In this conversation, Dr. Charlotte Huntley welcomes back Dr. Vinu Ilakkuvan, founder and principal consultant at Pop Health and creator of Gaslit by Corporations, to explore what it really means to go "further upstream" in public health. Vinu shares how years of working with coalitions and systems-change efforts led her to focus on power—who has it, how it's used, and why communities must reclaim it to advance health. She explains why she chose the bold framing "Gaslit by Corporations, Ignited by Community" to translate the academic idea of the commercial determinants of health into language that everyday people can connect with and act on.

Throughout the episode, Charlotte and Vinu dig into plain-language communication, narrative power, and community organizing as essential strategies for countering corporate harm and shifting policy, while also highlighting the importance of community spaces (including the PHEC Podcast Community App) to strengthen collective "civic muscle."

Resources

▶️ Join the PHEC Podcast Community

▶️ Visit the PHEC Podcast Show Notes

▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting