Podcast: It’s Time to Tango

Now that Jim’s “Quite Possibly Wonderful Summer” is coming to fruition, a lot of listeners have been considering the present and future. Can you go to a tango festival? What should parents be watching for? And why, exactly, is the surgeon general wearing that uniform? Hit play for answers and a short history lesson from Ruth Fairbanks, a listener and history professor, in conversation with hosts James Hamblin and Maeve Higgins.

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

Maeve Higgins: I have to say, you know, since I [have] been hosting this show, I’ve learned that the listeners of the show are extremely smart. And do you remember last week, you know, you’ve been speaking with the surgeon general and we played a clip of Vivek Murthy. That’s his name, right?

James Hamblin: Yes.

Higgins: And I asked you, like, why does he wear a uniform? Like, who is he like? His position was kind of confusing. And you didn’t know exactly either.

Well, I said I didn’t know about the uniform. He’s an adviser to the president, which would clarify. But in general, the surgeon general is