Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
A discussion of the defining ethical challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, featuring world-renowned experts in ethics, public health, law, economics, public policy, and beyond. Hosted by Joshua Preiss, Director of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Minnesota State University, Mankato and the author of Just Work for All: The American Dream in the 21st Century (Routledge 2021). Visit pandemic-ethics.com for more information on recent and upcoming episodes.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Covid-19 ethics and public policy • vaccination mandates, allocation, trials • modeling and evidence for lockdowns • global poverty, vaccine intellectual property • debt crises, property law • work, care labor, nursing, childcare • business responsibility • race, inequalityThis podcast examines ethical challenges raised by the Covid-19 pandemic through conversations with scholars and practitioners in philosophy, public health, law, economics, and public policy. Across the episodes, discussion centers on how to make collective decisions under uncertainty, how to balance individual liberties with public welfare, and how institutions should respond when crisis conditions magnify existing social and economic vulnerabilities.
A major theme is vaccine ethics, including questions about fair allocation when supply is limited, the moral aims of distribution frameworks, and how to treat those at greatest risk of harm. The podcast also explores the ethics and legality of vaccination requirements, comparing potential mandates across governments and private institutions such as employers and universities, and considering whether Covid-19 differs in relevant ways from other infectious diseases. Related conversations address the responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies and the role of intellectual property in shaping vaccine development and global access, including proposals to modify patent rules while compensating research and development.
Another recurring focus is the relationship between scientific evidence and policy. The show probes how pandemic models are built, what kinds of data are needed for credible forecasts, and how decision-makers should justify high-stakes interventions like lockdowns when evidence is incomplete or evolving. These episodes connect methodological questions to duties of governments and the public expectations embedded in calls to “trust the science.”
The podcast also highlights the pandemic’s impact on work, care, and inequality. It considers the conditions faced by essential workers—especially nurses, childcare providers, and other care workers—and asks what they are owed in terms of protection, voice in decision-making, and longer-term institutional support. Broader political-economy discussions link Covid-era disruptions to trends such as automation, labor market power imbalances, and widening inequality, alongside reforms aimed at more inclusive innovation.
Finally, the series addresses crisis-driven economic and legal dynamics, including business responsibilities, property law’s role in distributing security and risk, pandemic-related debt and prospects of sovereign debt crises, and the way racial injustice and the racial wealth divide shape differential exposure to harm and access to recovery.
| Episodes: |
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Should Vaccination Be Mandatory? 2021-May-04 44 minutes |
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Modeling the Covid-19 Pandemic 2021-Apr-05 42 minutes |
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Responsibility for Debt and Crisis 2021-Mar-22 47 minutes |
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Covid, Poverty, and Intellectual Property 2021-Feb-24 42 minutes |
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Covid-19 and the Future of Work 2021-Feb-17 34 minutes |
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Vaccine Ethics 2021-Feb-08 27 minutes |
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Childcare in the Time of Covid 2021-Feb-01 27 minutes |
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Nursing in a Pandemic 2021-Jan-18 31 minutes |
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Business Ethics in a Pandemic 2021-Jan-10 48 minutes |
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Care in Crisis 2021-Jan-04 52 minutes |
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Race, Justice, and the Pandemic 2020-Dec-16 35 minutes |
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Who Gets the Vaccine First? 2020-Dec-10 25 minutes |
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Property Law and the Pandemic 2020-Dec-02 22 minutes |
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Risk, Ethics, and Public Policy During the Covid-19 Pandemic. 2020-Nov-22 45 minutes |