Australia
Brazil
Canada
Germany
India
Ireland
Japan
Mexico
New Zealand
Philippines
South Africa
United Kingdom
Medicaid Leadership Exchange
Similar topics: medicaid and health
Government
Who the Health Cares? with Prof Michael Sparer
by Center for Public Health Systems
Today: #142 in Government on our combined chart.
Today: #115 in Government, Brazil on our combined chart.
Today: #42 in Government, New Zealand on our combined chart.
Today: #103 in Government, Ireland on our combined chart.
Chart positions today · United States
Not on the United Kingdom charts we track today.
Not on the Canada charts we track today.
Not on the Australia charts we track today.
Not on the Germany charts we track today.
Not on the Mexico charts we track today.
Not on the India charts we track today.
Not on the Japan charts we track today.
Not on the Philippines charts we track today.
Not on the South Africa charts we track today.
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Ranking history · United States
Latest daily rankings: Oct 31. New rankings will appear after the next update.
Position on the Government combined chart over the last 14 days. Toggle platforms to compare their positions. Lower rank numbers are better.
Episode releases
View as table
| Date | Combined Rank | Apple Podcasts | Castbox |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31 | #142 | #144 | — |
| Oct 30 | #160 | #162 | — |
| Oct 29 | #97 | #97 | #83 |
| Oct 28 | #73 | #74 | #73 |
| Oct 27 | #187 | #190 | — |
| Oct 26 | #131 | #131 | — |
| Oct 25 | #92 | #88 | — |
| Oct 22 | #95 | #94 | — |
| Oct 19 | #164 | #165 | — |
| Oct 18 | #99 | #102 | #99 |
Latest episodes
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Why Public Health Is Inescapably Political With Professor Larry Brown
October 27, 2026 · 30 minThis week, Professor Sparer is joined by Columbia Mailman professor and political scientist Larry Brown for a conversation about whether public health can ever truly be separated from politics. They discuss why local leadership is…
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Former CDC Director Mandy Cohen on the Politics of Public Health
October 13, 2026 · 44 minWelcome to season three of Who the Health Cares from the Center for Public Health Implementation at Columbia University. In this episode, Former CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen joins Professor Sparer to reflect on how the public health…
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Public Health, Politics, and Money: Lessons from Kentucky and Indiana
June 2, 2026 · 45 minPublic health funding is often discussed as a matter of budgets and policy. But the real story is about politics, relationships and power. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, states across the country received an unprecedented…
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Former Health Secretary Umair Shah on AI, MAHA and Leadership Lessons
May 19, 2026 · 25 minPublic health officials are navigating an increasingly complicated landscape defined by shrinking resources and political polarization. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is transforming how health systems collect information, manage care…
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How Decisions Get Made During Public Health Disasters
May 5, 2026 · 33 minThe work of public health often becomes most visible when our systems are under the greatest strain. From hurricanes to pandemics, crises test not only our ability to respond, but also the strength, flexibility and fairness of the systems…
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Public Health, Lost in Translation
April 21, 2026 · 31 minThe work of the U.S. public health system is invisible to many of us. That’s why public health guidance is often misunderstood – and ultimately mistrusted – by Americans on both sides of the political aisle. And in times of uncertainty…
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Public Health Finds a New Beat
April 7, 2026 · 31 minGetting public health messaging right isn’t easy. With trust in institutions on the decline and misinformation on the rise, even life-saving information often fails to reach the people who need it most. So what kinds of messages actually…
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The Hidden Cost of Cutting Medicaid
March 26, 2026 · 23 minMedicaid was never intended to be the backbone of the U.S. public health system. But what started in 1965 as a limited health insurance option for a small group of low-income Americans has grown into a $900 billion program that funds…
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Who Knew? What Health Departments Do
November 25, 2025 · 14 minA health department in Kentucky pays half your rent. Another in Oregon runs the county jail's medical system. A third in Iowa partners with businesses to raise wages for childcare workers. How did we end up with a public health system…
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Five Trillion on Medical Care, Pennies on Public Health
November 25, 2025 · 18 minWhy do public health departments have such little power, so few dollars, and are undervalued while their counterparts in the medical care system, especially physicians and hospitals, have influence, money, prestige, and respect There is…
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Jefferson, Hamilton, and Your Local Health Department
November 24, 2025 · 15 minWhen the Supreme Court in 2022 struck down President Biden's COVID vaccine mandate, it wasn't really about vaccines—it was about who has the constitutional power to issue such a mandate. As it turns out, the 10th amendment gives…
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Welcome to Who the Health Cares?
November 24, 2025 · 2 minAmerica 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. Join Michael Sparer from Columbia's Mailman School of Public…
About the show
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.