AMERICAN DIAGNOSIS with Dr. Céline Gounder

When Indigenous people started moving to cities in large numbers after World War II, many found hardship and discrimination there … but not the health care they were entitled to. Episode 12, the season finale, explores the efforts of urban Indian health providers to close those gaps by providing affordable, culturally competent care.

Rising sea levels and severe hurricanes are displacing Indigenous people in Southern Louisiana and harming health. Episode 11 explores the United Houma Nation’s push for federal tribal recognition and the climate-change help that could come with it.

“American Diagnosis” is a co-production of KHN and Just Human Productions.

Exploitative practices in medical research have contributed to the underrepresentation of Native people in clinical trials. Episode 10 explores the efforts of Indigenous scientists to rebuild this broken trust through tribally controlled research.

A lack of Native physicians means many tribal communities rely on doctors who don’t share their lived experience, culture, or spiritual beliefs. In Episode 9, meet two medical students working to join the ranks of Indigenous physicians.

Indigenous people in the United States face disproportionately high rates of incarceration and family separation through the foster care system. Episode 8 explores the Yurok Tribal Court’s efforts to keep families together.

From forced sterilizations in the 1960s to scant access to abortion care today, barriers to health care threaten Native people’s reproductive autonomy. Episode 7 explores efforts to protect and expand Native Americans’ access to comprehensive reproductive and sexual health care.

Over decades, federal and state policies have left many tribal communities without access to clean, running water. This episode explores what separates some Diné and other Native people in the western United States from this critical resource.

“American Diagnosis” is a co-production of KHN and Just Human Productions.

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was reauthorized on March 10, 2022, reaffirming tribes’ authority to prosecute non-Native perpetrators of sexual violence and certain other crimes. This episode looks at the history of VAWA, and how protections for Native women have been tangled in the fine print of the law.

“American Diagnosis” is a co-production of KHN and Just Human Productions.

This episode is the second half of a two-part series about uranium mining on the Navajo Nation. A coalition of Indigenous leaders and non-Native locals are lobbying Congress and fielding research to force the cleanup of abandoned uranium mining sites and expand federal compensation for workers harmed by the uranium industry.

“American Diagnosis” is a co-production of KHN and Just Human Productions.

Episode 3 is an exploration of the forces that brought uranium mining to the Navajo Nation, the harmful consequences, and the fight for compensation that continues today.

“American Diagnosis” is a co-production of KHN and Just Human Productions.