“Skimm This” is a weekly news program that breaks down important stories from the past week and adds context and clarity to answer the questions on your mind. Every Thursday evening.

The Real World: Vax Mandates, Dr. Vivek Murthy and MTV’s 40th

August 05, 2021 0:35:27 0.0 MB Downloads: 0

First up: We’ll break down this week’s big stories, from the results of a sexual harassment investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to a new federal eviction moratorium, and what selling COVID vaccines means for pharma company profits.

Next: We’ve got an exclusive interview with President Biden’s top doc, a.k.a. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy.

Also: We’ve been hearing a lot about COVID-19 vaccine mandates lately, from employers to universities. We’ll talk with a legal expert about who can actually issue mandates, and how.

Plus: Have you heard politicians and athletes invoking “HIPAA” to dodge questions on their vaccine status. We’ll bring you up to speed on what really HIPAA means … in 60 seconds.

Finally: Happy birthday, MTV. 40 years after its founding, we’ll look back at the history of a channel that revolutionized the music industry and reality TV.


On this episode, you’ll hear from: 


Want more Skimm? 

  • Sign up for our free daily newsletter
  • Email us your questions about what’s going on in the news right now 
  • Subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts


Skimm'd by Bridget Armstrong, Luke Vargas, and Ciara Long, with support from Sagine Corrielus. Engineered by Andrew Callaway. TheSkimm’s head of audio is Graelyn Brashear.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices