Leana Wen
The Catalyst
Ideas with a spark, energy, range and the ability to start things.
Dr. Leana Wen is a public health expert who has dedicated her career to improving health outcomes and addressing systemic issues in healthcare. This interview reveals her ability to inspire action and advocate for public health as a shared responsibility, emphasizing the importance of community engagement and proactive measures.
“Yeah, I mean, there's so much that I wish I could say to my mother now. I mean, my mother and I were having such a serious disagreement that she refused to attend my graduation from college. And then it turns out in looking at this, it looked like there were photos that somebody took.”
“I had so much resentment for my mother growing up, and that's something that I didn't quite come to terms with until, frankly, until I started writing this book, and then I felt so guilty and so ashamed of it because why was my mother absent so when I was growing up in China, my mother was in college.”
“The way to really work on your speech is to acknowledge that you are a person who stutters. And I basically ran from her office saying, I can't do this.”
“I love St. Louis. Actually, Baltimore, where I live now, it reminds me a lot of St. Louis. There are deep problems, but also a lot of really committed, amazing people. I also actually loved medical school. It was getting into medical school was very hard.”
The Axe Files with David Axelrod — Ep. 457 — Dr. Leana Wen
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