Malcolm Gladwell
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Other rotavirus vaccines followed. A group of scientists in India developed their own in 2016. Also around this time, many developing countries made huge strides in sanitation, which cut down on the spread of the virus. Oral rehydration therapy became widespread. And now the dedicated diarrhea wards that were such a big part of Kumar's training are all but gone.
Other rotavirus vaccines followed. A group of scientists in India developed their own in 2016. Also around this time, many developing countries made huge strides in sanitation, which cut down on the spread of the virus. Oral rehydration therapy became widespread. And now the dedicated diarrhea wards that were such a big part of Kumar's training are all but gone.
It's hard to find anyone who works with children and remembers the way things were who isn't in love with the rotavirus vaccine. And you sort of list the most important innovations that you've seen that have affected the lives of children. Where does this rank? At the top. Amongst the top.
It's hard to find anyone who works with children and remembers the way things were who isn't in love with the rotavirus vaccine. And you sort of list the most important innovations that you've seen that have affected the lives of children. Where does this rank? At the top. Amongst the top.
This is Dr. Zulfikar Bhutta, co-director for the Center of Global Child Health at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. He spent years as a pediatrician in his native Pakistan.
This is Dr. Zulfikar Bhutta, co-director for the Center of Global Child Health at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. He spent years as a pediatrician in his native Pakistan.
And this is the vaccine that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hates. I have to confess that I knew very little about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before he ran for president in 2024. But as he loomed larger and larger in the news, I realized I had his most recent book, The Real Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health.
And this is the vaccine that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hates. I have to confess that I knew very little about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before he ran for president in 2024. But as he loomed larger and larger in the news, I realized I had his most recent book, The Real Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health.
His publicist must have sent me a review copy when it came out in 2021. I found it in a big pile of books on the porch. So I decided to read it. All 492 pages. And it was there in Chapter 3 that I discovered the particular loathing that RFK Jr. has for the rotavirus vaccines. I couldn't make head nor tails of it, which is why I had to call my friend Safi Bakal up.
His publicist must have sent me a review copy when it came out in 2021. I found it in a big pile of books on the porch. So I decided to read it. All 492 pages. And it was there in Chapter 3 that I discovered the particular loathing that RFK Jr. has for the rotavirus vaccines. I couldn't make head nor tails of it, which is why I had to call my friend Safi Bakal up.
We were going over the package insert, which you thought was clean as a whistle. Yeah. Right? And so I was trying to figure out why, if it was as clean as a whistle, does Kennedy have such a problem with rototech and rotavirus vaccines in general?
We were going over the package insert, which you thought was clean as a whistle. Yeah. Right? And so I was trying to figure out why, if it was as clean as a whistle, does Kennedy have such a problem with rototech and rotavirus vaccines in general?
And I want to read to you the key paragraph in his book, which, and we're going to try and solve this puzzle together because I have a vague idea, but I think I'm, I can't, my idea is so, reflects so poorly on him that I, part of me thinks it can't be the right idea. This is the key paragraph. Reported adverse reactions from Dr. Offit's Rotatec vaccine range from 953 to 1,689 per year.
And I want to read to you the key paragraph in his book, which, and we're going to try and solve this puzzle together because I have a vague idea, but I think I'm, I can't, my idea is so, reflects so poorly on him that I, part of me thinks it can't be the right idea. This is the key paragraph. Reported adverse reactions from Dr. Offit's Rotatec vaccine range from 953 to 1,689 per year.
These included fever, diarrhea, vomiting, irritability, intussusception, SIDS, severe combined immunodeficiency. Kennedy lists 20 different really bad things he thinks are associated with Rotatec, ending with gastroenteritis, pneumonia, and death.
These included fever, diarrhea, vomiting, irritability, intussusception, SIDS, severe combined immunodeficiency. Kennedy lists 20 different really bad things he thinks are associated with Rotatec, ending with gastroenteritis, pneumonia, and death.