What A Day - Toxic Jobs May Be Hazardous To Your Health

Episode Date: October 27, 2022

Pennsylvania Senate candidates John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz met on Tuesday for one of the most highly anticipated debates of this midterm election cycle. They covered everything from abortion rights to fracking to immigration, in a race that could determine control of Congress.U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recently released a report on how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed workplaces and its impact on workers' mental health. Dr. Murthy joins us to discuss those findings, and how businesses are responding.And in headlines: Iranian protesters marked 40 days since Mahsa Amini's death, another woman claimed that Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker paid for her abortion, and Elon Musk made a splashy entrance to Twitter's headquarters just days before he's set to acquire the company.Show Notes:John Fetterman - Official Campaign Website – https://johnfetterman.com/The U.S. Surgeon General's Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being – https://tinyurl.com/yrp88n29COVID.gov - Find COVID-19 guidance for your community – https://www.covid.gov/Vote Save America: Every Last Vote – https://votesaveamerica.com/every-last-vote/Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffeeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Thursday, October 27th. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And I'm Juanita Tolliver. And this is What A Day, promising as always to release content with greater frequency than Rihanna. And this is not a dig. A new album, A Day from Rihanna, would be overwhelming. Right.

We've got lives to lead. We do. On today's show, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was ordered to testify in Georgia's 2020 election interference probe. Plus, Elon Musk is on track to acquire Twitter by the end of the week. But first, one of the most highly anticipated debates of this midterm election cycle took place on Tuesday night between Pennsylvania Senate candidates John Fetterman, who is a Democrat, and Dr. Oz, who is a Republican and, let us not forget, a New Jersey resident. They covered everything from abortion rights to fracking to immigration, and obviously Pennsylvania voters were listening. But Democrats have been very vocal about what adding just two more Democratic senators across the country could do.

So the results of this election go far beyond just Pennsylvania and people nationwide were paying attention. A big focus here has been on Fetterman's health. He's been recovering from a stroke since May, and he's been open about the auditory processing issues that he's been dealing with since then. Honestly, it took courage to even step onto that debate stage while he's still in recovery, as well as with all the harmful ableist comments being made about his health. But Priyanka, break it down for me. How did he handle all of this at the debate? Yeah, his campaign had requested a closed captioning system as an accommodation. So essentially behind the debate moderators, there were two large monitors showing the text of everything that was being said, you know,

both questions and answers. So Fetterman could read along. Both candidates agreed to it beforehand, but this was a first for any Senate debate. Voters polled beforehand said that candidate health is definitely important to them. And Fetterman knew that all eyes would be on him for this reason. So he addressed it head on right away. Take a listen. Let's also talk about the elephant in the room. I had a stroke. He's never let me forget that. And I might miss some words during this debate, mush two words together, but it knocked me down. But I'm going to keep coming back up. And this campaign is all about, to me, is about fighting for everyone in Pennsylvania that ever got knocked down.

You can't really tell in that clip, but the effects of the stroke on his ability to process speech were definitely visible during the debate. He would sometimes pause to either read the monitors or to think of a word. Sometimes he'd stumble over his words. You know, he explained that stuff like that does happen to him sometimes. But this ended up getting a lot of criticism from observers and the media very early into the debate. It sort of sparked this whole secondary debate online about whether

the criticisms were fair game or if they were ableist. And some of them definitely did go quite a bit too far, in my opinion. It's worth noting that Fetterman's doctor has written two letters saying that he is capable of doing the job of a U.S. senator. And sitting Democratic Senator Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, who suffered a stroke himself back in January, tweeted his support, acknowledging that debates are hard in any circumstance, let alone five months after a stroke, and saying that he was, quote, glad that voters saw the clear contrast in this crucial Senate race because for all of the auditory processing issues, any stumbles in words, Fetterman was still very clearly able to articulate his opinions where he stood on the issues and draw contrast between himself and Dr. Oz. Right, that was pretty easy to do based on what was coming out of Oz's

mouth. Right. But one thing that has been clear since Fetterman's medical emergency is that Republicans wanted to exploit it from the jump. They've been calling his health into question in some of the most harmful ways. But I truly appreciate the support that Fetterman is getting from Senator Lujan, a sitting senator who has been through this and who knows what recovery is like and who is serving currently in the U.S. Senate. So that public support is essentially Lujan communicating, yes, it's possible for someone to serve and serve well after suffering a medical emergency like a stroke. But let's get back to that substance, because that's something that it's clear there's no contrast between these two candidates on the issue. The focus on Fetterman's delivery ended up taking up too much attention away from the asinine things Oz was saying. Can you give us a rundown of the big takeaways, Priyanka?

Yeah, I definitely agree with you there. I mean, like all the headlines and the biggest takeaways were about Fetterman's delivery. But there was a lot of things that were being said, especially by Dr. Oz, that were like off the wall wild. So the craziest one to me came when he said that an abortion should be a decision between a woman, her doctors, and local leaders. I don't know how he could have made that sound any less appealing. You know, he really thought he did something there. But I mean, I guess he did. He underscored how nuts that sounds. Like many other Republican candidates, he repeatedly brought up crime and he tried to paint Fetterman as soft on it. He also claimed that the market was taking care of minimum wage while Fetterman on the other

side of the stage is saying that it's a disgrace that the minimum wage is $7.25 and that he supports raising it to $15. And you know, the cherry on top of it all is that Oz said that he would support whoever wins the Republican nomination in 2024. But he kind of tap danced around a follow-up question about Trump and the January 6th investigation. This is the only debate between the two of them. You know, polling has become very close. It's a tight race, very closely watched. But Fetterman did, as I said earlier, successfully differentiate himself from Dr. Oz and reiterate where he stands versus Dr. Oz does. Judging by that standard, it was made clear where these candidates stand. And I'm honestly so glad that Fetterman's team

wasted no time in cutting that ad of Oz saying that local political leaders need to be in charge of women's health decisions and abortion decisions and emphasizing just how extremist that position is, not just for us, but all of the Republicans on the ticket in Pennsylvania. Totally. So shout out to the ad and digital editors on that one. But like you said, it's going to be a tight race and it's all going to come down to turnout. But from my vantage point, the choice is plain as day. Truly. All right. And with health and well-being in mind, I got a chance to check in with the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy,

and he and his team have been busy lately developing a report on toxic workplaces and spreading the word about COVID boosters. This report is a huge deal because it's the first of its kind to be released by a Surgeon General and the Department of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Murthy shared that the report

is in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it changed workplaces and how it affected people's mental health. Now, I'm sure we all have at least one horror story about a toxic experience at work. And this report names five clear frameworks and solutions for businesses to implement in order to prioritize the mental health and well-being of their employees. Dr. Murthy and I also discussed his recent trip with President Biden to receive a COVID booster shot and the president's calls for more congressional funding ahead of the anticipated winter COVID surge. I started by asking the Surgeon General about how businesses have been responding to his report that calls on them to create more supportive and flexible workspaces. You know, many workers have been struggling for a while, but now more than 80% of workers

are saying that they want to work in a place that supports mental health and well-being. Right. But the truth is a lot of employers are out there as well trying to figure out how to respond to this need. And I know this because we've had conversations with many of them ever since I became Surgeon General who have said, we know that our workers are struggling, but what do we need to do to help them? Is this only about pay? Is it about something else?

How should we approach this challenge? And that's why we put out this framework. It's both for organizational leaders as well as for workers. And here's the interesting thing, Juanita. When people invest in workplace mental health, it's not just the workers who do better, but it's the organizations too. Like you said, when you prioritize people's mental health and wellbeing, it's good for business. That's plain and simple.

And I hope businesses see that. As a black woman, I gotta tell you, my heart stopped actually on the first framework, protection from harm, especially as it relates to confronting systemic racism, confronting ableism, confronting microaggressions in the workplace. And I got to tell you, my experiences would have been a lot better. And I'm sure that also applies to other black and brown people in the workforce if something like this was in place. So I want to see that

implemented immediately. But what are the two top frameworks that really jumped out to you as being the most beneficial and most important for workers? Everyone wants to come to a workplace where they feel physically and psychologically safe. But there are also other essentials here that we highlight. One, which is actually quite underappreciated and may surprise people, is around connection and community in the workplace. Having people that you feel connected to at work, you know, doesn't mean you have to be best friends with them, but people who you understand and know as a human being and not just as a skill set, people who know you and who look out for you, that makes a huge difference. The third is around work life harmony. And this is where having boundaries between work and non-work life are so important. Look, the truth is

all of us have responsibilities outside of work. When we can't fulfill those responsibilities, it creates stress in our lives. Yes. And that stress does not stop when we enter work in the morning. We bring it to work with us. You know, if my child is sick, for example, and it's going to affect how I am at work. And so the bottom line is like when we give people time and support and space, paid leave, flexibility, but also respect that boundary between work and non-work time, we allow them to fulfill their lives outside of work. And that's incredibly helpful. And I just appreciate just the humanity that you're bringing to this conversation. And I do want to pivot a little bit to COVID-19 because earlier this week, I saw that you were with President Biden when he went to get his COVID booster shot. And he talked a little bit in his remarks about the need for more people to

get their boosters. But the president also made an explicit appeal to Congress for more COVID aid. And I think we can all agree that we are not in the same place as we were two years ago. But COVID is still an active threat to our health and well-being. So how would you characterize this moment that we're in with COVID ahead of any feared surges? And at a moment when COVID-related funding isn't readily available like it was in the past? Well, Juanita, on the bright side, you know, we've come a long way. Now you fast forward two years plus. And what we have shown is that people who are up to date with their vaccines have a dramatically lower risk of ending up in the hospital or dying even if they get COVID. We've also found that with the

treatments that we have available, treatments like Paxlovid, which is a pill that you can take for five days after you get infected, that those medicines can also dramatically reduce your chances of ending up in the hospital or dying. So the bottom line is we have more tools to help us make it through this pandemic than we've ever had. And we've made them available to millions of people. That's really, really good news. The concern I have going forward is how do we make sure people continue to have access to these tools? How do we keep investing as a country so that we can develop vaccines that are better and better and better, and the next generation of vaccines that will hopefully

address coronaviruses more broadly? How do we make sure that we And in the next generation of vaccines, it will hopefully address coronaviruses more broadly. How do we make sure that we're developing the next generation of treatments as well? We're fortunate to have an updated vaccine. So we want people to get that. But we also want to make sure we're continuing to invest and stay ahead of the virus. And that's where I do have a concern because that requires financial investment, whereas Congress to take action and make sure those funds are available so we can invest in the science and the research and the production. So we are still pushing Congress for that. But those funds can't come soon enough because the COVID virus is continuing to evolve. We've got to keep evolving with it. Right. I was going to ask you about that because I've seen the

reports about new variants. Do you have any concerns about preparedness in response to those variants as it relates to the current booster. And as you already talked about, future boosters being developed. Well, you know, the good news is that even though new variants are developing, our vaccine is very likely to be effective. You might still get a breakthrough infection, as they're called. But your chances of ending up in the hospital or dying are remarkably lower. And this is particularly important, by the way, for the elderly. If you're 65 years of age and up, if you've got multiple medical conditions that put you at higher risk, then it's all the more important to get the maximal protection because winter's coming. The last two years, what have we seen? That there's been a surge

in cases during the wintertime. So we want to be prepared. And with up-to-date vaccines and treatments, you have a very good chance of making it through the winter and doing well. Yeah. And the president also made a very clear and direct appeal to immunocompromised individuals. You already mentioned elderly people. In addition to that, he mentioned that immunocompromised people would be facing a heightened risk, as you described, through the predicted surge in the winter. What recommendations do you have for immunocompromised people and their families about how best to protect themselves? Here are a few things that are important to know. One is, please do make sure you are up to date with that vaccine. And remember, ages five and up

are eligible to get the updated vaccine. Number two, make sure that you know where to go in case you do get sick to get treatment. If you go to covid.gov, you can not only find places to get vaccinated, but you can find places to get Paxlovid and test to what they're called test to treat sites. And the last few things just remember are precautions. And finally, just remember that testing is an important resource here. We now have coverage through insurance for testing. You can get up to eight tests covered by insurance every month. And if you want to ask people to test before they come to see you,

if you want to test, you know, also to help keep other people safe, these are all tools that we can use to help reduce the spread. That was my conversation with the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy. And we will link to the workplace report and vaccine information in the show notes.

More on all of this very soon, but that's the latest for now. We'll be back after some ads. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. Yesterday marked the 40th day since Masa Amini was killed by Iran's so-called morality police. Thousands of people gathered at Amini's grave in her hometown in Iran's Kurdish region to pay their respects. Deaths are commemorated 40 days after a person's funeral within the Shia Islamic tradition. Demonstrators marched while chanting the two slogans that were tied to the protest, women, life, freedom, and death to the dictator.

But things took a violent turn when security forces opened fire on the mourners to disperse the crowd. It's unclear how many people were killed or injured in the clash. But meanwhile, the U.S. imposed additional sanctions on 14 Iranian officials who have led the crackdown on nationwide protests sparked by Amini's death. A jury convicted three men on Wednesday for their involvement in the 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The defendants are all members of the Wolverine Watchmen,

a right-wing anti-government militia group, and they were convicted on all of the charges against them, including providing quote-unquote material support to a terrorist act. They were also found guilty on gang and firearms charges. This comes after Adam Fox, the ringleader of the scheme, was convicted back in August of conspiring to kidnap Whitmer alongside Barry Croft Jr. Former White House chief of staff and prolific texter Mark Meadows was ordered to testify before the Georgia grand jury investigating possible interference into the state's 2020 presidential election results. As we know, thanks to the January 6

committee, Meadows was one of the highest ranking officials who helped promote former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the election. A judge in South Carolina where Meadows currently lives gave the order and a Carolina where Meadows currently lives gave the order and a lawyer representing Meadows said yesterday that he would appeal the decision. And absent-minded Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker forgot another time he exercised a right he fundamentally opposes. A former partner of his held a press conference yesterday and claimed that Walker pressured her into having an abortion in 1993. As proof of their relationship, she provided cards he sent her around that time. This is the second woman to make a similar claim against Walker. And notably, she's a registered

independent who voted for Trump in the past two elections. But she said, quote, I do not believe that Herschel Walker is morally fit to be a U.S. senator. And that is the reason why I'm speaking up. Walker denied the account, saying, quote, I already told people this is a lie. And adding, quote, I also want to let you know I didn't kill JFK either. What is happening in this man's mind? Where did that even come from? I thought that was a Ted Cruz thing. I'm a little confused.

I don't know if there's a conspiracy here that I don't know about. Please let me know if there is. But I'm very, very confused about this. Finally, Elon Musk buying Twitter was not just a bad dream that we all shared. The world's richest man and one of its worst posters visited Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco yesterday in another sign that he will close his $44 billion deal to acquire the social media platform. Musk's deadline to do so is tomorrow, according to a judicial ruling. Musk also changed his bio on Twitter to Chief Twit

and his location to Twitter HQ. These cute little flourishes might not sit so well with Twitter employees, though. Last week, it was reported that Musk planned to lay off as many as 75% of them, though the company said that there are no plans for layoffs. That they know of, right? He walked into the building carrying a sink of all things.

But the reality is, this is yet another billionaire cracking jokes at a moment when he's going to lay off three quarters of the workforce at Twitter as we head into a recession, right? Like that's what this is about. This man is so fundamentally unfunny and he just does not understand. It's sad. It's sad to see this happen, but someone's got to be it. And if that's him, it's fine.

And those are the headlines. One more thing before we go. Election day is coming up fast. And if you're heading to the polls in person, you're going to want to show off some threads from the Cricut store. We've got new merch to show what you stand for on the most important issues from abortion rights to filibuster reform. Think of them like one of those I voted stickers that you can just put in the washing machine. Head over to Cricut dot com slash store to get your swag today. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe,

leave a review, try to wake up from the Elon Musk Twitter nightmare that we're all living in, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just hundreds of incriminating text messages from Mark Meadows like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Juanita Tolliver. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And come to work at WOD, Twitter employees. The more the merrier. Yeah, listen, we don't have any software, but we do have vibes. So please come join us. Plenty of vibes, plenty of news, plenty of things to cover. So come on over. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media.

It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Jazzy Marine and Raven Yamamoto are our associate producers. Our head writer is John Milstein. And our executive producer is Lita Martinez. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.