Welcome to the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund Podcast, Pioneers in Health. We hope to bring you inspiring stories of pioneering health leaders who led important efforts to improve health. We’ll bring you guests from our state, from our nation and from your backyard to tell their stories of how they broke new ground and changed the landscape of health care.
Jamila Michener, author and professor of government and public policy at Cornell University
Ep. 60: Dr. Jamila Michener 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. She is author of Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and Uncivil Democracy: How Access to Justice Shapes Political Power (Princeton University Press, 2026). She is co-editor of Politics in the American States: A Comparative Analysis (Sage Publications, 2024). She is inaugural director of the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures (https://equitablefutures.cornell.edu/) and senior associate dean for public engagement at the Brooks School of Public Policy.
Jamila’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Institute for Research on Poverty, the Russell Sage Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund, and the Ford Foundation. Her public writing has been featured in The New York Times, the Washington Post, Vox, and other many other outlets. She works closely with community-based organizations around the country to apply research insights to address urgent problems facing racially and economically marginalized communities.
Prior to working at Cornell, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholar at the University of Michigan. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago and her undergraduate degree from Princeton University.
Listen now, and learn more about how Jamila is a pioneering leader in healthcare.
For more about the Health Fund, visit https://healthfund.org/ (https://healthfund.org/)
24 Sept 2026
Clay Wirestone, opinion editor and author, Kansas Reflector
Ep. 59: Clay Wirestone returns to Pioneers in Health to discuss his new book, “Opinionated.” Clay serves as the opinion editor at the Kansas Reflector, and his new book provides an eye-opening tour through the golden age of Kansas journalism and proves why local newspapers and incisive commentary are indispensable for an informed public.
Listen now, and learn more about this new book covering innovative leaders in Kansas.
For more about the Health Fund: https://healthfund.org/ (https://healthfund.org/)
10 Sept 2026
Wendell Potter, bestselling author and journalist
Ep. 58: Wendell Potter is a bestselling author and journalist whose work has been published inThe New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and many other media outlets. Since leaving his 20-year career as an executive at two of the world’s largest healthcare corporations – Cigna and Humana – he has testified before Congress numerous times to explain how the health insurance industry really works. A former investigative reporter, Washington correspondent and corporate executive, Wendell delivers an insider’s perspective into those issues as editor-in-chief of his HEALTH CARE un-covered (https://healthcareuncovered.substack.com/) newsletter and through the nonprofit work he leads. He is the founder and president of the Center for Health and Democracy (http://www.centerforhealthanddemocracy.org/) and leads the Lower Out-of-Pockets (LOOP) NOW (https://www.loopcoalition.co/) coalition, which works with policymakers, employers and health benefits consultants to reduce the unsustainably high deductibles and other cost-sharing requirements that burden millions of American families. He also has helped produce four documentaries that delve into various aspects of the U.S. health care system.
Listen now, and learn how Wendell is an innovative leader in healthcare.
For more about the Health Fund: https://healthfund.org/ (https://healthfund.org/)
Who has been a guest on Pioneers in Health
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Audé Negrete
Mike Matson
Haley Kottler
Anne Dwyer
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
630,535
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 45 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
44
Social presence
0
YouTube
82
Engagement
32
Contact Pioneers in Health
Guest appearances
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