947 - "Taxpayer Money Went to Buy Food to Feed People… Now It's Being Burned"

About this episode: Over the past few months, USAID has been dismantled, forcing the abandonment of aid projects and flushing away millions of dollars worth of food and medicine. In this episode: Journalist Hana Kiros talks about her reporting on the thousands of USAID-funded projects that have been terminated, the potential PR nightmare for the U.S., and what is happening to lifesaving supplies. Guest: Hana Kiros is a writer and an assistant editor at The Atlantic, where she covers human rights and technology. Host: Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. Show links and related content: Inside the USAID Fire Sale—The Atlantic Sudden Impact: When Health Programs End—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine What Foreign Aid Means for National Security—Public Health On Call (February 2025) Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.