Can you guess which country has the worst death rate of almost any wealthy nation? Hint: America. episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 7, 2026 · 47 MIN

Can you guess which country has the worst death rate of almost any wealthy nation? Hint: America.

from TWO REPORTERS · host David K. Shipler & Daniel Zwerdling

So much for the "greatest country on earth." Recent studies show that if Americans died at the same rate as people do in average European countries, which Trump derides, at least half a million Americans who die each year would likely have lived. And the biggest difference is among people younger than 65. Our guests - epidemiologist Jacob Bor at Boston University and Katherine Newman, executive vice president of the University of California - say that the U.S. is way behind not just because it has a worse health care system: The nation already has far worse housing, education, unemployment benefits and other social supports for middle- and low-income people than many other developed countries do. So what might happen to death rates under the Trump regime?

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Feb 7, 2026

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So much for the "greatest country on earth." Recent studies show that if Americans died at the same rate as people do in average European countries, which Trump derides, at least half a million Americans who die each year would likely have lived. And the biggest difference is among people younger than 65. Our guests - epidemiologist Jacob Bor at Boston University and Katherine Newman, executive vice president of the University of California - say that the U.S. is way behind not just because i...

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Can you guess which country has the worst death rate of almost any wealthy nation? Hint: America.

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