“In Those Genes” Podcast
Episodes: “Dat Rona” & “ION Trust Dem People”
This week, we listened to a podcast hosted by Dr. Janina Jeff. The first episode was “Dat Rona,” which talked about the coronavirus, and specifically what that means for the black community. The second episode, “ION Trust Dem People,” talks about genetic testing and whether or not there is/should be skepticism surrounding that.
In “Dat Rona,” Dr. Jeff explains what the virus actually is, how it spreads, and myths surrounding the virus. Before she begins, she establishes ethos by stating her position in the science world as a geneticist. This is important because as a black woman, she wants to identify as a credible figure in order to get her message to her targeted audience: the black community.
She establishes this same exact ethos in the second episode, except she does it to her family. After she asks one of the elders in her town,
“Would you give a genetic test to me?”
that was a totally game changer for me because, like Dr. Jeff mentions, there has been a distrust of the medical community from the black community ever since the time of slavery. The personalization and self-identification that Dr. Jeff practices is very tangible in that question because she knows the community and is known by them. They trust her, yet some still have trouble trusting her work.
Going back to “Dat Rona,” Dr. Jeff interviews Dr. Ashira Blazer, a physician at NYU and the only African American women in the field, to share her knowledge and experience in the still-unfolding research about the nature of the virus, as well as any vaccines that are being developed in order to treat those with COVID-19. Dr. Jeff establishes Dr. Blazer’s ethos with her introduction, but I think Dr. Blazer continues to establish it on her own as the interview proceeds. Dr. Blazer says,
“We don’t have a choice as to whether or not we are gonna come into the hospital and try and save lives. We took an oath to do this. This is our profession, this is our passion. So we are going to have to make sacrifices, so for some of us, unfortunately, that sacrifice will be our lives, and so, you know, as a physician, to look on the news and see people partying on the beach or taking advantage of real cheap airline prices cause this coronavirus has the prices ridiculous…”
Blazer (Time stamp: 53:22)
She is talking on behalf of all doctors here, and I think that’s important because she is embedding herself into her role as a physician and therefore, she is a part of that group whom people look to for advice, not just the black community.
So, my question this week is this: I talked about establishing ethos, so how did either Dr. Jeff or Dr. Blazer establish logos or pathos?
May you experience love and light!
Theresa
Caritas et Lux 
Hi Theresa, I enjoyed reading your post– it was very clear and concise. I like how you pointed out different ways that both the speakers establish ethos, even if they didn’t realize it, such as when Dr. Ashira says uses the pronoun ‘we’. I didn’t even notice this myself and I feel as if this is also a form of pathos because she adds emotional appeal to the fact that physicians have to risk their lives during these tough times. In the other podcast, I think the geneticist builds on her logos by stating the different reasons why genetic testing can be beneficial, such as helping future generations and knowing more about one’s own genes, DNA, ancestry, genetic illnesses, etc.
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Dr. Blazer makes establishes his *logos* persuasion by attacking people who are going to beaches and taking cheap trips around the world despite the every direct warning not to.
He’s got a good point!
A few days before everything in New York had pretty much shut down, I was at one of my doctor’s for a checkup.
He told me this story:
‘A few days ago, I had a patient come in for a routine appointment–one that was not necessary and could have been rescheduled. He is very old, in a wheelchair, and on an oxygen tank. I told his wife, who brought him to the appointment that they should both be staying at home because of the virus. I shit you not, she looked at me and said,
“Oh, that’s just fake news.”
I had never had someone explicitly disregard something that I had thought was common sense right to my face.
I warned her that her and her husband especially were in the highest tier of risk for this virus, and that if he got it, he could very well die. She seemed skeptical but also shocked.’
So I write that whole story to say… there really are people out there who are genuinely misinformed and their own lack of education could get themselves or others harmed!
I would think there would be some international travel bans right now to keep people from taking advantage of cheap tickets.
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