Where Did We Go Wrong, and What Can We Do Better Next Time? (Guest: Ryan Panchadsaram, Special Edition - 'Distanced')

This is Your Life in Silicon Valley

SPECIAL EDITION: We recorded several conversations with people from around the world at the start of the pandemic. They were originally released as part of a separate podcast called 'Distanced', but we are releasing those conversations as part of 'This is Your Life in Silicon Valley' over the next few weeks. Ryan Panchadsaram was Deputy CTO at the Obama White House, where he helped launch Healthcare.gov. He has an opinion or two on how we can react better to the next pandemic, and what we can to do stave off the worst effects of the current one.

Ryan talks about the different agencies involved in pandemic response, and explains to the layperson how agencies potentially respond in a pandemic. He talks about data and why it varies from place to place, and whether it means anything or not as it relates to our response in the United States to COVID-19.

We talk about the potential short and long term effects the Coronavirus will have on our economy, on the future of tech, and on the future of our social interactions. Ryan spends some time talking about how he is volunteering his time toward a project spearheaded by journalist Alexis Madrigal.

Ryan talks about his own life experience as a new father, and what his hopes/fears are for life in a post-COVID era.