© 2026 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Thanks to you, WUSF is here — delivering fact-based news and stories that reflect our community.⁠ Your support powers everything we do.

Why didn't Biden aides sound alarms over his cognitive decline? The social cost of speaking out

While congressional Republicans are hammering out a spending bill, Democrats are warring over a bombshell book that alleges aides around President Biden covered up his cognitive decline.

Why didn’t more people in the White House go public with their concerns? There are many answers to that question. But one of them may be explained by the high social cost of speaking out.

Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School has studied the phenomenon and joins us to explain.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2025 WBUR

Here & Now Newsroom
Our daily newsletter, delivered first thing weekdays, keeps you connected to your community with news, culture, national NPR headlines, and more.