Ted Audio Collective

This is the Ted Health Podcast. I'm Dr. Shoshana Ungerlater.

On today's show, a Ted talk from Heather McGee.

Heather is a public policy expert and a New York Times bestselling author.

Her talk is about how racism affects all of us.

Not just in some abstract moral sense, but also in the ways in which it drains economic potential.

And so livelihood from our communities and our neighborhoods.

That's something I'll dig more deeply into after the talk with Dr. Alita Maybank.

She's a pediatrician and she's also the Chief Health Equity Officer and Senior Vice President of the American Medical Association.

Stick around to hear us talk about the surprising role that neighborhoods play in our health outcomes.

And why public health has to go further than just making sure everyone has access to a clinic.

I am a public policy walk.

I investigate data that points to problems in the American economy.

Problems like rising household debt, declining wages and benefits, shortfalls in public revenue.

And I try to pinpoint solutions to make our economy more prosperous for more people.

I geek out about tax policy and infrastructure investments and I get really excited by a gracefully designed regulatory regime.

These are the kinds of topics that I was talking about on a public television live call-in show in August of 2016.

I was about halfway through the program when a man called in identified as Gary from North Carolina.

And he said, I'm a white male and I'm prejudiced.

He then went on to detail his prejudice, talking about black men and gangs and drugs and crime.

But then he said something that I'll never forget.

He said, but I want to change.

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