Special Episode: Dr. Steven Thrasher & The Viral Underclass

Special Episode: Dr. Steven Thrasher & The Viral Underclass

Are viruses the “great equalizers” that some people claim them to be? Are we all similarly susceptible not only to infection from viruses but also to the consequences from infection? The short answer is no. The longer answer can be found in this week’s book club pick, The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Dr. Steven Thrasher. Dr. Thrasher, the inaugural Daniel H. Renberg Chair and Assistant Professor of Journalism at Northwestern University, joins us to discuss how racism, classism, sexism, ableism, stigma, and other forms of oppression intersect to create a viral underclass, a group of individuals that are disproportionately susceptible to and impacted by viruses. Our conversation takes us through several of these vectors of the viral underclass as well as personal stories that illustrate how social and political structures punish certain communities for getting sick while others profit. Part memoir, part academic discussion, part journalism, and entirely groundbreaking, The Viral Underclass is an incredibly timely book that demonstrates the ways that viruses amplify and exacerbate existing inequalities while also underlining how we are truly all in this together. Our interconnectedness means that if one of us is vulnerable to infection, then we all are.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jaksot(280)

Ep 191 Famine: More than starvation

Ep 191 Famine: More than starvation

As we learned last week, starvation extends far beyond hunger and what a lack of food does to the human body. Similarly, famine is much more than a food shortage and starvation on a population-level s...

21 Loka 20251h 10min

Ep 190 Starvation: More than hunger

Ep 190 Starvation: More than hunger

Deprived of food, our bodies do the best they can to keep us alive and functioning as long as possible. As the days pass, the rhythms of our lives change: our metabolism, our heartbeats, our hormones,...

14 Loka 20251h 4min

Special Episode: Antonia Hylton & Madness

Special Episode: Antonia Hylton & Madness

The United States is in the midst of a monumental mental health crisis, with one in four people predicted to experience mental illness at some point in their lives. Adequate mental health care remains...

7 Loka 202556min

Ep 189 Newborn screening: The future is here

Ep 189 Newborn screening: The future is here

Every year, millions of babies around the world are screened for dozens of treatable conditions within the first day or two of life. What it takes is a few drops of blood on some filter paper, and wha...

30 Syys 20251h 18min

Ep 188 Candida yeast: Here, there, and everywhere

Ep 188 Candida yeast: Here, there, and everywhere

None of us are ever truly alone. Our bodies are home to untold numbers of microbes, chilling on our skin, in our guts, throughout our respiratory tract, inside our bellybuttons, under our fingernails,...

23 Syys 20251h 17min

Special Episode: Mary Roach & Replaceable You

Special Episode: Mary Roach & Replaceable You

When your car breaks down or your fridge goes on the fritz, you can order a replacement part and get things back up and running in no time. The same cannot always be said for another intricate machine...

16 Syys 202548min

Ep 187 Hypothermia Part 2: How it helps

Ep 187 Hypothermia Part 2: How it helps

Last week, we took you through all the ways that cold can harm us and the harrowing history of humans perishing at its icy hands. Ending the story there would be skipping over the parts where cold get...

9 Syys 20251h 5min

Ep 186 Hypothermia Part 1: How it hurts

Ep 186 Hypothermia Part 1: How it hurts

For all our wondrous adaptations as a species - our big brains, our capacity for language, our opposable thumbs - we humans are not well-equipped to deal with the cold. Take us out of our insulated dw...

2 Syys 202557min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

tiedekulma-podcast
rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
rss-duodecim-lehti
mielipaivakirja
utelias-mieli
docemilia
rss-poliisin-mieli
rss-tervetta-skeptisyytta
rss-kasvikutsut
hippokrateen-vastaanotolla
rss-bios-podcast
rss-ranskaa-raakana
rss-kasvatuspsykologiaa-kaikille
rss-ammamafia
rss-astetta-parempi-elama-podcast
rss-tiedetta-vai-tarinaa