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Why Health?

October 15, 2026 · 18 min

Show notes

About this episode:

In the field of medicine, health is often treated as an end goal, achieved by procedures, prescriptions, and physicians. A new book argues that we should see health instead as a social value—connected to other values we care about. In this episode: Physician, population health scientist, and author Sandro Galea talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about his book, "Why Health?: What We Need to Think About When We Think About Health."

Guest:

Dr. Sandro Galea, DrPH, is the Margaret C. Ryan dean of the Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky School of Public Health at Washington University. He is also the author of "Why Health?: What We Need to Think About When We Think About Health."

Host:

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department.

Show links and related content: Transcript information:

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The conversations you hear on the podcast are happening between real humans, and real humans are developing and researching episodes behind the scenes. In addition to real human audio engineers, Public Health On Call uses AI production tools to assist with the removal of filler words and improve audio quality. If you have any questions about our use of AI, please reach out to [email protected].

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