to generate high-quality evidence on a larger scale, in less time, and at a much lower cost. On the five-year anniversary of his book’s release, Salganik, who is also a member of ...
Jan 18, 2023•59 min
On the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, guests Michael A. Becketts, Tracy Wareing Evans, Shavana Howard, and Matt Stagner make the case for state and local human services agencies to play a central role in the response to climate change. Becketts is the director of the Fairfax County Department of Family Services; Wareing Evans is the President and Chief Executive Officer at American Public Human Services Association; Howard is an assistant secretary for the Louisiana Dep...
Jan 05, 2023•53 min
For the final episode of 2022, we continue our annual tradition of inviting guests to reflect on Mathematica’s work with its partners in advancing equity, addressing the climate crisis, improving public well-being, and the role that evidence played in it. This year’s guests are Nancy Murray, Jill Constantine, and Chris Trenholm, who oversee Mathematica’s International, Human Services, and Health business units, respectively. On the episode, they discuss the following topics: • Where they see sig...
Dec 16, 2022•54 min
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features Abigail Aiken, the 22nd recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize. In Part 1, as part of her acceptance speech at the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management’s fall research conference, Aiken shares details about her personal and professional journey as a researcher in the area of evidence-based reproductive health policy. Listen to Part 1 here: https://soundcloud.com/ontheevidence/informing-reproductive...
Dec 08, 2022•33 min
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features Abigail Aiken, the 22nd recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize. In Part 1, as part of her acceptance speech at the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management’s fall research conference, Aiken shares details about her personal and professional journey as a researcher in the area of evidence-based reproductive health policy. A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/abigail-...
Dec 08, 2022•44 min
Climate change represents the single most significant policy challenge in the 21st century. It is a multifaceted and global threat to society that affects a range of concerns, from the environment and food security to health and economic inequality. Recognizing the urgency of the threat, Mathematica recently established a climate change practice to help develop innovative and sustainable solutions that meet ambitious reduction goals for carbon dioxide emissions while helping vulnerable communiti...
Nov 09, 2022•30 min
On this episode of On the Evidence, Don Berwick of the National Academy of Medicine’s Climate Collaborative, Tom DiLiberto of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Aparna Keshaviah of Mathematica explore the risks that climate change and extreme heat pose to human health and how data can help inform solutions. A full transcript of the episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/addressing-the-harmful-effects-of-climate-change-on-extreme-heat-and-human-health L...
Oct 20, 2022•47 min
