The Extra Extra Life Conversations, Part Four

An in-depth exploration of the themes of each PBS episode, featuring leading experts from the world of public health and medicine.

We hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy episode four of the PBS series, Extra Life, on the important role that ordinary behavior can play in improving health outcomes and extending our lives. Given that this was the final episode in this season of Extra Life, we wanted explore some the issues raised by the entire series in more depth: both reflecting back on the extraordinary and tragic pandemic that we’re still living through, and also taking the long view of human life expectancy, both its past and its future. We have two brilliant guests to join us for these video conversations, produced in collaboration with the CDC Foundation.

Dr. Max Roser is Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development. There he studies the history and future of living conditions around the world. Max believes to that to make progress against important problems we need access to understandable research and data — to this end he is also the founder and editor of Our World in Data, an open-access and open-source online publication which has millions of readers every month, and is even used by policymakers.

Dr. Tara Smith is a Professor of Epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health. Dr. Smith’s research focuses on zoonotic infections (infections which are transferred between animals and humans — of which Coronavirus is likely one). She was the first to identify livestock-associated strains of resistant superbug Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the United States, and has pioneered the investigation of this in the U.S. She is well known for her public engagement; she writes a regular column for Self, and is active on Twitter where she comments on topics like vaccine hesitancy and government policy.

While this marks the end of Extra Life the TV series—for the time being at least—you can always purchase a copy of the book version of Extra Life. Educators who are interested in integrating the Extra Life story into their classrooms can explore the extensive curriculum materials developed by the Pulitzer Center.

Thanks to the CDC Foundation, a nonprofit focused on saving and improving lives by strengthening public health protection through partnerships across the globe. Together our impact is greater.