Shows / Empathy Affect
Empathy Affect
On Empathy Affect, we explore the human side of government. We get to know the real people in government who serve us. We learn about their missions, the people they serve, and the true impact of their work. In each episode, we'll speak with real people about how they weave empathy into the policies and programs of government.
Episodes
- Empathy Affect
S4E12: What Government Communicators Need to Know About Earning Trust Right Now
Public trust can no longer be assumed. People are getting their information from more sources than ever, government is under constant scrutiny, and artificial…
- Empathy Affect
S4E11: Boston's Community-Driven Approach to Opioid Settlement Funds
Boston asked residents what they needed before spending a dollar of its opioid settlement money. Christian Arthur, senior policy and strategy specialist at the…
- Empathy Affect
S4E10: Building a Seamless Road to Recovery in King County
What does it take to help someone not just survive an overdose, but find their way to recovery? This Recovery Month, Brad Finegood, strategic advisor at Public…
- Empathy Affect
S4E9: How Colorado is Building Its Next Generation of Wildfire Responders
Colorado has stopped calling wildfire a season and started calling it a year-round condition. At the same time, it’s facing that threat with a firefighter…
- Empathy Affect
S4E8: A Shift to Prevention in National Drug Strategy
The 2026 National Drug Control Strategy has made a notable shift toward primary prevention—stopping substance use before it ever starts—and reframes what a…
- Empathy Affect
S4E7: Can Listening Rebuild Trust in Public Health? Virginia's Commissioner Thinks So
What does it take to rebuild trust in a public health institution, and can listening be a leadership strategy? Virginia State Health Commissioner Dr. B Cameron…
- Empathy Affect
S4E6: Inside the Mission to Support Military Families
Military families move every few years. They navigate deployments, career interruptions, childcare waitlists, and the daily weight of a life built around…
- Empathy Affect
S4E5: When Listening Leads: Lessons from Maryland’s Digital Transformation
Most of us only visit a government website when we really need something—unemployment benefits, a license renewal, or emergency aid. So when the experience is…
- Empathy Affect
S4E4: Who Will Run the Roads? The AI and Workforce Challenges Facing State Transportation
What happens when the people who keep America moving start disappearing faster than we can replace them? Across the country, state transportation agencies are…
- Empathy Affect
S4E3: How FDA Protects The Food We Eat
Most of us don’t think about food safety until something goes wrong—a recall notice or a moment in the kitchen when we wonder, “Is this still safe to eat?” In…
- Empathy Affect
S4E2: How New York Is Building Mental Health Around People’s Lives
Caring for your mental health isn’t just about treatment. It’s about living a full life. This is how the New York State Office of Mental Health is rethinking…
- Empathy Affect
S4E1: How Boston Is Using AI to Improve Work and Life in the City
Technology has the power to make interacting with our cities and local governments smoother, easier, and more intuitive—but only when it's designed with people…
- Empathy Affect
S3E12: The Cost of Climate Risk: Why Resilience Is Smart Business for New Jersey
Disasters leave more than physical damage. They carry lasting financial consequences for the people, businesses, towns, and cities they impact. A new report…
- Empathy Affect
S3E11: What Can Pennsylvania Teach Us About Why Rural Health Is the Health of America?
Rural communities are the backbone of America—growing our food, fueling our economy, and sustaining traditions that reach far beyond county lines. But in…
- Empathy Affect
S3E10: From Research to Recovery: How the VA is Changing PTSD Care
PTSD is often called the “invisible wound” of military service. For many veterans, it shows up in nightmares, sudden triggers, or the feeling of being…
- Empathy Affect
S3E9: Florida’s Strategy for Resilient Homes and Insurance Stability
As storms grow stronger and insurance becomes harder to access, Floridians are looking for answers—and support. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation…
- Empathy Affect
S3E8: Redefining Recovery in California: San Francisco’s Public Health Approach to SUD
Stories around substance use disorder (SUD) have too often been framed around crisis and moral failing. But SUD is a health condition—no different from heart…
- Empathy Affect
S3E7: The Palm Beach Playbook for Person-Centered Recovery
Palm Beach County, Florida, was the epicenter of the state’s opioid crisis for many years as pill mills and malfeasance plagued the county’s communities. Since…
- Empathy Affect
S3E6: Informed Is Empowered: How NYC Is Simplifying Data for the Public
How do you turn complex environmental health data into something people can actually use—and trust? In this episode of Empathy Affect, we talk with Matthew…
- Empathy Affect
S3E5: Simulation Saves Lives: How DHA Trains Combat Medics for the Battlefield
On the battlefield or in an emergency, military health professionals must make life-or-death decisions under extreme pressure. So how do they prepare to step…
- Empathy Affect
S3E4: The Road to Resilience: Georgia’s Playbook for Emergency Response
Americans rely on safe roads, railways, and transportation infrastructure every day, so what goes into keeping them resilient and reliable both on the…
- Empathy Affect
S3E3: A State Blueprint to Build Resilience
Disasters like the wildfires in Southern California have destroyed homes, displaced people, and are costing the country hundreds of billions of dollars to…
- Empathy Affect
S3E2: How VA Built 80% Trust With Veterans
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) created its Veterans Experience Office (VEO) in 2015 with the goal of integrating a customer experience (CX)…
- Empathy Affect
S3E1: Clearing the Air: How CDC is Protecting Us From Tobacco
Although the United States has made great strides in reducing tobacco-related disparities, commercial tobacco use is still the leading cause of today’s biggest…
- Empathy Affect
S2E12: Vote with Confidence: One Agency's Work to Secure Every Vote
The 2024 election season brings fresh and complex challenges to election systems across the country—from mis- and disinformation to threats to security. The…
- Empathy Affect
S2E11: NCI's Research to Prevent Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women behind skin cancer, with approximately 13.1% of women estimated to receive a diagnosis of breast cancer…
- Empathy Affect
S2E10: Recruiting for a Purpose: The Value of Public Service
The federal government is the United States’ biggest employer, with more than 2.1 million Service members and over 2 million civilian employees. Behind those…
- Empathy Affect
S2E9: Policy for the Planet: EPA's Role in Protecting Our Communities
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s policies have been key to keeping our country's people and environment healthy and safe. The agency's Office of…
- Empathy Affect
S2E8: Partnering for a Healthier Planet: Where Health and Climate Action Meet
The warming climate is having an impact on our health, both physically and mentally. So, what do we need to do to protect our health and the planet's…
- Empathy Affect
S2E7: Moving the Needle on Mental Health Through Research
For the last 8 years, Dr. Joshua Gordon has served as director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)—the leading federal agency in mental health…
- Empathy Affect
S2E6: How Evidence-Building Strengthens HHS Policymaking
The 2019 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act—or Evidence Act—aims to improve federal programs applying data, evidence, and evaluations in…
- Empathy Affect
S2E5: Inside FDA's 10-Year Campaign to Prevent Youth Tobacco Use
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) longest-running tobacco public education campaign, The Real Cost, is marking its 10th anniversary this year. The…
- Empathy Affect
S2E4: Motherhood + Modernization: USDS is Shaping Equitable Post-Natal Care
For many mothers, the immediate postnatal period is a vulnerable one, often filled with financial, social, physical, and mental challenges while caring for a…
- Empathy Affect
S2E3: Serving to Build Purpose: How Volunteering Empowers Older Adults to Connect and Grow
As adults age, many retire, become empty nesters, and are trying to figure out their next chapter in life. AmeriCorps Seniors has helped 140,000 people…
- Empathy Affect
S2E2: Beyond the Ballot: Rebuilding Trust in Elections
It’s the start of a presidential election year. Caucuses and primaries are approaching, and the country is readying to vote. We are taking on elections and…
- Empathy Affect
S2E1: Turning the Tides: Inside the EPA’s Fight to Combat Environmental Injustice
The Inflation Reduction Act provided a historic amount of funding and opportunity for the federal government to make meaningful investments in environmental…
- Empathy Affect
S1E13: Transforming Your Taxes: How New IRS Online Services Will Make Filing a Breeze
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) received about $80 billion in additional funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to make sweeping…
- Empathy Affect
S1E12: How Your Workplace Can Support People in Recovery
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in the Executive Office of the President is coordinating with other federal agencies to release a…
- Empathy Affect
S1E11: One Step at a Time: VA's Mission to Prevent Veteran Suicide
Suicide has been a rising public health crisis in America, and veterans are some who are at the highest risk. In honor of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month…
- Empathy Affect
S1E10, Pt. 2: From Mentee to Peer: Creating Diverse, Strong Government Leaders Through Mentorship
In part 2 of our episode on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the federal workforce, we get personal and chat about the roles of…
- Empathy Affect
S1E10, Pt. 1: Building a Better Federal Workforce: The Power of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
The United States is a diverse nation, and the federal government needs to reflect the faces and minds of the country to deliver its best services. In part one…
- Empathy Affect
S1E9: Dismantling the Digital Divide: How the Digital Equity Act Aims to Connect All Americans
Internet connectivity has become a necessity in our lives, but many in America lack quality, affordable, high-speed internet access. To bridge the digital…
- Empathy Affect
S1E8, Pt. 2: How the HEALing Communities Study Aims to Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths
Welcome back for part 2 of our discussion on the National Institute's of Health HEALing Communities Study—a bold research effort that looks to reduce…
- Empathy Affect
S1E8, Pt. 1: How the HEALing Communities Study Aims to Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths
In 2018, the National Institutes of Health launched the HEALing Communities Study, a research endeavor to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths across highly…
- Empathy Affect
S1E7: Inside HHS’s 358 Objectives to Improve Health Promotion and Equity
Every decade since 1980, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has set ambitious, measurable goals to make progress across public health—from…
- Empathy Affect
S1E6: AmeriCorps' Role in Reinvigorating the Public Health Workforce
The COVID-19 pandemic took a significant toll on an already strained public health system in the United States, pushing many front-line workers to leave the…
- Empathy Affect
S1E5: Building More Climate-Resilient Communities With HUD
Our communities’ resilience has been tested amid exacerbated natural disasters and extreme weather from climate change. As we face a reality shaped by climate…
- Empathy Affect
S1E4: Inside the National Science Foundation's Push to Diversify Federal Research Grants
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is known for being one of the government's top funders of federal research grants to institutions of higher learning to…
- Empathy Affect
S1E3: How People in Recovery are Developing a Recovery-Ready Nation
A new year marks a moment to set new goals, and for many, that means embracing recovery from substance use and mental health conditions. At the Substance Abuse…
- Empathy Affect
S1E2, Pt. 2: The Future of Nutrition Assistance Programs in Uplifting Food Security
Today, we continue our last episode's discussion around federal efforts to understand and combat food insecurity. We discuss policies and programs that provide…
- Empathy Affect
S1E2, Pt. 1: What NHLBI’s Research Says About Food Security and Health
Food insecurity is a deeply cross-cutting challenge to take on, so we’re bringing you a two-part episode examining the science of nutrition insecurity and…
- Empathy Affect
S1E1: How Climate & Community Play Into the Future of Public Health
Our first episode of Empathy Affect takes a big-picture look at the future of public health from the federal level with Admiral Rachel Levine, the Department…
- Empathy Affect
Welcome to Empathy Affect
Join us as we explore the human side of government. On Empathy Affect, we'll get to know the real people in government who serve us—their missions, the people…