Skip to content

Return to the Full Article View You can republish this story for free. Click the "Copy HTML" button below. Questions? Get more details.

‘American Diagnosis’ Episode 1: On the Navajo Nation, Root Causes Complicated the Covid Fight

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on SimpleCast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Click here for a transcript of the episode.

Episode 1: It’s Up to You — T’áá hwó’ ají t’éego

Travel to the forests outside the Grand Canyon to follow Dr. Sophina Calderón and other Navajo Nation leaders as covid-19 tests the Diné people.

Roughly 30% of the homes on the Navajo Nation rely on wood-burning stoves for heat. Many of those households haul wood from nearby forests. That’s what Calderón was doing when she realized the pandemic’s reach wouldn’t stop at the hospital — it was going to create a heating crisis too.

This episode explores root causes behind why some citizens of the Navajo Nation lack access to electricity and other infrastructure, and how so-called social determinants of health made the Diné so vulnerable to the first surges of the pandemic.

Voices from the episode:

Episode 1 includes audio of pine siskin birds recorded in Coconino, Arizona, courtesy of contributor Parker Davis via the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (ML153777441).

Season 4 of “American Diagnosis” is a co-production of KHN and Just Human Productions.

To hear all KHN podcasts, click here.

Listen and follow “American Diagnosis” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google or Stitcher.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Some elements may be removed from this article due to republishing restrictions. If you have questions about available photos or other content, please contact khnweb@kff.org.