RunOut #44: Covid, BLM, and Favia Dubyk

You may feel like these are uncertain times. But one certainty is that we’re living through history. Right now. A historic pandemic and the biggest civil rights movement of this generation.

And then there’s climbing, which just sort of feels like the least important thing.

In Ulysses, James Joyce writes that history is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.

It seems as if many people are actually, genuinely beginning to wake up this nightmare and speak its name. Wake up to the injustices of our society. Something feels different to me about these protests. A lot of people who might normally shrug their shoulders have been forced to stop ignoring the uncomfortable truths: that we’re living in a system with two sets of rules. One for people with white skin, one for people of color. One for women, one for men. One for the rich, and one for the rest. And that we really need to come together to fix this.

This is Andrew Bisharat, and you’re listening to The RunOut. I’m here with my co-host Chris Kalous, and today we’re going to try to unpack this painful, fraught, and historic moment by speaking to one of the most delightful, interesting, and intelligent guests we’ve ever had on our show.

That would be Dr. Favia Dubyk. She is a pathologist from Albuquerque who is working on the frontlines of the pandemic. She’s also a cancer survivor, a strong climber, a veteran of American Ninja Warrior, and perhaps most important, she’s a strong voice for climbing, and one of many voices that people in climbing media, such as myself, could always be doing more to amplify.

Chris and I really loved this conversation. Please make sure you follow Favia on Instagram since we reference her feed copiously during this show. Her handle is “@felinefavia.” Without further ado, Dr. Favia Dubyk.