Loss of DEI Hurts Everyone: Farah Stockman, Ali Thomas, Ken Covinsky

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GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast 47 min 3 speakers 8 chapters transcribed 9 hours ago
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What is DEI and why is it being attacked today?

Eric Widera 0:00
welcome to the jerry pal podcast this is eric winera
Alex Smith 0:03
this is alex smith and alex who do we have with us today i'm so delighted to welcome dear friends i've known them a long time and in fact i'm hoping that stories from like high school middle school do not come out on this podcast
Ali Thomas 0:18
they're gonna come out
Alex Smith 0:21
oh First, delighted to welcome Farrah Stockman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and member of the New York Times editorial board, author of American Made, What Happens to People When Work Disappears, which chronicles the lives of three steel workers in Indiana whose factory moved to Mexico during the first Trump presidency. I had the pleasure of listening to this book with Farrah reading it. It is a terrific book. Talk about... the curiosity of a journalist and the way it starts with Farrah at Wellesley, the night that Trump is elected and the tears and the crying, how the heck did we get here? And then going and engaging with these steelworkers in Indiana. Incredible story. Farrah, welcome to the Jerry Powell podcast.
Farah Stockman 1:04
Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.
Alex Smith 1:07
And we're delighted to welcome Ali Thomas. Ali, who is a hospitalist, trombonist. Baha'i, leader in anti-racism efforts in the Pacific Northwest and co-founder of a nonprofit called BIPOC Health Careers Ecosystem. Ali, welcome. Thank you so much, Alex. Delighted to have you. And we're delighted to welcome back Ken Kavinsky, professor of medicine in the UCSF Division of Geriatrics and frequent guest and co-host of this podcast. Ken, welcome back.
Eric Widera 1:36
Hi, Alex. So we are going to be talking about the topic of diversity, equity, inclusion. We got a lot to talk about. Before we get into this, we always start off with a song request. Ali, I think you have a song request for Alex.
Ali Thomas 1:51
I do. And it's actually the song, Oh, What a Wonderful World, because it is sort of the opposite of what we feel right now. And for reasons that I will get into, I feel like we have to maintain perspective.
Alex Smith 2:07
Yeah, I love it. A reason for optimism in a pessimistic podcast. Here's a little bit. I'm going to do it Hawaiian, Israel Kamaka Viva Ole style.
Unknown 2:19
I see trees of green and red roses too I watch them bloom for me and you And I think to myself, what a wonderful world I see skies of blue and I see clouds of white and the brightness of day. I like the dark and I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
Eric Widera 3:01
Thank you, Alex. That was fabulous. So we got a lot to talk about. I'm wondering if we can kind of take a step back for everybody. I'm just going to ask some kind of basic questions because it feels like there is a lot of discussion about DEI. There feels like there is a lot of pushback about DEI. When you think about DEI, how would you describe it? And Farrah, I'm going to turn to you because I had a chance to read a lot of your New York Times articles. And one of the things that stood out is it seems like many Americans are for diversity, equity, and inclusion. But there seems to be a growing backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Am I saying that right? Is that what you were...
Farah Stockman 3:52
Yeah, I mean, I think they will say that they're for it. And, you know, whether they're actually for it, well, it could be a matter of discussion. But, you know, when these were just benign terms, maybe like five or six years ago, before they sort of became it became kind of weaponized, I think people would say, yeah, well, diversity, you know. sure, equity, okay, they didn't really know necessarily what it meant. But there's been a lot of reasons for the pushback. And you're seeing it, we used to see it on the left as well, right? But before I get into that, let me just say that I think this DEI kind of exploded into the mainstream, I would say five years ago with the death of George Floyd. And in the aftermath, there was this huge outpouring of like corporations that wanted to ride this like
Farah Stockman 4:42
Thank you so much for having me. And giving everybody what they need to succeed. And then, you know, I think President Biden came into office right as that was really reaching a peak.

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