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  • Department of Communication
  • Health + Nutrition
  • Communication
“Health Inequities,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human” podcast series, explores how “sociological” storytelling can change health outcomes. The podcast’s fifth season – “What Do We Know About Inequality?” – showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.

“My work has sought to identify specific strategies that both convey fundamental causes of health inequities but also offer promising solutions to address them via policy change,” says Jeff Niederdeppe, associate professor of communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Science, in his podcast episode.

Niederdeppe’s research examines the mechanisms and effects of mass media campaigns, strategic health messages and news coverage in shaping health behavior, health disparities and social policy. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The “What Makes Us Human?” podcast is produced by the College of Arts and Sciences in collaboration with the Cornell Broadcast Studios and features audio essays written and recorded by Cornell faculty. New episodes are released each Tuesday through the spring semester, airing on WHCU and WVBR. The episodes are also available for download on Apple Podcasts and SoundCloud and for streaming on the A&S humanities page, where text versions of the essays are also posted.

This article also appeared in the Cornell Chronicle.

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