How an Estimated Seven Hundred Thousand People Have Died from DOGE’s U.S.A.I.D. Cuts

About this episode

<p>The Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE, has officially been terminated. Its July 4th sunset date was part of Donald Trump’s original executive order that created the agency, which Elon Musk ran. During his tenure, Musk oversaw the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D., which used to provide life-saving medical and nutritional programs around the world. Musk, who recently became the world’s first trillionaire, claims that there is no evidence that a single person died after DOGE cancelled more than eighty per cent of U.S.A.I.D.’s programs, cutting basic health-care access to some ninety-five million people. <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/atul-gawande" rel="noopener noreferrer">Atul Gawande</a> disagrees. He was the assistant administrator for global health at  U.S.A.I.D. until he stepped down, the same week Trump ended U.S. foreign assistance. Gawande says an estimated seven hundred thousand people have already died as a result of the cuts. David Remnick speaks with the longtime <i>New Yorker</i> contributor about the profound effects of ending U.S.A.I.D.’s work abroad, Musk’s involvement in these decisions, and the deaths it all has wrought.   </p> <p>Further reading, viewing, and listening: </p> <ul> <li>“<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary/the-shutdown-of-usaid-has-already-killed-hundreds-of-thousands" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands</a>,” film by <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/thomas-jennings" rel="noopener noreferrer">Thomas Jennings</a> and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/annie-wong" rel="noopener noreferrer">Annie Wong</a>, text by <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/atul-gawande" rel="noopener noreferrer">Atul Gawande</a></li> <li>“<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/atul-gawande-on-elon-musks-surgery-with-a-chainsaw" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hundreds of Thousands Will Die</a>,” an episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour</li> <li>“<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/behind-the-chaotic-attempt-to-freeze-federal-assistance" rel="noopener noreferrer">Behind the Chaotic Attempt to Freeze Federal Assistance</a>,” by Atul Gawande</li> </ul> <p>New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Follow the show wherever <a href="https://link.chtbl.com/XL9LVVAk" rel="noopener noreferrer">you get your podcasts</a>.</p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>