Soldiers of Science Podcast with Alan Alda cover art

Soldiers of Science

The Vietnam War, Anthony Fauci & the Doctors who Revolutionized American Medicine

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Soldiers of Science

By: Alan Alda, Kate Rope
Narrated by: Alan Alda
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About this listen

It’s the height of the Vietnam War when a new generation of doctors, including a young Dr. Anthony Fauci, arrive at the National Institutes of Health as part of the doctor’s draft.

What happens next is a hidden history of American medicine that could not be more revelatory or prescient.

Alan Alda reveals how one of the darkest and divisive moments in the nation’s history also paved the way the for some of the greatest medical breakthroughs our country has ever seen. This one public health program would not only launch the careers of our top physician scientists, but build the country’s medical research system and also lead to nine Nobel-prize winning discoveries. So far.

This is a story of faith in government and a belief in science. We meet patients who sacrifice everything, and doctors who still can’t believe their luck at being allowed to serve the country in this unique way. It reminds us of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s mission for the NIH in 1940 when he declared “to be a strong nation we must be a healthy nation.” As well as President John F. Kennedy’s hope-filled call to service.

One can’t help but wonder how the story of the Soldiers of Science might help us shape a better and healthier future.

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Episodes
  • You’re In the NIH Now

    You’re In the NIH Now
    Dec 17 2020

    A young mother with two desperately sick children arrives at the NIH in the winter of 1969, where she meets doctors doing a tour of duty at the public health service.
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    30 mins
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  • The Beginning of the End of Heart Disease

    The Beginning of the End of Heart Disease
    Dec 17 2020

    Dr. Joe Goldstein arrives at the bedside of young Valerie and Clark. He soon enlists his colleague, Dr. Michael Brown, to try to figure out why these kids have cholesterol levels likely to kill them before they reach adulthood.
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    32 mins
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  • In Search Of…

    In Search Of…
    Dec 17 2020

    The story of the so-called “yellow berets” is largely forgotten until the NIH’s first historian and her young intern unearth some 3x5 index cards and make a major discovery of their own.
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    45 mins
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Go Behind the Scenes of Soldiers of Science

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About the Creator and Performer

Alan Alda, 7-time Emmy Award–winner, played Hawkeye Pierce and wrote many of the episodes on the classic TV series M * A * S * H, and appeared in continuing roles on ER, The West Wing, 30 Rock and The Blacklist. He has starred in, written and directed many films, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in The Aviator. His podcast Clear + Vivid has been downloaded 11 million times. His interest in science led to his hosting the award-winning PBS series Scientific American Frontiers for 11 years, on which he interviewed hundreds of scientists. Also on PBS he hosted The Human Spark, winning the 2010 Kavli Science Journalism Award, and Brains on Trial in 2013. On Broadway, he appeared as the physicist Richard Feynman in the play QED. He is the author of the play, Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie. He has won the National Science Board’s Public Service Award, the Scientific American Lifetime Achievement Award and the American Chemical Society Award for Public Service, among others. He is on the Advisory Board of the World Science Festival and is a Visiting Professor at Stony Brook University’s Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science.

About the Creator

Kate Rope is an award-winning freelance journalist, specializing in health and family, whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, and CNN. She is author of Strong as a Mother: How to Be Happy, Healthy and (Most Importantly) Sane from Pregnancy to Parenthood and coauthor of The Complete Guide to Medications During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding.

Featured Article: Far Out—The Best Audiobooks of and About the 1970s


Whether you were alive in the 1970s or born decades after, here are some of the best books about the 1970s and some of the most popular best sellers published during the 1970s to give you a better look at this fab, fascinating, and influential era. Whether you're nostalgic or curious about the decade that brought us Watergate and women's lib, Luke Skywalker and the Bee Gees, check out this list of out of sight audiobooks.

Featured Article Far Out The Best Audiobooks of and About the 1970s

Highlights from Alan Alda's conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci at the 92Y about Soldiers of Science

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Excellent series! I work in research so this was particularly close to my heart. Fascinating!

Research strong

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I love that Alan Alda lends his voice to this compelling history of how the draft led our nations best and brightest doctors to gather at the NIH and produce some of the worlds fastest and most impactful treatments and cures for humanity.

Alan Alda performs a compelling story

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Alan Alda is the right guy to tell this story. And that it pivots about Anthony Fauci makes it timely and compelling as well as historical.

Timely and compelling

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Like others have noted, I would happily listen to Alan Alda read the phone book. That said, this was an amazing listen. I have a friend who works for NIH, and a cousin who worked for Merck, and this gem of a work adds to my knowledge of not only those companies, but to my knowledge of the Viet Nam era.

Thank you to all concerned or putting this presentation together!

A Fascinating Set of Recordings

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There is a lot packed into three short and compelling episodes about the importance of public investment in research and science for the public benefit. Incredible that such a program would be the breeding grounds for the leaders and scientists like Anthony Faucci. A real lesson in how creating paths for science to serve the public pays huge dividends for all of us. Thank you Alan and Kate for this timely story!

The Kind of Soldiers We Need to Invest In

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this was an inspirational podcast and also very informative and an interesting mix of history blending the Vietnam war, the NIH, and people who benefited from the NIH at that time and continued to benefit from it today, which basically includes all of us. I had a little trouble getting a new episode started. And because of that I had to restart a couple of the podcasts a couple of times to get on the right one. not sure what's up with that but maybe it's just user error.

Loved it

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Alda was great and the story is fascinating. If you like to hear about scientific discovery, or how to set up a braintrust that will result in Nobel prizes for science, this is not to be topped

loved it

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Regardless of your politics, this is a great listen and well worth your time. I was only marginally aware of what happened at the NIH, but this gave a fantastic, in-depth look at the great doctors who have saved countless loves through their research. Alan Alda does a great with tons of interviews and the narration.

A fabulous story of some unsung heroes

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I found this podcast to be very interesting and inspirational.. the voice of Alan Alan made it even better! I can't wait to listen to the others.

I found this podcast to be very interesting.

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Well written & narrated. Easy listen. Looking for an entire series like this. Love history nuggets

Fascinating History

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