When a disaster is prevented, it doesn't make the news and most don't hear about it; and that's exactly the problem. In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast with Dr. Barry Davis, biostatistician and author of The Preventioneers, we explore why prevention's biggest successes stay invisible. We discuss why climate warnings have gone unheeded for 170 years, why treatment beats prevention for the "popular vote," and how to rebuild trust with a public that distrusts experts. The answer isn't more data, but humility, storytelling, and trusted messengers.

References for Our Discussion

◼️[NEW BOOK] The Preventioneers: Diseases, Disasters, and the Discoveries That Changed Our World

◼️An Ounce of Prevention: A Substack by Barry R. Davis

Host

◼️ Purva Mehta, BMSc, MSc

Producer

◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®

Production Notes

◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room

Leave Us Some Feedback

If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.

Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

We're giving away a copy of Dr. Barry Davis' new book, "The Preventioneers: Diseases, Disasters, and the Discoveries That Changed Our World" To enter, just send an email to thepublichealthinsight@gmail.com with "book giveaway" in the subject line. Entries from the U.S. or Canada only. Contest closes on July 15th, and we'll reach out to the winner on July 17th. Full details are in the show notes. Good luck.

A doctor proves handwashing saves lives and gets destroyed for it. A president dies of a preventable stroke. Scientists spend decades proving smoking kills while the industry fights back. In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, Dr. Barry Davis, author of The Preventioneers, introduces us to people in history who saw catastrophe coming, built the evidence, and ran straight into resistance from industries, institutions, and a public that didn't want to hear it. If prevention saves lives, protects health, and saves money, why do we keep ignoring it until it's too late? This episode digs into that question.

References for Our Discussion

◼️[NEW BOOK] The Preventioneers: Diseases, Disasters, and the Discoveries That Changed Our World

◼️An Ounce of Prevention: A Substack by Barry R. Davis

Host

◼️ Purva Mehta, BMSc, MSc

Producer

◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®

Production Notes

◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room

Leave Us Some Feedback

If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.

Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

We're giving away a copy of Dr. Barry Davis' new book, "The Preventioneers: Diseases, Disasters, and the Discoveries That Changed Our World" To enter, just send an email to thepublichealthinsight@gmail.com with "book giveaway" in the subject line. Entries from the U.S. or Canada only. Contest closes on July 15th, and we'll reach out to the winner on July 17th. Full details are in the show notes. Good luck.

We often have the evidence to prevent harm long before we actually do something about it, and that delay costs lives. In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, we sit down with a physician and mathematician whose career spans early machine learning research in the 1980s, landmark hypertension trials, and over 150 data monitoring committees. Dr. Davis reflects on the experiences that shaped his thinking and how resistance to change repeats throughout history.

References for Our Discussion

◼️[NEW BOOK] The Preventioneers: Diseases, Disasters, and the Discoveries That Changed Our World

◼️An Ounce of Prevention: A Substack by Barry R. Davis

Host

◼️ Purva Mehta, BMSc, MSc

Producer

◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®

Production Notes

◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room

Leave Us Some Feedback

If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.

Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

We're giving away a copy of Dr. Barry Davis' new book, "The Preventioneers: Diseases, Disasters, and the Discoveries That Changed Our World" To enter, just send an email to thepublichealthinsight@gmail.com with "book giveaway" in the subject line. Entries from the U.S. or Canada only. Contest closes on July 15th, and we'll reach out to the winner on July 17th. Full details are in the show notes. Good luck.