Behind the Headlines Podcast · WKNO/The Daily Memphian

1611: How U of M scientists navigate conspiracy theories and the polarized world of public health

·32 min·2 clips

Vaccine skepticism, Joshi says, comes from how data is communicated, not from the data itself.

Public health is the starting point. Eric Barnes opens the conversation with Dr. Ashish Joshi, dean of the University of Memphis School of Public Health, and Bill Dries. Joshi defines public health in direct terms, as health for all. He frames it as a fundamental right. The conversation widens from that definition to the civic side of the field. Joshi says people across disciplines need to take care of their own health, not just physicians. The panel then turns to the strain COVID placed on trust. They revisit early decisions that later drew criticism, including closing parks and telling people not to go outside. Those choices became easy targets for critics and conspiracy-minded listeners. The discussion does not treat skepticism as random noise. It links it to decisions that were difficult to explain and to messaging that did not keep pace with the public. Joshi says one major lesson is communication. He argues that it was not enough to have data. Public health leaders also had to translate that data into language and context people could actually absorb. The show keeps returning to that gap between evidence and explanation. It suggests that the gap helped confusion harden into suspicion. The conversation also recognizes that science changes as evidence changes. That can look like inconsistency if the audience is not prepared for it. The panel presses on who is speaking, who is listening, and what each side already believes. Joshi notes that the audience is not one audience. Different communities hear the same message differently. Digital channels come up as part of that problem. Messaging now moves through digital spaces, not just official briefings or interviews. That means public health has to work harder to be clear, quick, and credible. It also means mistakes travel faster. The discussion keeps that reality in view. The hour stays focused on practical questions. What should public health professionals have said earlier. How should they have explained uncertainty. How do they keep from sounding like they are improvising when the science is still moving. These questions are not answered with slogans. They are treated as ongoing work. Joshi also talks about advocacy. He says the public health field is continuing to make its case under the new administration. The panel does not present that work as finished or settled. It presents it as continuous. The emphasis stays on persistence rather than victory. Near the end, the discussion turns to student-centeredness in public health education. Joshi says the next generation has to be engaged in the process. That keeps the field from becoming abstract or self-protective. It also points to training people who can communicate as well as analyze. The conversation remains rooted in Memphis even when it touches broader public health questions. It has the feel of a local public-affairs table, with reporters and policy people pushing toward a clearer answer. That structure gives the episode its shape. It starts with definition, moves through crisis, and ends with the problem of trust. The show is less interested in declaring who won the argument than in identifying what still needs repair. It asks how institutions explain themselves after they lose credibility. It asks how to keep public health understandable to a skeptical public. It asks what the field owes the people it serves. Those questions carry the hour.

As heard by us

A Memphis public-health conversation about trust, messaging, and how data gets translated.

Behind the Headlines spends the hour on public health in Memphis and beyond, with Dr. Ashish Joshi, dean of public health at the University of Memphis, giving the field a plain definition: health for all.

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If you want a Memphis-centered look at public health, messaging, and advocacy, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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