Listen: Pandemic exit strategies, how the outbreak affects patients, and Ken Burns takes on DNA

When will things go back to normal? What if a pandemic strikes when you’re already sick? And what does Ken Burns know about genomics?

We discuss all that and more on the latest episode of “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. First, our STAT colleague Sharon Begley joins us to discuss the debate over just when the U.S. can return to normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Then, we speak to patient advocate Gunnar Esiason about how the pandemic lockdown affects people with chronic diseases. Finally, physician and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Siddhartha Mukherjee joins us to talk about “The Gene,” a Ken Burns-produced documentary coming soon to PBS.

For more on what we cover, here’s the latest on the coronavirus outbreak, and here’s how to catch “The Gene.”

We’ll be back next Thursday evening — and every Thursday evening — so be sure to sign up on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And if you have any feedback for us — topics to cover, guests to invite, vocal tics to cease — you can email [email protected].

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