In April, 2018 the Northeastern University School of Law held a conference titled “Diseases of Despair: The Role of Policy and Law.” TWIHL was asked to be the event’s podcast partner and we roped in Leo Beletsky, our friend and one of the conference organizers to act as co-host for two special TWIHL episodes. We recorded two shows, this, the first, concentrated on public health aspects. TWIHL thanks all the conference attendees and the organizers for their help and a wonderful conference.