America Dissected

To the untrained eye, public health and healthcare are–if not the same thing–then two sides of the same coin. But to those of us who work in public health, healthcare is too often a giant vacuum of health dollars focused more on the bottom line than public wellbeing. Abdul reflects on the tradeoffs between health and healthcare. Then he sits down with Dr. Dave Chokshi, the former New York City Health Commissioner and current Chair of the Common Health Coalition, which is attempting to bridge the divide.This show would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. America Dissected invites you to check them out. This episode was brought to you by:Marguerite Casey Foundation who invites you to sign up for their new Summer School program at caseygrants.org/summerschool.Article who invites you to check out their spring and summer home collection at article.com/AD. Make sure to use promo code AD at checkout to save $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.Lumen who invites you to unlock your metabolism. Visit go.lumen.me/AD for 15% off your purchase.

The pandemic didn’t change everything–it just made everything weird. From declining trust in institutions to the growing power of Big Tech on our lives, we are struggling to deal with the world as it’s become. Abdul reflects on the long tail of the pandemic. Then he sits down with New York TImes columnist David Wallace-Wells to talk about post-pandemic “medical libertarianism,” social media and teen mental health, and the impact of the pandemic on the foundations of our lives.This show would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. America Dissected invites you to check them out. This episode was brought to you by:Marguerite Casey Foundation who invites you to sign up for their new Summer School program at caseygrants.org/summerschool.

Racism is among this country’s most persistent original sins. Not only does it pattern access to everything from education to housing to jobs — but infant mortality, cancer, and life expectancy. Abdul reflects on the stickiness of racism. Then he interviews author and journalist Dr. Layal Liverpool, author of the new book “Systemic,” about how racism gets under the skin, how that differs across countries, and what we can do about it. Pick up your copy of “Systemic” here.This show would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. America Dissected invites you to check them out. This episode was brought to you by:Marguerite Casey Foundation who invites you to sign up for their new Summer School program at caseygrants.org/summerschool.Article who invites you to check out their spring and summer home collection at article.com/AD. Make sure to use promo code AD at checkout to save $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.Henson Shaving invites you to find the razor that will last you a lifetime. Go to https://hensonshaving.com and enter AD at checkout to get 100 free blades with your purchase. (Note: you must add both the 100-blade pack and the razor for the discount to apply.)

We talk a lot more about mental health than we used to — and that’s served to destigmatize it and promote opportunities to improve it. But that conversation has yet to improve mental healthcare for those who need it most. Abdul reflects on why we still have so much further to go. Then he sits down with Dr. Alice Feller, a psychiatrist and author of American Madness about how politicians disassembled the US mental healthcare system and what we need to do to rebuild it.This show would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. America Dissected invites you to check them out. This episode was brought to you by:Marguerite Casey Foundation who invites you to sign up for their new Summer School program at caseygrants.org/summerschoolLumen if you want to take the next step in improving your health, go to https://lumen.me/AD to get 15% off your Lumen.

Too many politicians are too beholden to the healthcare industry to propose any meaningful change. That’s not true of the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Senator Bernie Sanders. Since 2016, his ideas have animated some of the most important changes in healthcare policy. Abdul reflects on the need for big ideas–and why we don’t get them that often. Then he interviews Senator Bernie Sanders on the 32-hour workweek, his Long COVID moonshot, and the price of GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic. This show would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. America Dissected invites you to check them out. This episode was brought to you by:Marguerite Casey Foundation who invites you to sign up for their book club at caseygrants.org/bookclubArticle who invites you to check out their spring and summer home collection at article.com/AD.Make sure to use promo code AD at checkout to save $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.

Trauma is all around us–and the word has come to dominate so much of our conversation about mental health. The common perception of trauma is that it lingers, devastating mental health over time. But what if the more common consequence of trauma was growth? Abdul reflects on the way we think about trauma. Then he interviews Prof. Richard Tedeschi, the psychologist who coined the term “post-traumatic growth” about the phenomenon, why it happens, and how we unlock it.This show would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. America Dissected invites you to check them out. This episode was brought to you by:Marguerite Casey Foundation who invites you to sign up for their book club at caseygrants.org/bookclub

Millions of Americans go without healthcare every year. Many of them turn to crowdfunding to support their needs. Abdul reflects on what that says about how we think about one another. Then he interviews Prof. Nora Kenworthy, author of the new book “Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare” about who wins, who loses, and how we build a healthcare system where Americans don’t need to crowdfund.This show would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. America Dissected invites you to check them out. This episode was brought to you by:Marguerite Casey Foundation who invites you to sign up for their book club at caseygrants.org/bookclubArticle who invites you to check out their spring and summer home collection at article.com/AD. Make sure to use promo code AD at checkout to save $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.

The H5N1 Bird Flu has been circulating in cows for 5 months, spreading faster and farther than we had previously expected. Abdul reflects on the wake-up call it poses for the public health community. Then he interviews Dr. Kimberly Dodd, a veterinarian and former USDA official, about the risk of spread, whether or not the current regulations are enough to protect humans, and where this goes from here.This show would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. America Dissected invites you to check them out. This episode was brought to you by:Marguerite Casey Foundation who invites you to sign up for their book club at caseygrants.org/bookclubLumen who invites you to unlock your metabolism. Visit go.lumen.me/AD for $100 off at checkout.

The Anti-Diet movement has helped us understand some of the downsides of a perpetual diet culture driven by influencers and advertisers selling us this or that fad. But what happens when the influencers behind that movement get co-opted by corporations too? Abdul reflects on the way that corporate interests too often interfere with sound science and public education. Then he sits down with Sasha Chavkin, Senior Reporter at The Examination and Caitlin Gilbert, Well+Being Data Reporter at The Washington Post to learn about their reporting on food corporations funding the anti-diet movement.This show would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. America Dissected invites you to check them out. This episode was brought to you by:Marguerite Casey Foundation who invites you to sign up for their book club at caseygrants.org/bookclubArticle who invites you to check out their spring and summer home collection at article.com/AD. Make sure to use promo code AD at checkout to save $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.

For so many Americans, pets are members of the family. And our interactions with animals — in our homes, on our farms, and in the wild — shape our health in some important ways. Abdul reflects on what he’s learned about health working in animal welfare. Then he sits down with Melissa Miller, an animal care expert, disaster field responder, trainer, and county animal care and control director to talk about how pets shape our health, how to do our best for our fur babies, and what can go wrong when we fail them.