Public Health Insight

Hosted by PHI Media

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332

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Jun 2026

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About the show

The Public Health Insight Podcast is a weekly podcast ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally. The podcast covers all things public health and global health, from the sustainable development goals to the social determinants of health, as well as interesting dialogues about the diverse career opportunities that exist in the fields. Since its launch in March 2020, the podcast has featured more than 40 high-profile guests and has built an audience in more than 5,000 cities in over 190 countries.

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60 recent

June 10, 202611 min

The Health Belief Model Explained

Ever wonder why people ignore free health services, conveniently placed in their community, even when their life could depend on it? Looking back to the 1950s gives us some clues, and what researchers discovered led to the creation of one of public health's most enduring frameworks for understanding human behavior. In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, host Gordon Thane unpacks the Health Belief Model and why it still shapes health promotion practice today.Source Material◼️ Theory at a Glance: A Guide For Health Promotion Practice Host & Producer◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Production Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomLeave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

June 3, 202618 min

What’s the ROI on an MPH?

An MPH can cost two years, tens of thousands of dollars, the salary you would have earned if you continued to work instead, and the promise of the other degree that you decided not to pursue. So is it worth it? In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, host Gordon Thane breaks down how to think through the real return on investment of a Master of Public Health, from tuition and debt to opportunity cost and the alternatives most people never seriously compare. Whether you are about to start a program, still weighing the decision, or already graduated and figuring out what comes next, this one is for you.Host & Producer◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Production Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomLeave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

May 27, 202615 min

10 Key Milestones In Health Promotion

Health isn't created only in hospitals. It's achieved in housing, food systems, workplaces, and political decisions. In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, host Gordon Thane traces the arc of health promotion through its defining milestones, from the Ottawa Charter to the Geneva Charter, revealing how each global conference pushed the field to see further: beyond behavior, beyond healthcare, beyond borders. Yet the gap between what we know and what we do remains wide. This episode asks the question the field still wrestles with: what would it take to build a world where health is created, not just treated?Source MaterialA New Perspective on the Health of CanadiansOttawa Charter for Health PromotionFocus On: Foundations of Health PromotionSeventh Global Conference on Health Promotion: Promoting Health and Development — Closing the Implementation GapThe Geneva Charter for Well-beingShaping Global Health Promotion: A Comprehensive Analysis of the 10 Global Conferences on Health Promotion Conferences, 1986–2021Host & Producer◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Production Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomLeave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

May 20, 202614 min

Hantavirus: What They're Not Telling You

Could hantavirus become the next pandemic? After a deadly outbreak on a cruise ship, that question is on everyone's mind. And "don't panic" isn't a real answer.In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, host Gordon Thane explores what we know about hantaviruses so far, how Andes virus compares to COVID-19, and what the early science suggests about its potential to spread. He examines the key biological and ecological factors shaping the risk picture, and offers a way of thinking through the uncertainty for yourself as the story continues to develop.Host & Producer◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Resources◼️NBCNews: Hantavirus cruise ship docks after seven weeks at sea◼️KOMO News: What exactly is hantavirus and how concerned should Washington residents be?◼️Firstpost: What is Hantavirus? Deadly Virus on Cruise Ship Kills 3 | Vantage on Firstpost | 4K◼️WHO chief provides timeline around cruise-ship hantavirus casesProduction Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomLeave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

May 13, 202614 min

Edwin Chadwick & The History of Sanitation

How did sanitation become one of public health's greatest triumphs, while being its oldest unfinished problem? In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, host Gordon Thane traces the story from Victorian Britain's overcrowded streets to Edwin Chadwick's groundbreaking 1842 report, which reframed disease as a product of "removable circumstances" rather than individual fate. We revisit the Great Stink of 1858, when London's sewage crisis finally reached Parliament, where swift action followed. Then we confront a sobering reality: 3.4 billion people still lack safely managed sanitation today.Sources for ContentChadwick, Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great BritainUK Parliament — 1842 Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring PopulationUK Parliament — The 1848 Public Health ActLondon Museum — The Great Stink of 1858Science Museum — Flushed Away: Sewers Through HistoryRoyal Museums Greenwich — Dickens and The Great Stink of 1858WHO/UNICEF JMP — Progress on Household Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 2000–2024UNICEF — Fast Facts: 1 in 4 People Globally Still Lack Access to Safe Drinking WaterWHO — Sanitation Fact SheetBritannica — Sir Edwin ChadwickEBSCO — Edwin ChadwickVaishali — Edwin Chadwick: A Pioneer of Public Health Reform and His Relevance to Modern Public Health PracticeHost & Producer◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Production Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomLeave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

May 6, 202612 min

I Taught an MPH Course. Here's What It Taught Me.

Teaching is one of the most underrated ways to advance public health. In this episode, Gordon reflects on his first semester teaching Health Promotion in Western University's MPH program and what the experience revealed about the field itself. From designing a course to classroom moments that genuinely surprised him, Gordon shares the thinking behind his approach and the lessons that stayed with him. Because public health advances not only through programs and policy but through the people we prepare to do the work. The challenges of tomorrow aren't waiting. Neither should the classroom.Host & Producer◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Production Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomLeave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

April 28, 202612 min

I Was on an MPH Admissions Committee. Here’s What Hurt Applicants

What really happens when a reviewer opens your MPH application? Host Gordon Thane has been on the other side of the table and what he saw might surprise you. In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, he breaks down the most common mistakes applicants make: ignoring instructions, leaning on weak references, writing generic statements that sound like everyone else, and confusing healthcare with public health. More importantly, he shares what actually makes a file stand out. If you're applying, reapplying, or just curious how admissions really works — this one's essential listening.Host & Producer◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Production Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomLeave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

April 21, 202612 min

Practicums Are Here, Now What: A Thriver’s Guide

By the end of your practicum, you'll land in one of three boxes — and you don't get to pick which one.. or do you? In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, host Gordon Thane draws on his own journey to show why the students who thrive aren't the ones who wait for direction. From an unpaid MPH practicum placement to now being on the advisory board of that same organization member; he explores: how to tailor your practicum experience to the next job opportunity you’d like to pursue, and why the learning contract you signed may be out of date by the time you start day one, and how to build three references who'd hire you again tomorrow. Host & Producer◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Production Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomLeave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

April 14, 202616 min

Debate the Policy, Not the Science

You can disagree on policy. You can't disagree on facts. In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, Dr. Brian Castucci unpacks what it really means when science bends to political power, whether silencing dangerous voices is ever justified, why public health is losing the war it should be winning - culminating in an uncomfortable truth: if you can't stand the people you're trying to reach, you've already lost. References for Our Discussion◼️About Brian C. Castrucci◼️A New AI Platform to Strengthen Health Communication and Combat False Narratives◼️Science to People: VeriSciGuest◼️Dr. Brian Castrucci, DrPHHost & Producer◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Production Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomLeave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

April 7, 202634 min

Turning Data To Action With Community Needs Assessments

How often do public health organizations decide what a community needs — without actually asking them? This episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast sees Gordon sit down with Alexandra Piatkowski, epidemiologist and founder & CEO of Piat Public Health, to unpack one of public health's most foundational — and often misused — tools: the community needs assessment.They explore why existing quantitative data is never enough on its own, how health equity moves from buzzword to practice, and what it really takes to do a needs assessment well when budgets are tight and funders want results fast.References for Our Discussion◼️Piat Public HealthGuest◼️Alexandra Piatkowski, MPH, PMPHost & Executive Producer◼️ Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Production Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomLeave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.