America Dissected

Dying … is not a topic most of us like to talk about. But we probably should, considering that all of us are going to do it someday. But how do we have those conversations — and why don’t we when it matters most? Abdul reflects on our odd relationship with the one thing all of us will do. Then he speaks to Nurse Hadley Vlahos, a hospice nurse, and author of the new book “The In-Between.”

One of the biggest mistakes we make in health is to mistake healthcare for public health. More tests or treatments simply can’t make up for the ways that the air you breathe, the water you drink, or the school you went to shape your health trajectory. Abdul reflects on the powerful role of place in public health. Then he sits down with Prof. Luke Shaefer, Director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy and co-author of a new book, “The Injustice of Place,” about America’s internal “colonies,” and how they shape what’s possible for too many in our country. 

You can’t miss them, HOKAs — those clunky athletic shoes with the thick foamy sole — are everywhere. But why? Abdul reflects on the broader juxtaposition between fitness and health. Then he sits down with Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician and founder of “Iron Strength,” a New York City-based fitness community, to talk about fitness, why we carry so much baggage about it, and … those HOKA shoes. 

Think about your favorite place. Chances are you thought about how it looks — but not necessarily how it sounds. Sound is all around us, so constant that we often ignore it. But it turns out that sound can have serious implications for our health. Abdul breaks down the ways sound can shape our health. Then he sits down with Prof. Erica Walker, an epidemiologist who studies sound and health to understand more about sound’s health implications, and the inequities that so often shape the different sounds we’re exposed to. 

What is gender-affirming care — and why is the far right trying to ban it? Abdul reflects on the way misinformation intended to flatten and decontextualize gender-affirming care has been critical to driving a cycle of hatred against trans people. Then he talks to Dr. Kellan Baker, the Executive Director of Whitman-Walker Institute and an expert on gender-affirming care about what it is, the impact of bans, and what everyone who believes in freedom can do to push back. 

For most of America’s medical history, the idea of a doctors’ union has been an oxymoron. Doctors were management, rather than labor. But the consolidation of healthcare over the past several decades has taken power away from doctors while forcing them into inhumane situations. The pandemic brought those challenges to a rolling boil, particularly for residents–trainee physicians who are the lifeblood of hospitals. That’s prompting resident physicians around the country to unionize for fairer wages, more humane working hours, and more say over their workplaces. Abdul sits down with Dr. Lorenzo Gonzalez, a family medicine resident and the president for one of the most powerful unions on the front line of physician organizing.  Want Pod Save America ad-free? Subscribe to Friends of the Pod: crooked.com/friends

Putting a taste-less, odorless, colorless chemical in our water is among the most effective public health interventions known to humans. So why are there so many conspiracy theories about fluoride? Abdul reflects on the low-key importance of oral health. Then he sits down with Tooka Zokaie, Senior Health Policy Analyst for the California Dental Association to talk about fluoridation and its detractors.

We don’t have definitive proof of how COVID-19 emerged. But several agencies in the US Intelligence community have concluded that a leak from the Chinese government-run virology research institute just miles from where it was first discovered is the likely source. And lab leaks happen more often than you probably think. That last part is something we don’t talk about enough. Abdul reflects on scientific safety–and the governance and transparency we need to protect it. Then he interviews Allison Young, a veteran journalist and author of the new book “Pandora’s Gamble,” about the history and risks of laboratory accidents. 

ChatGPT set off a flurry of excitement — and anxiety — over the impact Artificial Intelligence will have on every aspect of society. One of the most important disruptions that AI will impose is on health and healthcare. Abdul reflects on the power, promise, and peril of AI. Then he sits down with Dr. Eric Topol, one of healthcare’s foremost futurists and author of “Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare More Human,” to discuss it.

The pandemic took a major toll on the mental health of young people. But truth be told, mental illness had been rising among young people for the decade before that. Abdul reflects on the causes of mental illness in young people. Then he sits down with Leslie Campos, a youth organizer and entrepreneur and Dr. Anthony Iton, Senior Vice President at the California Endowment, to discuss the rise in teen mental illness and its causes.