Itir Cole: Preventing a Pandemic (or Not)
WatchCats Episode 8, continuing our series on DOGE casualties at the U.S. Digital Service
It’s a horror movie scenario: People are suddenly falling ill in a small area. Is it food poisoning? Is it a virus? What do the victims have in common? Is a local farm contaminated, or is another global pandemic brewing?
Itir Cole was working on software to help hospitals report symptoms that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) would use to trace the contours of the threat when DOGE took control.
Concluding our series of interviews with U.S. Digital Service alumni, we explore why Cole is no longer working on that project—and what she’s doing next.
If you’ve been enjoying this series, consider becoming one of our paid subscribers, who get access to new podcast episodes a day early, as well as access to our community Discord.
“WatchCats, now brought to you by ZIXS. The nicotine pouch choice of 19 year old software engineers around the world. New spring flavors include strawberry, pomegranate, and lutefisk!”