Bio(un)ethical

Dec 10 2024 15 ep. 75 mins 13

Bio(un)ethical Podcast artwork

The podcast where we question existing norms in medicine, science, and public health.

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#14 James Diao: When should race be used in medical algorithms?

Dec 10 2024 87 mins

In this episode, we speak with researcher and physician Dr. James Diao about when and why race should be included or excluded from clinical algorithms. We focus on his work evaluating the implications of including race as a variable in two clinical algorithms: one used to assess lung function, and another used to assess cardiovascular disease risk.(00:00) Our introduction(05:10) In

#13 Sarah McGrath: Are there moral experts?

Nov 27 2024 78 mins

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Sarah McGrath, professor of philosophy at Princeton University. We discuss whether and when it makes sense to defer to others about the answers to moral questions, whether moral deference is any less appropriate than deference in other domains, like math or science, and whether we have reason to think bioethicists are moral experts.(00:00) Our int

#12 David Wendler: Are we overprotecting kids in research?

Nov 12 2024 105 mins

In this episode, we speak with Dr. David Wendler, Head of the Section on Research Ethics in the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center and philosopher by training. We discuss the ethics of pediatric research: how much risk we should expose kids to in research; what we should do when the federal research regulations don’t make sense; and what

#11 Richard Leiter: Is a better death possible?

Oct 29 2024 88 mins

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Richard Leiter, senior palliative care physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. We discuss the state of end-of-life care in the US today, why patients often receive care that doesn’t align with their values, whether some of the care that doesn’t

#10 Danielle Allen: Should laypeople make health policy decisions?

Jan 16 2024 58 mins

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Danielle Allen, professor of political philosophy, ethics, and public policy at Harvard and Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, about the extent to which we should involve laypeople in decisions about health and science policy through democratic, participatory processes.(00:00) Our introduction(08:47) Interview begins(12:23) Power-

#9 Marc Lipsitch: How to ethically prevent the next pandemic

Jan 02 2024 61 mins

In this episode, we speak with Marc Lipsitch, epidemiologist and professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, about what lessons we should take from the COVID-19 pandemic, what role research should play in mitigating and preventing future pandemics, and how we should regulate research on potential pandemic

#8 Sally Haslanger: How social contexts shape our moral norms

Dec 12 2023 85 mins

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Sally Haslanger, Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women’s and Gender Studies at MIT, about what norms are, how we can know when they need to be changed, and how we should change them.(00:00) Our introduction(5:12) Interview begins(16:07) What grounds social norms(18:56) How we can know a moral norm is problematic(23:11) How social and moral norm

#7 Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby: Is nudging ethically required?

Nov 14 2023 69 mins

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, a philosopher and bioethicist at Baylor College of Medicine, about why she thinks clinicians are often permitted, and even required, to use insights from behavioral economics and decision psychology to shape patients’ medical decisions.(00:00) Our introduction(05:50) Interview begins(07:57) What is a nudge?(15:15) Is t

#6 Jeff Sebo: Why we’re wrong about who matters

Oct 31 2023 85 mins

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Jeff Sebo, a philosopher and bioethicist at New York University, about what it would mean to take seriously the possibility that non-human animals (including insects) and future AI systems might matter morally.(00:00) Our introduction(05:56) Interview begins(07:21) The moral circle vs. the legal and political circles(13:18) Why has the moral circl

#5 Chris Robichaud: Can we teach people to be more ethical?

Oct 17 2023 71 mins

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Christopher Robichaud, Director of Pedagogical Innovation at Harvard’s Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics, about whether and how we can teach scientists, doctors, and other professionals to be more ethical, what the goals of ethics education ought to be, and how we can know we’re achieving them.(00:00) Our introduction(13:18) Interview be