America Dissected
Wellness isn’t just about mindfulness, exercise, or the right skin routine. Science, politics, media, culture, tech — everything around us — interact to shape our health. On America Dissected, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed cuts into what really makes us sick — be it racism, corporate greed, or snake oil influencers — and what it'll take to heal it. From for-profit healthcare to ineffective sunscreens, America Dissected cuts deeper into the state of health in America. New episodes every Tuesday. Want to know where to start? Here are some fan-favorite episodes to search: Cannabis Capitalism with David Jernigan Weight Weight Don’t Tell me with Harriett Brown Black Scientists Matter with Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett.
Episodes
May 21, 2024 • 49 mins
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.
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May 14, 2024 • 49 mins
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.
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May 7, 2024 • 50 mins
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 Exam...
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April 30, 2024 • 57 mins
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,...
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April 23, 2024 • 48 mins
Public health professionals are people, too. Too often, though, we don’t think about them that way — their needs, their hopes, and aspirations, their individual skills and areas of passion. But if we want a functional public health system, we really should. Abdul reflects on the experience of leading public health teams. Then he speaks with Dr. Brian Castrucci, President and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation and co-author of a new ...
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April 16, 2024 • 47 mins
Last summer’s blockbuster “Oppenheimer” took home best picture for a stirring portrayal of the man behind the world’s most dangerous weapon. But there’s a part the story left out: the devastation wrought by nuclear weapons testing on communities here in the US. Abdul reflects on the broader fallout of producing weapons of war. Then he talks to Tina Cordova, co-founder and Executive Director of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consort...
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April 9, 2024 • 51 mins
In a time when AI is creating new realities faster than we can make sense of them, we need to imagine possible future scenarios to prepare. Which is why a new novel by Marschall Runge, Dean of the University of Michigan Medical School, is so prescient. In his book “Coded to Kill,” Runge helps us imagine what could go wrong, even if so much can go right. Abdul reflects on the critical role of imagination in science. Then he sits dow...
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April 2, 2024 • 50 mins
Maternal and child health inequities by race are a blot on our national fabric. But fixing them isn’t about one silver bullet — it’s about systems coming together to do their part. Abdul reflects on the struggle for birthing equity. He interviews Dr. Natalie Hernandez, one of the authors of the “Practical Playbook” on maternal health inequities to understand how sectors can come together to save Black moms and babies.
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March 26, 2024 • 46 mins
All of us live in bodies. But what happens when those bodies change in ways that rob us of critical life experiences? That’s the question that so many people face after mastectomy. Abdul reflects on the idea of embodiment and the role that healthcare plays in shaping it. Then he interviews Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau, an obstetrician/gynecologist and scientist designing a bionic breast to help people who’ve lost their breast regain so...
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March 19, 2024 • 50 mins
For so many reasons — shame, privacy, social discomfort — we don’t talk enough about sex as a public health issue. But it's an important part of a healthy adult human life. So, we’re going to talk about sex. Abdul reflects on the forces that keep us from having a healthy, sex-positive perspective. Then he speaks with Emily Nagoski, New York Times Bestselling Author and Sex Educator about how to reframe and rebuild long term sexual ...
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March 12, 2024 • 48 mins
For nearly a decade, Flint, Michigan has been synonymous with the lead and water crisis that put the city on the map. But Flint is resilient. Abdul reflects on the central role of poverty in all that Flint experienced. Then he speaks with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician who uncovered the water crisis, and Prof. Luke Shaefer, an anti-poverty researcher, about their new “Rx Kids” program to provide cash to pregnant moms to s...
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March 5, 2024 • 44 mins
A few weeks ago, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created in the IVF process had the same rights as children. The ruling was a warning of just how far the anti-abortion might go. Abdul reflects on the hypocrisy at the core of the ruling. Then he sits down with Elisabeth Smith, Director for State Policy and Advocacy at the Center for Reproductive Rights to discuss the broader implications of the ruling and what it means ...
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February 27, 2024 • 54 mins
Chronic illness is debilitating. But it’s not just the pain and dysfunction it causes, but the anxiety of not really knowing when it’ll strike — or get worse. Abdul reflects on the ways that science has been diverted by the goals of the healthcare industrial complex away from answering questions at the edge of chronic illness. Then he sits down with author Megan O’Rourke, author of Invisible Kingdom, a book about the experience of ...
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February 20, 2024 • 56 mins
Ottawa County, Michigan made national news last year after a MAGA take over of its County Commission. Their first major act? To try to defund their public health department. Abdul reflects on the impending risk of this across the country. Then he sits down with Adeline Hambley and Marcia Mansaray, the leaders of the Ottawa County Health Department to learn what happened — and what they did next.
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February 13, 2024 • 45 mins
More pedestrians are dying in auto accidents. Abdul reflects on the public health challenges that cars pose in general. Then he sits down with Dr. Deborah Kuhls, a trauma surgeon who studies pedestrian fatalities to understand why and how to stop it.
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February 6, 2024 • 56 mins
Sickle Cell Disease is a debilitating genetic disease that almost exclusively affects Black folks. While genetic breakthroughs have made a cure possible, the high price tag may keep them away from people who need them. Abdul reflects on the way that society shapes the scientific questions we ask — and whose diseases we take seriously. Then he interviews Dr. Titilope Fasipe, a pediatric hematologist who treats sickle cell disease — ...
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January 30, 2024 • 45 mins
In less than four months, more than 25,000 people have been killed by Israeli bombardment in Gaza. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of devastation. Abdul reflects on how the way we talk about this will shape how the international community values human life. Then he interviews Dr. Tanya Haj-Hasan, a pediatric intensive care doctor with Doctors without Borders and creator of the social medial channel “Gaza Medic Voices.”
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January 23, 2024 • 58 mins
The COVID-19 pandemic was a crucible for America’s public health institutions. It brought out their best — and worst. And many of us didn’t like what we saw. Abdul sits down with Prof. Sandro Galea, Dean of the Boston University School of Public Health to talk about his new book, Within Reason, in which Galea argues that the pandemic uncovered an “illiberal,” even, at times, authoritarian, strain within.
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January 16, 2024 • 47 mins
Over the past decade, Fentanyl, a cheap, hyper-potent, and synthetic opiate has accelerated the opioid pandemic already ravaging the country. Abdul reflects on the way that our atomized, lonely communities left us vulnerable to opioid addiction and fentanyl and sits down with Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of National Drug Control Policy to talk through the history of the opioid epidemic, fentanyl, and how the federal government is work...
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January 9, 2024 • 53 mins
America’s most common New Year’s resolutions focus on health–weight loss, fitness, or something else. While almost all of them focus on physical health, they all run through our mental health. Abdul reflects on how essential health is to everything else we do. Then he sits down with psychiatrist and author Dr. Jud Brewer to understand the mind-body axis and how mastering it can help us nail down those resolutions.
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