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Public health scholar and Soros Justice Fellow Ernest Drucker argues that imprisonment has become an epidemic in this country, a destabilizing force that undermines families and communities, damaging the very social structures that prevent crime. Drucker spent 20 years treating drug addiction and another 20 studying AIDS in some of the poorest neighborhoods of the South Bronx and the world, and he uses the public health and epidemiological concepts in his book A Plague of Prisons: The Epidemiology of Mass Incarceration in America.

Zombies are creeping back into public health and safety literature.

The movie "Contagion" swept the box office this fall. While the film featured an ensemble cast of famous faces — from Kate Winslet to Matt Damon to Gwyneth Paltrow — the real star of "Contagion" was the virus that murdered millions throughout the movie. Biologist Nathan Wolfe served as a consultant on the film. And while the movie is fiction, Wolfe’s new book warns of the very real threats posed by global pandemics.

More than 250 physicians and medical professionals have signed a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo requesting the state devote more study to the health impacts of hydraulic fracturing before issuing permits for the controversial natural gas drilling technique.

John E. McDonough, DPH, MPA, professor at Harvard School of Public Health discusses his new book, Inside National Health Reform, which takes a close look at the development, passage and enactment of the Affordable Care Act.

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Jonathan Day, professor of medical entomology at the University of Florida, follows up on the question of why mosquitoes prefer to bite some people over others.

New York Times reporter Pam Belluck discusses medical advances toward a male contraceptive and the social impact it could have.

Listeners: Is this an attractive option? Men: Would you take it? Women: Would you want him to? Call us or comment here!

Laura D. Kramer, professor of public health at SUNY Albany and director of the arbovirus laboratories at the New York State Health Department's Wadsworth Center, talks about a city pest - the Asian Tiger mosquito - that is proving aggressive and hard to control.

Reports are emerging that the C.I.A. used a fake vaccination drive in Pakistan to gather intelligence on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, prior to the May 1 raid where the Al Qaida leader was killed. The fake vaccine drive has received criticism from members of the public health community, who say this type of strategy could undermine future efforts to combat diseases across the globe.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, reports from Tokyo on the mental and physical health of the Japanese victims.

The Food and Drug Administration recently called for limiting the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals, over concerns that the practice is leading to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Time magazine staff writer Bryan Walsh and Maryn McKenna, author of Superbug: The Fatal Menace of MRSA, discuss the practice of putting antibiotics in animal feed, the public-health problems it poses, and the challenges the FDA faces in issuing stricter policies for reducing the practice.

Summer brings barbeques, potato salads, and lots of leafy green salads—and the potential for food-borne illness. On this Please Explain, we’ll find out where these bugs come from and how can we avoid getting sick from the foods we eat.

The Environmental Protection Agency, the New York City Department of Investigation, the federal Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General and the Manhattan United States attorney's office are investigating New York City's asbestos and lead risk assessment process.