You're listening to Comedy Central. Now you know exactly where you were when the Golden State killer was arrested, your moderator on the Zodiac Killer separate. You're in search of a new challenge and or solve the hit podcast that puts you at the center of the investigation. So I was like no other murder mystery podcast. You'll piece together evidence to track down killers hiding in plain sight. Your cases are waiting for you. New episodes of song are available now on the I Heart radio app, a podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

One Crime for suspects. Can you solve it?

Bill Gates, welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show. Good to see you.

You last joined us on the show. I would say it was about seven months ago and seven months ago. Just like Dr. Fauci, you said you were worried because you felt like the worst was yet to come. A lot of people accused you of peddling fear and terror, and now it appears that, unfortunately, you were correct. Here's my question to you. Why does it seem like we've become worse at handling the pandemic in Europe or in the US than we were seven months ago, when seven months ago it was so bad?

Well, there's a couple of things working against us. First is that with the winter when we're colder, we the virus multiplies more and we're indoors more. So that is not a good thing.

And then there's a certain fatigue. Some of the things people have had to do in terms of staying away from friends, that's tougher. I have to say this round, it looks like Europe is getting better compliance with the restrictions than the US is. And so they're starting to see a downturn.

When you talk about that compliance and when you talk about the downturn is part of the downturn, like should we should we be looking at the virus cases or should we be looking at the deaths? Because I never know which one is more important. You know, the news will be like a million more people, too many, five million, seven million. And then you'll see some doctors saying, yes, but fewer people are dying from it because we know how to treat it.

How should we be looking at this virus and the fight that we have against it?

Well, the cases are the leading indicator. It is true that cases are translating into less deaths for two reasons. One is that the cases are more in the young people who are less likely to be very sick. And the other is that the quality of treatment, including some new drugs like dexamethasone, have been proven out. So when you do get hospitalized, you have a higher chance of survival. But, you know, we're predicted to go back up to over two thousand deaths a day in the months ahead.

So for the next six to eight months, the news is mostly bad. After that, the the volume of the vaccine will have kicked in and then we'll have, you know, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Wow.

I mean, the question is then, I think for a lot of people is like, how long is that tunnel? How bad does that tunnel get and how do we stop it from being the worst possible tunnel? One of the big things a lot of people are worried about is going to be the transition between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. You know, you've worked with governments all over the world working on the vaccine distribution, working on health care around the planet.

You know how important it is for one administration to talk to the next when it comes to handing off on their plans. How much do you think this will actually affect America's response if if there isn't a transition?

Well, it's unfortunate that the current administration got tied into a positive narrative that we're turning the corner and that you now have this transition. It'll make the messages a little less clear. You know, this is one you'd love to see the best CDC people on TV reminding us about social distancing and masks, you know, particularly when there is that fatigue out there. So leaders at all level, this is a chance to step up even on politicians, you know, encouraging friends that, hey, we you know, we don't want this additional several hundred thousand deaths would be tragic to be the last person who dies, you know, when the vaccine is absolutely on the way.

And, you know, so I think the good news should drive compliance, not lax laxity.

As somebody who's done work globally around health care for so long, especially around infectious diseases, what have you found is the key to encouraging or convincing community members to buy into the measures that keep them safe?

Well, we had vaccine resistance with polio and they're getting the religious leaders to speak out to have them visibly vaccinating their own children. Know for a while it looked like we'd never stop polio in Africa. And yet now. It's just been certified that we've gone three years without wild polio, so activating the trust hierarchy and getting rid of the conspiracy political element to it and just reminding people, you know, in this case, it's about saving lives. In that case, it's about kids not being paralyzed.

When you get people back to that very human impact, if we don't behave well, I think then it'll often come through. It's interesting that you bring up conspiracies because conspiracy theories about you online have are insane on social media and social media has propagate to them in a way which, like Bill Gates, is trying to create vaccines so that he can control your minds and he wants to vaccinate everybody so that he can implant. I think you're going to change people's DNA is what they said.

You're going to change our DNA so that, I don't know, we turn into something and then we work for you some I don't know the full story. I'm still learning it when you see these things. First of all, have you been able to track down where it comes from? And secondly, have you even I know you think about these things. You one of the biggest thinkers I know. Have you even thought about the motivation behind it?

Because I'm always trying to figure out who benefits from a conspiracy theory. And I'd love to know if you put any thought to this at all because of how many people won't get a vaccine because they truly believe conspiracy theories. Usually when you work on infectious disease like Dr. Foushee and I do, you're kind of obscure in a nobody talks that much about TB or malaria. So here we have this complete turnaround where vaccines and are they good for people are now front and center.

And there's always been a small group of anti vaccination people. And we see this with measles vaccine. They've now got a platform and they've sort of joined forces with some political conspiracy views. And it's so easy to click on, particularly when a simple explanation for this pandemic that there is somebody evil behind it, you know, is somehow easier than the true biology, which is actually kind of complicated. So we have to make the truth more interesting and we've got to label things with the truth.

And sadly, the naivete about how to make social media work well is pretty strong. And that's coincided with the election and the epidemic. I wish I had the answer, but, you know, it's it's it's out there in big, big numbers and hasn't it just keeps growing.

So when we look at the vaccine now, I mean, that's now the story. Now the world is waiting for the vaccine because the vaccine becomes the key that unlocks the door, as you say, the light at the end of the tunnel. The question then is how do people get the vaccine? How effective will the distribution method be and how difficult is that?

Well, the vaccine is going to be in short supply. The good news is that there's four other vaccines that are likely to get approved fairly quickly as well.

The fact that Pfizer worked so well makes us optimistic that AstraZeneca, Johnson or Johnson, Novavax, which those are much cheaper, easier to scale and don't require that cold chain to, will have a lot of vaccines. And we need to prioritize people at risk, elder people, people who work in nursing homes. And each country will have to decide, OK, who goes first.

That's still a little bit confused in the US, but hopefully we'll get that straightened out very, very soon because the vaccine is likely to be shipped a lot in the month of December.

As you said, the anti vaccine community has only grown over time. I think the US is now the biggest hub of anti vaccines in the world. It started as a fringe thing with measles. Now with Korona, it is fully fledged and because of politics, it's been amplified. So now you will have some people who on the liberal side saying, I don't trust that vaccine was made under Trump. And then you'll have other people saying, look, I don't trust that vaccine that came from Joe Biden and the Democrats they are trying to brainwash.

It's a lot of people may not want to take the vaccine, which may now go against everything we've worked towards. So how do you begin convincing people that the vaccine is safe, like in the midst of this political crisis?

Well, it's clear that the FDA went through the professional staff there. All the things are supposed to do. Likewise, Pfizer, there's even an external committee that'll weigh in just to make absolutely sure that the the political desire to get this quickly did not, in fact, the efficacy and safety review. And I feel very confident because the people involved are are really doing their job well. We don't need everyone to take the vaccine. Society will have to decide if there's some jobs, like going to a nursing home and taking care of some of these grandparents that whether that person how strongly you encourage them to have a vaccine so they're not spreading the disease.

But with this level of efficacy, if we can get to seventy five percent dosed, then you'll block the spread of the disease with measles. You'd have to get to like ninety five percent because it's even more infectious. But the good news here is that we just need that majority. And I think as people see people taking the vaccine and they see that the side effects of any are very, very rare, that confidence will build and that will be good for society, because when you take the vaccine, you're helping to protect other people.

Let's talk about climate change, because that's another one of Bill Gates's passions. Another thing Bill Gates has been doing for a long time. You have very strange hobbies. I play video games. You do malaria and climate change. But let's talk a little bit about that. How much have we have we have we gone backwards in this period in terms of fighting climate change? And what do you think are some of the concrete steps that we can take that move us closer to a place where we're not just destroying our home or our place on the planet, but also acknowledging that there are.

People who have jobs that are tied to the current way we make energy. Well, the good news is that the awareness of this is a problem. In the US is going up, our President-Elect cares a great deal about this issue, he may not get the full amount of money that he talked about being ideal. But if we prioritize that money on innovation, new ways of making cement and steel, then I view it as very solvable problem. So it's a lot like the pandemic where innovation is what will get us out of this.

We have to incent the private sector, particularly very inventive people to give us these solutions. And we the government owes it to us to get the best scientists, the best experts and invest early on so that we're not getting into the problem, because once climate change comes, you can't get out of it. There's not like a vaccine for that. So I'm really pleased that it hasn't left the agenda of all young voters, of both parties. And so, you know, I'm hoping during the next four years to make sure the prioritization of the high impact spending is there.

You're right. We have to try and create new industries in any place where the switch away from hydrocarbons is going to hurt the economy.

Do you think maybe part of the problem with getting everybody on board with climate change is they hear doom and gloom that the planet will be dead in 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 50, whatever it is, and the planet still around. And they go like, oh, clearly, this is not real. Well, when I look back and say, why didn't my warnings about the pandemic lead to more activity, you know, I have to say I you know, should I have made the grimness even more vivid or told more people that bad news?

So if you want people to prepare in advance, you really do have to, at least in some way, show that the potential negative outcomes. And now we can couple that with hay, with innovation. You can create the high paying jobs. And, you know, the US is rich enough that we can make the transition even for the areas that are negatively affected, not super severe. If we're enlightened about that. Having the common base of facts like is climate change a problem?

Is it hard to solve? You know, was there really a chance of a pandemic coming there? You want to build a consensus and once you get things underway, I agree, emphasizing like the heroes in the front line on the epidemic, the great scientist who created this way of making vaccines. It's going to help us with lots of other diseases, even cancer. Those positive stories will help push us through and maintain what in the case of climate change will be many decades of hard work to change the industrial economy so that there are no emissions and help countries poorer than us that can't afford a premium price.

And I'm going to run out of time with you soon. So I wanted to chat to you about another venture that Bill Gates is jumping into. And this one is interesting because welcome to the bandwagon, Bill. You have launched a podcast. I was like, wow, you know, the pandemic is real. And even Bill Gates has a podcast now. It's official. You have a really interesting podcast that you are cohosting with Rashida Jones. I love this.

You've got Bill and Rashida and you asking big questions. And what's interesting about this is you two seem so different and you have many similarities. You you know, you both went to Harvard, I believe. Right. The only difference is she actually graduated. Very question I have is, do you sometimes feel a little inadequate hosting with Rashida when when when you're a college dropout?

I feel more inadequate because she is so articulate and she's an artist. And I'm you know, I like to give out lots of numbers which are just boring as heck.

So I think we're looking for there was nerd. I think that's what you want. Yeah, I'm the nerd, although she likes to read too, but it's a good balance. It was a lot of fun doing it with her. She's not as optimistic about the future as I am and I'm trying to bring her around, whether it's the pandemic or climate change, talking to her about there is a path. There's a path, it's fun, I know Dr.

Fowler, she's your first guest and it's a really, really fun podcast. It's fun to hear the both of you and the dynamic that you have. And I hope a lot of people will tune in because it's just a different way to listen to these conversations. As for you joining me on the show. Thank you again for taking the time. Thank you for the work that you're doing. Good luck with everything, including the conspiracy theories. And hopefully I'll see you on the other side of the tunnel.

Yeah, in person. Someday in person, my friend. See you then.

All right. Bye bye. The Daily Show with Criminal Lawyers Edition wants The Daily Show weeknights at 11:00, 10:00 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central Watch full episodes and videos at The Daily Show Dotcom. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to The Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. On September 17th, 2009, 24 year old MIT Chris Richardson disappeared without a trace in the woods near Malibu, California, and was never seen alive again.

I'm Catherine Townsend, host of the podcast Houngan.

We're going to try to find out what really happened to my Chris Richardson School of Humans and I heart radio present. Helen Gougne, Season three, Listen to Hell and gone on the I Heart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This has been a Comedy Central podcast now.