Epidemiological Podcasts

Epidemiological Podcasts

By Rene "Epi Ren" NajeraSociety & CulturePersonal Journals
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Epidemiological Podcasts episodes

  • It’s okay to listen to a podcast and cry
    My culture is kind of weird. We’re not allowed to do the things our bodies and minds ask of us, like crying. If you cry, you’re apparently not a man, or you’re less of a man. Of course, that is not the case. You need to be who you are, and who the world needs you to be.
    12 min
  • Let’s Talk About Walking Away From Arguing
    When I was younger, getting into internet arguments was kind of fun, even when said arguments were not productive or had the possibility of becoming violent. As I’ve aged, one of the best things I’ve learned has been to know when to walk away from arguing. Even better, I’ve learned to apologize. I’ve learned good sportsmanship in life, I guess. Let me tell you all about it.
    10 min
  • Let's Talk About Religiosity

    I'm a scientist, so I get a lot of questions about my religion. Like others have said, many of those questions are more in order to pass judgment or to identify with me than to really get to know me. That's okay. It's how humans work.

    This year, I've seen many people claim to be of one religion but act nothing like it. We see it all the time with the current Administration in the White House, right? We have someone who claims to be Christian but puts their needy neighbors in cages. And their followers, who also claim to be Christian, love every minute of it.

    It's not just a problem with Christians, but they are who I am passing judgment on because they are the people with whom I identify. They are the ones that trouble me because they're the majority in the place where I live, and they are not acting at all like they should. They have too much power, and they're being wicked.

    16 min
  • Let's Talk About How We Justify Our Actions in This Pandemic

    Have you ever wondered why infectious diseases are a thing? I mean, why do people keep giving things like gonorrhea or HIV to each other? Why do we get colds? The reason here is that viruses and bacteria that cause disease have figured out that we humans just can't seem to stay away from each other and/or follow public health guidance.

    This pandemic would have been over in a matter of weeks if we all would have just stayed home, worn masks and got tested. If we all cooperated with contact tracers, this thing would be a thing of the past like it is in New Zealand and other parts of the world where people did their part to follow recommendations. But no, not us. Or, rather, not U.S.

    We will justify everything we did wrong in the pandemic by saying that we had to live our lives, that life is short, that businesses are people, or that one year off from school could prove fatal. Even as more than 300,000 people (and counting) are dead, we kind of just do what we do, and the novel coronavirus is laughing all the way to the bank.

    Lucky for you, we have these things called vaccines, right?

    So, no judgment and no talking down to you, I'm just going to put it out there that we are no better than one another in how we reacted to the pandemic.

    10 min
  • Let's Talk About Faith With a Lowercase F

    Do you take apart your car engine and make sure that it is functioning at 100% before you take a drive? Do you check and double-check to make sure that your airplane pilot went to the proper school, knows what to do in an emergency and doesn't have something in their past that would make you think twice about flying with them?

    A lot of what we do day after day -- without thinking about it -- we do on faith, with a lowercase F. We don't really think too much about stuff because doing so would drive us nuts. So, we just go with it.

    Should something go wrong, we do have mechanisms of making people, institutions and companies accountable. And the people who choose not to believe that all the mechanisms to make sure that something is safe are doing their job... Well, those people are in the minority. They may be loud and obnoxious -- or vociferous -- but they're in the minority. Don't be bullied away from an effective public health intervention because they call you names.

    13 min
  • Epidemiological Podcast S0E3: Hi, I’m a Doctor
    A quick 9-minute story of last Wednesday, the day I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation. It was quite a "day of days," and it ended very well. It brought together five years of hard work. So what's next? Listen to find out!
    10 min
  • Epidemiological Podcast S0E2: The Weight of the Evidence
    On today's podcast, I talk to you about a recent tragedy in our family and how it helped me understand anti-vaccine parents a little more. Not completely, but just enough to realize that there is very little in the way of a debate that one can have with them.
    See, When people who don't believe that vaccines save lives tell you that there is no evidence that vaccines are safe, they're either misinformed or lying. On the flip side, when they tell you that there is evidence that vaccines cause autism, they're either misinformed or lying again. There is plenty of evidence for both arguments out there, but only one set of "studies" pass the biological plausibility test (not to say anything about ethics).
    However, because an injury (perceived or real) to a child triggers such a deep-seeded, primal reaction, it's hard to be logical or reasonable. When parents see autism as death (when it's not), their search for answers becomes chaotic and full of inferences that are misguided. Anti-vaccine people looking to make a buck take advantage of that, and then we're off to the races on trying to stop further harm, encourage critical thinking, and have an actual debate based on facts.
    In about 33 minutes, I tell you about the different kinds of studies out there, and I explain to you why we cannot do a vaccinated vs. unvaccinated study like the antivaxxers want, but we've done plenty of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated studies in an ethical and scientific way.
    34 min
  • Epidemiological Podcast S0E2: The Weight of the Evidence
    On today's podcast, I talk to you about a recent tragedy in our family and how it helped me understand anti-vaccine parents a little more. Not completely, but just enough to realize that there is very little in the way of a debate that one can have with them.
    See, When people who don't believe that vaccines save lives tell you that there is no evidence that vaccines are safe, they're either misinformed or lying. On the flip side, when they tell you that there is evidence that vaccines cause autism, they're either misinformed or lying again. There is plenty of evidence for both arguments out there, but only one set of "studies" pass the biological plausibility test (not to say anything about ethics).
    However, because an injury (perceived or real) to a child triggers such a deep-seeded, primal reaction, it's hard to be logical or reasonable. When parents see autism as death (when it's not), their search for answers becomes chaotic and full of inferences that are misguided. Anti-vaccine people looking to make a buck take advantage of that, and then we're off to the races on trying to stop further harm, encourage critical thinking, and have an actual debate based on facts.
    In about 33 minutes, I tell you about the different kinds of studies out there, and I explain to you why we cannot do a vaccinated vs. unvaccinated study like the antivaxxers want, but we've done plenty of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated studies in an ethical and scientific way.
    34 min

About Epidemiological Podcasts

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Podcasts about the life and times of an epidemiologist. I talk to you about everything that goes on in the world and most of what goes on in my life. All from the point of view of someone whose job it…