Color Code

Aug 27 2023 26 ep. 28 mins 49
Color Code Podcast artwork

Hosted by award-winning journalist Nicholas St. Fleur, Color Code weaves together stories and experiences of physicians, patients, historians, and other experts to illuminate the history of racism in the health care system and how it has — and continues — to impact people of color and underserved communities.

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Housing is health care

Aug 27 2023 26 mins  
In the final episode of season two, we delve into how housing — and today’s housing crisis — intersects with health care. We also explore how racial discrimination has played a part in causing this crisis, as well as present-day housing segregation on Long Island. We speak with Olivia Winslow, a demographic reporter at Newsday who investigated widespread housing discriminatio

How Long Island became the ‘eugenics capital of the world’

Aug 14 2023 34 mins  
Early geneticists were convinced they could use genetics to reshape society to their ideals and believed that the human race could be improved through selective breeding. An early seat for eugenics in the U.S. was Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island. As the lab’s influence began to extend to the halls of Congress, the Supreme Court, and internationally, Cold Spring Harbo

Why Covid-19 wasn’t the ‘great equalizer’

Jul 30 2023 25 mins  
When the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020, Some experts assumed the virus would affect everyone even-handedly, regardless of their race or socioeconomic background. But the reality of Covid proved to be far from the “great equalizer” – Black and brown communities had higher rates of infection and death. Among the factors exacerbating Covid-19’s impact is America’s legacy o

Wildfire pollution widens asthma inequities on Long Island

Jul 17 2023 22 mins  
Wyandanch is a proud, resilient community on Long Island. Like much of the northeastern U.S., it has been impacted by heavy wildfire smoke blowing in from Canada. But particularly distressing for this community is that Wyandanch has some of the highest rates of asthma and the highest rate of pediatric asthma ER visits on Long Island. Asthma is exacerbated by poor air quality, which

Revisiting: "A city on fire"

Jul 03 2023 43 mins  
"Excited delirium” is a controversial term that is used by some to describe a person who experiences an acute, extreme disruption in their behavior and ability to think, and often comes up in relation to people who have died in police custody. Last season, we turned to my colleague Isabella Cueto, a Sharon Begley science reporting fellow at STAT. She traveled to Miami to learn mo

‘Food apartheid’ starves minority neighborhoods on Long Island

Jun 19 2023 27 mins  
About two dozen communities on Long Island is a food desert, meaning fresh, nutritious groceries are difficult to access. In this episode, we speak with Jon Stepanian, president and CEO of Community Solidarity, and volunteers like Boone who work together to address food insecurity on Long Island. Jessica Rosati, the Chief Program Officer for Long Island Cares Inc, tells us about th

Bonus: a conversation with an Indigenous birth worker on Long Island

Jun 12 2023 37 mins  
Ahna Red Fox is from the Shinnecock Nation on the eastern end of Long Island. After a traumatic birthing experience, she began her journey as a community-based birth worker. She talked to Nick about her experience.

Long Island mothers face “an injustice made purposefully invisible”

Jun 05 2023 23 mins  
We take a look at efforts on Long Island to address racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality.

Bonus: A conversation with the "the father of environmental justice"

May 30 2023 48 mins  
On this bonus episode, we bring you our full conversation with Dr. Robert Bullard, "the father of environmental racism." He was featured on our episode on the Brookhaven Landfill, which looms over the town of North Bellport on Long Island. In this in-depth interview, he talks about the effects of environmental racism and lays out tangible solutions that can help bring justice to Bl

A landfill and "a textbook case of environmental racism"

May 22 2023 36 mins  
The town of North Bellport on Long Island sits in the shadows of a massive landfill. This predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood also has the lowest life expectancy on Long Island, as well as the second-highest rates of asthma. Environmental activists do not think this is a coincidence, and for decades have waged a battle to shut down the Brookhaven Landfill, which they believ