The Wooden Teeth Show

Jake speaks with Dr. Ashwin Vasan, a physician and epidemiologist who is also the President & CEO of Fountain House, an organization with international reach that supports people with mental illness. In the conversation, Jake mines Dr. Vasan’s public health expertise in exploring our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including what steps Vice President Joe Biden should take to advance public health should he become President, and how we should communicate about and build confidence in the adoption of a COVID-19 vaccine.

While our air quality overall has improved in the last 50 years, air pollution today still causes about 100,000 premature deaths annually in America. It costs us all about $886 billion per year. The air emissions from our fossil fuel economy not only accelerates climate change, but also poses a health risk right now in communities across the U.S. as harmful substances, like Benzene, are still emitted.

Jake speaks with Chase Woodruff, a journalist who writes for Westword, about his reporting on an oil refinery in Metro Denver that has been cited for over 100 violations since 2018 by state regulators, including spewing an excess amount of hydrogen cyanide in the surrounding community.

Jake also speaks with Dr. Cory Carroll, a physician who describes how harmful air emissions and elevated ozone levels affect our health. He also shares some perspective on treating patients in a community that has seen a steep rise in nearby oil and gas extraction.

Altria recently introduced "Heat not burn" tobacco products in Atlanta, their first U.S. test market. This is the latest ploy big tobacco is using to hook people on nicotine. It’s so new it makes vaping seem like a thing of the past. These products come to the U.S. all the way from Japan, where they've become very popular.

In this episode, you’ll hear an interview conducted in Tokyo, where Dr. Reiko Saito of Jumonji University talks about the history of tobacco control activism in Japan, new smoking regulations passed in advance of the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo, and how these “Heat not Burn” products came to prominence in Japan. PLUS, Don Draper makes a guest appearance!

Justin took the stage at a recent rural philanthropy event and, for the first time in his life, publicly shared his story about coming out as a gay man. However, his microphone got cut off. In this episode, we talk with him about what happened that day, as well as his personal experience with so-called "gay conversion therapy." We also speak about his work at the University of New Mexico's Center for Participatory Research, where he engages in research to support the health of LGBTQ high school students.

In this episode, Jake speaks with award-winning Vox journalist Liz Plank about her new book, "For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity." We explore the negative health impact of toxic masculinity or, as Liz calls it, "idealized masculinity", and its role in fueling gun violence, domestic abuse, suicide and more. And finally, we discuss societal solutions to address these public health problems, including a more empathetic approach to masculinity, which empowers men to be who they truly want to be.

This week, we’re taking a look back at one of our favorite episodes from the season: our trip to SXSW’s Wellness Expo, where we interviewed visitors and vendors about their thoughts on what it means to be “healthy”. Now, a few months after our initial trip, the Wooden Teeth staff takes time to reflect on the conversations we had at SXSW, and talk about what the different booths at the event have to say about how our culture thinks about health.

In this episode, we are looking back at some of our favorite interviews from this season about books—books that inspire, that force us to reevaluate our preconceived notions, and that illuminate something within ourselves. We’ll show you some highlights from our conversations with three different authors about their work: Marion Nestle, author of Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat; author of Decolonizing Wealth, Edgar Villanueva; and finally, Leslie Crutchfield, author of How Change Happens: Why Some Social Movements Succeed and Others Don’t. Our Wooden Teeth staff also joins the podcast to give some of their top book recommendations for this summer. If you are looking for something to read for a coming vacation in these warmer weeks, we promise you will leave this episode with a laundry list of books to stack on your nightstand and expand your mind.

In this episode, Jake speaks with Richard Wilkinson, co-author, along with Kate Pickett, of a new book titled "The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity and Improve Everyone's Well-Being". This book examines how economic policy influences a myriad of health issues—such as the fact, for instance, that mental illness is three times as common in the United States as it is Germany. In the conversation, we dive into both the reasons why economic inequality manifests in these negative health outcomes, as well as how policy solutions can fix the problem.

A public health insurance failed to make it into the Affordable Care Act, but now states are creating their own version of the public option. Colorado has adopted legislation that initiates the implementation of a public health insurance option for residents, and we get the inside story of the bill and how it passed from Susanna Mizer, Healthier Colorado's Senior Director of Public Affairs. To put this policy development in context, we also present a cheeky 10 minute, 4 act play on the history of the public option in America. Enjoy!

On today’s episode, we speak with political consultants Jayson Sime and Kate Duch of One Minus Beta about the process and politics of the 2020 process to produce a Democratic nominee for President. How are the rules different this year? How will a large field of candidates change the race? Which lesser-known candidate has a chance to breakthrough? Those are all questions we tackle. We also talk about Jayson's Syme role as a health coach, trainer, and speaker through his project called Right to Shine.