johns hopkins school of medicine professor. he has published more than 300 scientific research articles. this book is called "blind spots ." he says he realizes that much of what the public is told about health is medical dogma, an idea or practice give it incontrovertible authority because someone declared it to be true based on a gut feeling. he writes, this book may change your life. it did mine. >> "blind spo" what it means for our health on this episode of book notes plus, available on the c-span now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government.

>> charters to be the best providers and we're just getting started. building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> chart communication supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> the case for election 2024 being the most important election of our lives is made once again in today's papers. this time on the opinion section of "the washington times" robert knight.

vote as if your liberty depends on it, because it does. robert knight writing in the pages of today's "washington times," a headline from pbs news, associated press story about a poll the a.p. put out last month, making this same case in a different way. the headline about three in four u.s. adults say the 2024 election will determine the fate of u.s. democracy, the importance of this election being the most important election of our lifetime. that's the question we're asking you about this morning, want to know what you think. if there's been more important elections i've voted in, how do you feel? 202-748-8000 if you're under 30 years old. if you're 30 years old to 60

years old, 202-748-8001. if you are over 60, 202-748-8002. we'll take you through the latest headlines this morning and also talk today about the deal coming together over the weekend about funding the government past september 30. all that happening today on the "washington journal," but just starting with this question, what is the most important election that you've ever participated in in your lifetime? james in white oak, pen, you're up first this morning, go ahead. . i think this is a joke. i think it is a joke. host: james, what do you think was the most important election of your lifetime if this is a joke, this election? caller: i voted one time in 2008 for obama and he let me down. i have studied every president,

and there is not one in my time. all the way up from reagan and carter, there is nobody that did anything except lie, eat, whatever. host: so james, you believe the hype when people keep saying we keep hearing these phrases every election, that it is the most important election of our lives? caller: it is a joke. until they end the war on drugs, we will never have peace. never. host: that is james in pennsylvania. this is kyle in buffalo, new york. good morning. is this the most important election of your life? caller: no, i don't think so. the most important election of my life was probably the al gore and george bush vote. back then, seemed like we took off on a different pathway in this country that kind of changed our lives. this election, i don't think it matters. they are both pretty much the same. they may say things differently

but it is pretty much all left up to the states. nothing about the corporations and the greed. i do say though it matters on who is our representatives in the house. you know, the majority. it does not really matter as long as there is a majority and they can get the votes passed. that is the problem right there. they stagnate when they get in the house and the senate and the votes do not go anywhere because no one is voting. the party differences. people go to the party lines and do not vote for their constituents. host: what do you think about this phrase? it does not only come up every four years or presidential elections. we hear it during the midterm elections as well. this is the most important election of our lifetime. do you think people hear that phrase so often enough that they still believe that phrase? caller: i think your average voter does not pay attention to the political aspect of things.

you know, some people listen to fox. some people listen to cnn. some people are so -- they are their own party so they get scared and give into the narrative. like they will take your rights away. that is a communist. oh, this and that. but technically if you noticed over the last two or three presidents, the major components is the wars. the last caller talked about the war on drugs. that has probably been the biggest problem for america in the 1980's and 1990's, the war on drugs. now a lot of these drugs, at least marijuana, is legalized. when obama took over, the country was really hurting. jobs were lost. it was really a terrible time. now whoever takes over, takes over some people say is a bad economy.

i guess depending on who you are. i think overall whoever is in charge, nobody is trying to get us into any wars. i think that is what trump said. he did not want to risk american lives for nothing. this administration is showing us they are trying to be hesitant before they send troops into a lot of these places. so i think we smartened up as far as getting ourselves involved in issues that are not our concern. we do support, but at least we do not have boots on the ground. i think the interest rates are going down. you know, i just don't think this is that serious of an election. there will be people i am sure that will come behind me and say this guy is crazy, it is important. you cannot vote for her. you cannot vote for him. yeah. i just think, you know, vote for who you want. but at the end of the day, it is

your local politics that will really make a difference in your lives really. host: kyle thanks for the call from buffalo. this is a comment from jeff from facebook that said 2016 was the most important. it showe transparency in the corruption of the u.s. government and the justice department and the intel community and the mainstream media. taking your comments, asking you, what has been the most important election of your lifetime? is it this election happening in about 40 days? matthew from birmingham, alabama, on the line for those 60 and over. go ahead. caller: good morning. i think for me, a crucial election was when president clinton was elected. i had the opportunity when he endeavored to be president. but going to 1990 was such a crucial time for black men in america. that year, black people in

america ceased to be in 1999, a decade later, the majority in the country. i have seen many things that have made us black men vicious in our communities. yesterday we had a mass shooting. four mass shootings in birmingham. four or five people dead, shot. for me, clinton, all the gun controls, playing games with it, it has really allowed us to become again as black people in america -- how do we go from 1990 to being number two with a population more than hispanics, and in a decade they increased

by almost 3 million a year to now be 60 something million hispanics in america? i am not saying anything that goes along with them. but with the border openings, homicides in our cities, as well as a lot of lifestyles came on board. and then when we talk about abortion, so to me it was a different paradigm shift beginning with president clinton. i love president clinton. don't get me wrong. but his actions as it relates to guns in america, i think they became more free and more accessible. we did not expect that from bill clinton. we expected him to move in a different atmosphere, but he did not. i would have to go back, for me, because i had a personal relationship with that particular president, so that is why personally i think we talk

in wide space, but we have to come back to the minute ground we live in. i live in birmingham, alabama. and in birmingham we have gone from being the number one largest city in alabama to number four. and we did that in less than three years. host: that is matthew in alabama on birmingham, and that issue that you bring up, matthew. this is the story making the headlines as far away as the new york times. a gunman opened fire in a popular entertainment district in birmingham on saturday night, killing four people, wounding at least 18 in what appeared to be a targeted attack. authorities are looking for the shooter. police responded to calls about the shooting in the area just after 11:00 p.m., according to a spokesperson for the police department. two men and a woman were found dead on the scene while another man died in the hospital. that out of birmingham, alabama. this is kevin in texas.

that line for those ages 30 to 60. talking about the most important election of your lifetime. what is it? caller: yeah, thanks for taking my call. i was born in 1965. in my lifetime, they had the voting rights act, the civil rights act, and the idea that a black woman would be a politician for president of the united states was unimaginable. you know what i'm saying? my dad used to have to ride in the back of the bus. the idea that this country would elect someone to bebe a black le unimaginable. host: so do you think it is this election that is the most important in your lifetime? caller: yes. because i got grandbabies. you know what i'm saying? i got the future going ahead. the power of the vote.

you know what i'm saying? as far as votes, i feel like voting is very important. host: that is kevin in texas. this is mary from facebook saying america iis this election -- facebookaying it is this election, save america fromhe maga party. the iraq war would he ver happened and we would have transitioned off of fossil fuels the economy and avoided the climate disaster we are facing t. jiy carter was a disaster. amica is still trying to recover. joe biden was the first sitting senator to endorse him for president, which is no doubt reflected in his administration.

a few comments about this idea of the most important election of your lifetime. want to know what you think it is. is it this one? phone lines split by age. for folks under 30, 30 to 60 years old, and over 60 years old. as you keep call again, this story from four years ago, from november of 2020, looking at the most important political platitude of our lifetime. how a simple message came to be used nearly word for word in elections large and small for nearly 200 years. this is a story by jason, who writes in his lede, it was october 1805 and thomas mckeon was up for election. the editors of the philadelphia aurora wanted him stop, so they ran a nearly full page excoriation that declared him an apostate from principle supported by a mongrel faction,

and that today will be the most important election you have ever been called upon to attend. mckean won the election but the aurora editors in the process unleashed an oratorical trick that is now and demo to modern politics. -- now endemic to modern politics. it is now used -- the language is now used word for word in elections large and small for more than 200 years, describing both local and federal elections. in 1813, the pittsfield sun declared the most important election that has taken place since the adoption of the federal constitution. it was for a slate of local candidates that nobody today would know. in 1864, the vermont chronicle explained the most important election in the history of this nation.

it was abraham lincoln running for reelection so perhaps fair enough. the greenville democrat sun reported in 1923 that the most important election in history of the country will be taking place on the purpose of repurchasing roads. maybe that one was a little overhyped. looking at the phrase, the most important election of our lifetime. do you think it applies to this one? want to hear your thoughts. paul in the united kingdom across the pond on the line for those under 30. caller: good afternoon. i think it is important. kennedy had the most important election back in 1960 and also barack obama's election back in 2008. that was i reckoned the best election. host: why jfk?

caller: jfk, of course, the politics, and he saw the way politics went. that changed the way politics were. we are missing the kind of john f. kennedy. it is a shame what happened. it is important as well, a turning point. host: a turning point for what? caller: buck persons -- black persons included. i think it was significant as well. host: how much attention are folks in england paying to the election? caller: they are paying attention. it is important.

it is an important issue for the world and the united kingdom as well. it is an important election. host: do you have a preference on who wins this election in america, paul? caller: for donald trump or kamala harris, i think it is and that -- it is neck and neck so we will have to see who wins in november. host: thanks for the view from england. a story all the view from across the pond. again from the washington times today. the revelation that iran tried to link campaign trump materials to the biden campaign left little doubt about who the islamic republic wants to win or to lose the upcoming presidential election. brazil's president is sympathetic to vice president kamala harris. european leaders have signaled their preference for miss

harris. the german foreign ministry has been aggressive in dividing former president donald trump. donald trump has a president in his corner. david, auburn, new york, the line for those 60 plus. what is the most important election of your lifetime? caller: yes, i have to agree that it is the most important election of my lifetime. the washington times article, he is correct. what you are really seeing now is this, you are going to vote for a larger, more intrusive, more inclusive government on the left, or you will take a chance on the right, which i will do. if trump gets back in, he will continue to get rid of the regulations that are so cluttering up our lives. and on a personal note or a local note, i live in new york. this is the bluest state. they run everything.

less accessible because of this huge government takeover. just to get it put up, i would say we need a less smaller government, a much larger private sector. there is no way for it other than that. if anybody remembers this, there was a time we made an issue. when the government employment passed the manufacturing employment, that was probably 30 years ago. and it has only gotten worse since then. you cannot afford a large government. you can see it with this inflation. one more thing. this is a message to donald trump about the taxing of overtime. the largest consumers of overtime pay in my state are government employees. so if you think if you pass

that, he is well intended but that is a mistake. i hope he get to hear this. thank you very much. host: to fargo, north dakota. this is crystal. what is the most important election of your lifetime? caller: right now and i will tell you why. we have global threats around the world. we have things going on in reality. we can hypothesize all we want to but right now we have to deal with the world issues. foreign policy is essential. the only one with any experience right now is former president donald trump. i am calling from north dakota because i am so proud that our governor just made a three day trip to israel. it was financed by a jewish group, not taxpayer money. this is a man himself who has enough wealth that he could easily handle a lot of financial things, but that is not what he is doing. we in north dakota, we came with

warren christopher, if anybody remembers that name. foreign policy. we need strength. we need foreign policy experience. the vice president, she offers us nothing. and i am sorry that she grew up middle-class but whatever. she offers us nothing. this is the most essential election of my lifetime. i am hoping we can survive if that other person wins, but we've got to have donald trump back in the white house. we need his strength. we need his experience. i am hoping doug burgum comes in as secretary of state, ambassador to israel, whatever. we have a team of republicans with experience. and i appreciate you, your c-span, that i am able to talk to the audience this morning on the most essential election, right now. host: crystal in fargo, north

dakota. speaking of north dakota, the secretary of state of north dakota taking on this idea of the most important election of our lifetime in a column ran in a series of local papers including the jamestown sun from late last week. he is talking about how did north dakota office of the secretary of state has the responsibility of overseeing the state election process, but this is how he leads the column. we hear it every two years, this is the most important election of our lifetime. in a sense it is true, not because of who the candidates may be or the issues facing voters, but because the most important election of our lifetime is always the next election. voting is a privilege that every united states citizen has an a response ability every eligible voter should take seriously. you are responsible for choosing your leaders, policies, and future no matter if it is a presidential election or your local school board election.

the secretary of state of north dakota. this is river in ohio. good morning. you are next. caller: hi there, good morning. how are you? host: doing well. what is the most important election of your lifetime? caller: my thunder was stolen by the last article but every election is the most important election. i am very much looking forward to seeing how this when shakes out. it is definitely very, very close. i am pretty much undecided voter, but i think i lean more towards trump at this point. just kind of a gut feeling on how things were four years ago in my pocket, especially getting close to being 30 at this point. i am definitely feeling more strapped than ever before but definitely time will tell for sure. host: you are close to being 30. what was your take on the 2020 election, the 2016 election, and

the importance at that time? did you have the same feeling then? caller: 2016 was the first time i got to vote for president. i voted for trump that time, and i thought things went pretty well. i voted for nobody actually in 2020 just be invested at the point. again, things definitely have been a little tighter for my pocket. definitely those around me. rent is higher. food is higher. the one thing that kind of annoys me with kamala harris's she seems to be running on a platform that the last four years -- harris is she seems to be running on a platform that the last four years were not hers because she was not president. the very few interviews that she did makes it seem like trump is the incumbent, which is not the case at all. host: that is river in ohio. this is elizabeth in maryland. good morning.

you are next. caller: good morning. thank you very much. i am 73 years old so i have been through jfk, nixon, the vietnam war, trump, and the most important election, one of the most important elections of my lifetime was when biden beat trump. i thought trump was going to win by a landslide. instead, biden won. it was so important that biden won. it was so terrific. he got rid of covid. i think biden has been a great president. he stepped down and let kamala harris run for president in 2024 because he really is incompetent right now. not as president but to run again. i think biden has been a great president. 2020 was the most important election of my life because trump almost brought us to world

war iii with north korea. i did not like him at all. he was a terrifying president for me and for everyone in my family. biden beat him, and that was the most important election of my life. that is all i wanted to say. thank you very much. host: that was elizabeth in maryland. the conversation in the first hour of "washington journal" today simply asking you, what was the most important election of your lifetime? is it this one? phone lines split by age. i wanted to note as you continue to call in the short-term spending deal to fund the government, a deal coming together with congressional leaders over the weekend. we will talk more about it with scott wong, congressional reporter. this is a story about it in the wall street journal today. congressional leaders on sunday backed a bipartisan spending

deal that would avoid a government shutdown before the election while also giving the secret service an extra $231 million to help protect presidential candidates during the final hectic weeks of campaigning. the proposal backed by top republicans and democratic leaders would continue government funding to give congress -- funding until december 20, giving congress more time to figure out how much money to allocate to each federal agency in the next fiscal year. the calls on the most important election of your lifetime. josephine in new jersey, good morning. what do you think? caller: good morning. i feel this election is important for me as a woman. i am 80 years old, so i will say my age, which means i am not affected by roe v. wade. on the other hand, it infers on

women's second-class citizenship. she will not go to the doctor, as is happening right now. that happens, ok, in georgia. it is the idea that a woman no longer, younger girls, younger women will no longer have the access to the care that they and their house or their companion decides. it is a shame. second-class citizenship is important to me. the other one that is important to me, the 1964 civil rights act. to know that the roberts supreme court literally has torn and shredded that law up, that is why you see all of this garbage of fake electors. right now, you have george or rid of people they don't want to -- georgia getting rid of people they don't want to hear about.

georgia, a disgrace. a disgrace. talking about the roberts court. the very next day after they got rid of the civil rights act, almost everybody, all of those states in the south immediately threw out of the law. we have gone backwards, not forwards. host: this is gloria in the volunteer state. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to say i agree with most of the last callers that every election is important. but i think this election makes it a little more important. we saw what happened when we had a communist president in there the last time. i could never vote for another communist. people still think that is wonderful. no it is not --