{"id":10094,"date":"2026-10-07T09:23:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T15:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/?p=10094"},"modified":"2026-10-08T09:10:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T15:10:41","slug":"pih-jamila-michener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/pih-jamila-michener\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast episode 60: Dr. Jamila Michener"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Listen now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Listen below or on any of your favorite podcast services. Like and subscribe to stay up-to-date with each new episode!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/share.transistor.fm\/e\/87e22595\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-grid wp-container-core-group-is-layout-9d260ee2 wp-block-group-is-layout-grid\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"block-2fff173e-3a4d-4dc6-b261-0abc5fcc2200\"><a href=\"https:\/\/feeds.transistor.fm\/pioneers-in-health\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"80\" src=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-11.png\" alt=\"This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is RSS-Feed.png\" class=\"wp-image-6580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-11.png 320w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-11-300x75.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"block-cc066fe7-7bae-4813-b4c5-2a537f6ba338\"><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/pioneers-in-health\/id1743590014\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"80\" src=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-9.png\" alt=\"This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Apple-Podcasts.png\" class=\"wp-image-6578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-9.png 320w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-9-300x75.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"block-d84c7149-75a6-4eb7-a2b9-8ecad6ba840f\"><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/3jka7vMKpBCEacwnrhdLgw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"80\" src=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-10.png\" alt=\"This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Spotify.png\" class=\"wp-image-6579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-10.png 320w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-10-300x75.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"block-62fca925-59ab-4ffa-ba8d-7087a7255ec5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/7e986df9-578e-416a-b3bf-3c78473c70a8\/pioneers-in-health\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"80\" src=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-8.png\" alt=\"This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Amazon-Music.png\" class=\"wp-image-6577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-8.png 320w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-8-300x75.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"block-b1457c2f-42fe-42d3-b614-bdbca33fa59c\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Welcome to the <a href=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/pioneers-in-health\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"6150\">Pioneers in Health podcast<\/a>. In this podcast, we share inspiring stories of pioneering leaders from our nation and from your backyard who are working to improve health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 24%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In episode 60, we interview <a href=\"https:\/\/government.cornell.edu\/jamila-michener\">Dr. Jamila Michener<\/a>. She is a professor of government and public policy at Cornell University. She studies poverty, racism and public policy, with a particular focus on health and housing.&nbsp;She is author of&nbsp;&#8220;Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics&#8221;&nbsp;(Cambridge University Press, 2018) and&nbsp;&#8220;Uncivil Democracy: How Access to Justice Shapes Political Power&#8221;&nbsp;(Princeton University Press, 2026). She is co-editor of Politics in the American States: A Comparative Analysis&nbsp;(Sage Publications, 2024).&nbsp;She is the inaugural director of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/equitablefutures.cornell.edu\/\">Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures<\/a>&nbsp;and senior associate dean for public engagement at the Brooks School of Public Policy.&nbsp;She also co-hosts and co-edits a podcast\/multimodal online platform called&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/equitablefutures.cornell.edu\/futures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Futures Forum<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She works closely with community-based organizations around the country to apply research insights to address urgent problems facing racially and economically marginalized communities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prior to working at Cornell, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholar at the University of Michigan. She received her master\u2019s and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago and her undergraduate degree from Princeton University.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamilamichener.com\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/jamila-michener.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10096 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/jamila-michener.jpg 400w, https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/jamila-michener-240x300.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this episode, she shares how her childhood helped shape her future work in poverty, racism and public policy. She grew up in low-income Black and Brown communities in New York City. Her parents were immigrants who had low-wage working class jobs who worked hard to take care of their family. She grew up really attentive to the dynamics of inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;In a city like New York City, which is where I grew up, you don&#8217;t have to look far to see people who live really differently than you do and to recognize that there are differences that seem somewhat arbitrary,&#8221; Jamila said. &#8220;You know, my parents worked really hard, but it didn&#8217;t seem like we had access to the same things that other people did. So I was always asking questions. I was always wondering why things were the way they were.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As she progressed through college and different stages of adulthood, she homed in on a path that would allow her not only just ask questions about why things were the way they were, but also to answer those questions and to try and do something about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this episode, she also discusses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The importance of Medicaid to the health of people<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why she focuses her research on Medicaid<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How interviewing people using Medicaid improved her understanding of the program<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How states implement the Medicaid program differently and how that affects people&#8217;s lives<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How health is connected to democracy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The growing trend of additional paperwork requirements for Medicaid participants<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The important role the civil justice system plays<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Her two novels, &#8220;Uncivil Democracy: How Access to Justice Shapes Political Power&#8221; and &#8220;Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The justice gap and unequal access to legal representation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What gives her hope <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What&#8217;s next for her work and research<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And much more! Listen now, and learn more about how Jamila is an innovative leader in healthcare.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"block-1b1c93a7-add0-4bfc-a94e-9cc5b459d210\"><strong>Please see the <a href=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/pioneers-in-health\/\"><em>Pioneers in Health<\/em> page<\/a> on our website for more information on our podcast series and links to other episodes. <\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-fe48e5de wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/pioneers-in-health\/\" style=\"background-color:#1f2d4a\">View other episodes<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen now Listen below or on any of your favorite podcast services. Like and subscribe to stay up-to-date with each new episode! Welcome to the Pioneers in Health podcast. In this podcast, we share inspiring stories of pioneering leaders from our nation and from your backyard who are working to improve health. In episode 60, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":6115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10094"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10112,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10094\/revisions\/10112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}