For the past four years, journalist Cara Anthony, a KFF Health News Midwest correspondent, has been reporting on the public health effects of racism, violence, and intergenerational trauma in a small Missouri town. The result: a new documentary and podcast series called “Silence in Sikeston.”
Cara Anthony sits down with “An Arm and a Leg” host Dan Weissmann to talk about the health effects of breaking silence and how it could help heal intergenerational trauma.
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Transcript: Can Racism Make You Sick?
Note: “An Arm and a Leg” uses speech-recognition software to generate transcripts, which may contain errors. Please use the transcript as a tool but check the corresponding audio before quoting the podcast.
Dan Weissmann: Hey there. We’re doing something a little different this time. This story is not about the cost of healthcare, not in dollars and cents, and it’s actually not about doctors or hospitals or medicines, but it’s a story about health and about sickness and injury and about how people can care for each other and help each other heal.
And, I will tell you, it is a tough story. This is a story about racism, violence, and ongoing intergenerational trauma. So, you know, however you might need to take care of yourself around a story like this, I want you to do that. But this is a story I’ve been hearing about and looking forward to talking about for years.
Cara Anthony is a Midwest correspondent with our partners at KFF Health News, and she’s been working on a documentary and a podcast about this story since 2020. And now her work, Silence in Sikeston, it’s out in the world. PBS aired the documentary in Septembe …