Listen: Fires Outside, Virus Inside

While in California, Katherine Wells has been wearing two masks—one for the coronavirus, and one for the wildfire smoke—but she isn’t sure how to interpret the air-quality warnings. James Hamblin, her co-host on the podcast Social Distance, wants to know how air pollution such as smoke interacts with COVID-19.

They called John Balmes, a pulmonologist who has studied inhaled pollutants for decades and serves as the physician member of the California Air Resources Board. Listen to their conversation here:

Subscribe to Social Distance on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or another podcast platform to receive new episodes as soon as they’re published.

Here is a transcript of their conversation, edited and condensed for clarity:

Katherine Wells: I know there have been summers with some of these elements before, but is this surprising to you?

Well, yes and no. It’s certainly the worst air quality I’ve experienced since I moved to the Bay Area in 1986. But it doesn’t really surprise me. This