The Oprah to "Make America Healthy Again" Pipeline
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Who is Brittany Luce and what is the Road to Make America Healthy Again series about?
Hello, hello. I'm Brittany Luce, and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident. Have you or someone you love been confused by the push to make America healthy again? No. If that's the case, then you, my friend, are in dire need of our new series. The Road to Make America Healthy Again.
Don't you want a president that's going to make America healthy again?
For the next few weeks, we're delving into some of the origins, conspiracy theories, and power grabs that have led us to this moment and what that could mean for our health. For the final episode in our Road to Maha series, we are talking about the one, the only Oprah Winfrey. She is the ultimate self-made woman story.
Why is Oprah Winfrey considered the Queen of Talk and what is her influence on American culture?
That is Dr. Kelly Carter-Jackson, historian and co-host of You Get a Podcast, a show about the queen of talk.
And I think people look to her as someone who was highly relatable, as someone also saw as highly aspirational as well.
The impact of The Oprah Winfrey Show cannot be overstated. It was the place to go to talk about any and every hot topic. Celebrity interviews, relationship woes, family trauma. She had it all. Starting from its debut in 1986, The Oprah Winfrey Show was the number one talk show in the country for 24 consecutive seasons.
By the time you get to the late 90s, and certainly the 2000s. I mean, Oprah is a kingmaker. Oprah is the person that you want interviewing you. She is a tastemaker. If she says she likes Ugg boots, that's the new latest greatest thing.
That influence, also called the Oprah effect, made her no stranger to controversy. In fact, in the 90s, she had an episode about mad cow disease. And after learning about the dangers of infected beef, she declared that she was done eating burgers. After that episode aired, Oprah was sued by the cattle industry, who claimed that her program led to an $11 million loss. This is also when Oprah would meet a psychologist by the name of Phil McGraw.
We know him as Dr. Phil. Dr. Phil was her trial coach. So that introduction was really like, huh, what was he saying to Oprah to help this superwoman kind of get it together?
That is Dr. Marsha Chatelain, professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. After Dr. Phil helped Oprah through her trial, he eventually joined her show as a sort of no-nonsense self-help expert. And that led to his own Oprah-produced show called Dr. Phil. Heard of it? But that's not the only doctor that was put on by Oprah. Welcome back, Dr. O! Dr. Mehmet Oz, former heart surgeon and newly confirmed head of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also made his claim to fame on her show.
He's on her show for 62 times, to be exact. And it catapults him, really, into creating his own show. That's on for over a dozen years.
And while both of these men started out as highly respected in their fields, over time they have left behind their traditional careers for the limelight. And that has come with some pretty bewildering political evolutions. Dr. Phil went from psychologist to talk show host to now joining the Trump administration's ICE raids in Chicago.
But you've never been deported before? No.
What is the 'Oprah effect' and how did it impact public health discussions?
Yeah? How do you know me? And while Dr. Oz started out as a well-regarded heart surgeon, about half of the recommendations made on his show were found to be unsupported by scientific evidence.
I know I've irritated some potential allies in our quest to make America healthy. No matter our disagreements, freedom of speech is the most fundamental right we have as Americans.
Both men have also come out in support of the right-wing Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, political movement. And while Oprah has distanced herself from Dr. Oz, I think her show has become a time capsule of how we got to this cross-section between entertainment, politics, and health.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Brittany Luce and what is the Road to Make America Healthy Again series about?
0:26–1:39
2
Why is Oprah Winfrey considered the Queen of Talk and what is her influence on American culture?
1:39–4:23
3
How did Oprah Winfrey contribute to launching the careers of Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz?
4:23
4
What is the 'Oprah effect' and how did it impact public health discussions?
2:35–5:29
5
How have Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz's careers evolved beyond their original professions?
5:29–10:58
6
What role did Oprah's personal and political beliefs play in her show's content and influence?
10:58
7
How do Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson and Dr. Marcia Chatelain analyze Oprah's influence on health and politics?
8:09
8
What is the connection between entertainment, health, and politics in Oprah's legacy?
7:07–22:31