# Who the Health Cares? with Prof Michael Sparer

A podcast by Center for Public Health Systems. America has 3,300 local health departments. They are the backbone of our public health system, yet they are agencies most of us never think about. Until there's a crisis. They respond to disease outbreaks, inspect restaurants, ensure safe drinking water, and coordinate emergency responses. Yet their work remains invisible, their budgets are perpetually squeezed, and their authority is increasingly questioned. Host Michael Sparer traces how we built this fragmented public health infrastructure, from Constitutional debates to 1866 garbage collection to today's vaccine controversies. He examines why healthcare spending dwarfs public health investment, why public health agencies vary so dramatically from community to community, and why understanding this system matters for everyone. This isn't partisan politics. It's about the public health infrastructure that protects us every day. Who the health cares? We all should.

Feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/who-the-health-cares

## Latest episodes

- [Why Public Health Is Inescapably Political With Professor Larry Brown](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/461f2a3d4bea) (2026-10-27, 30 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT9893869624.mp3
- [Former CDC Director Mandy Cohen on the Politics of Public Health](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/5c3d2de1fd55) (2026-10-13, 44 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT3961699767.mp3
- [Public Health, Politics, and Money: Lessons from Kentucky and Indiana](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/5e3f64a4c5b2) (2026-06-02, 46 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT3901576766.mp3
- [Former Health Secretary Umair Shah on AI, MAHA and Leadership Lessons](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/bf8f21220c45) (2026-05-19, 26 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT8683573427.mp3
- [How Decisions Get Made During Public Health Disasters](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/d0bc00386e9b) (2026-05-05, 33 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT4218736112.mp3
- [Public Health, Lost in Translation](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/443433f6be0e) (2026-04-21, 31 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT9490569765.mp3
- [Public Health Finds a New Beat](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/63894811501c) (2026-04-07, 31 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT4016296227.mp3?updated=1775502336
- [The Hidden Cost of Cutting Medicaid](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/fd191461103f) (2026-03-26, 24 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT3872185431.mp3
- [Ep3-Who Knew? What Health Departments Do](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/6b2ebd6a1ae2) (2025-11-25, 15 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT6565754416.mp3?updated=1763350614
- [Ep2-Five Trillion on Medical Care, Pennies on Public Health](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/f641e12633a2) (2025-11-25, 19 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT1347506524.mp3?updated=1763350658
- [Ep1-Jefferson, Hamilton, and Your Local Health Department](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/074da42b5f46) (2025-11-24, 16 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT3322411117.mp3?updated=1763350192
- [Welcome to Who the Health Cares?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1850146742/1b952ab68f42) (2025-11-24, 2 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/DHT5766917581.mp3

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.