11. ZDoggMD | Race, Star Wars, virtue signaling, and prepping for a live show

Our guest today is Dr. Zubin Damania (aka ZDoggMD), an internist, hospitalist, and healthcare evangelist. ZDogg is dedicated to turning the practice of medicine into the healing art that it should be, rather than the leviathan of bureaucracy, roadblocks, and nonsense that it sometimes seems to be. In this episode we cover:  the morality of masks and not wearing them in public, racism, suspension of the scientific method in the early phases of the pandemic, Star Wars, and much more.

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For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

• The RECOVERY Trial which found that steroids reduced mortality in certain COVID patients [02:10];
• The optimal way to introduce Star Wars to someone who has never seen an episode [07:50];
• How ZDogg prepares for the flow state of an unscripted live show or polemic [12:30];
• Why wearing a mask in public during the COVID pandemic is like paying taxes [17:50];
• Virtue signalling [23:00];
• The time when Rob was most proud to be ZDogg’s friend [23:55];
• Pandemic & Protest: Racism As A Social Determinant Of Health [23:55];
• The fundamental unfairness when judged on something that you cannot control [28:30];
• The challenge of being both authentic to yourself but also using your large social media platform to spread important messages [34:40];
• Things that surprised ZDogg about COVID-19 [37:25];
• The danger (and benefits) of dissemination of anecdotes [40:15];
• How distancing has disrupted the fabric of society [41:35];
• The importance of recognizing your emotional response and biases [44:25];
• Victims of misinformation and how they’re influenced by FLICC [46:20];
• How infrequent hand-washing demonstrates that quality in healthcare is equated with what’s financially incentivized rather than what really makes a difference [51:20].