On Second Thought For Thursday, March 29, 2018

The newest appointed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is already facing serious accusations. Dr. Robert Redfield has been accused of fabricating or seriously botching HIV vaccine data. President Trump's appointee also has no experience running a public health organization. This problematic news comes months after the controversy with previous CDC director, Brenda Fitzgerald. We revisited a conversation between special correspondent, Celeste Headlee and former director of the CDC, Tom Frieden.  

On Second Thought show for Thursday, March 29, 2018.

Earlier this week Governor Nathan Deal announced a new $100 million boost to the state’s public transportation budget over the next decade. While there are no details yet about how it will be spent, some people are concerned that public transit brings with it crime and other issues. We looked back on a conversation with Eric Jaffe, the editorial director of the Sidewalk Labs and Darin Givens, a blogger for ATL Urbanist about the MARTA-crime myth.

Aside from MARTA being our focal transit system, could a high-speed rail finally make its way to Georgia? What would it take for a super-fast train to make its way to the South, and what would it do for the region’s economy? The possibility of a high-speed train has been proposed several times by lawmakers, but no new advances have been made. We explored the possibilities of what a new transit system would look like in Georgia. Special correspondent Celeste Headlee talked with Kari Watkins, a professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and with Dan Richard, a board chariman at California High Speed Rail Authority about this idea. 

In light of the March for Our Lives movement, gun violence is at the forefront of the national conversation. Doctors see the physical effects of gun violence every day. Researchers at the Morehouse School of Medicine reviewed gunshot victims at a trauma center in Atlanta, and found that over two years the bulk of the patients were male and African-American. To talk more about the findings behind gun violence, we talked with Dr. Omar Danner, a trauma surgeon at Grady Memorial Hospital and with George Lee, a project manager for "End Gun Violence: Step Foward Initiative". 

Lastly, We heared the music from southern rock-and-roll band Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires. The Alabama-based group performs Thursday night in Macon. On Second Thought's intern, Sophie Peel talked with the lead singer about their inspiration behind the lyrics.