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When Okoboji became a COVID-19 hotspot, this medical anthropologist conducted research to figure out what happened and why

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Talk of Iowa, hosted by Charity Nebbe

Charity Nebbe talks to medical anthropologist Emily Mendenhall, who's from Okoboji. She decided to study the pandemic in her hometown.

Emily Mendenhall is a medical anthropologist originally from a small town in Iowa. When that town — Okoboji — became a COVID-19 hotspot, Mendenhall conducted interviews with more than 100 individuals in the area during the summer and fall of 2020. That work resulted in a book.

On this episode of Talk of Iowa, Mendenhall joins host Charity Nebbe to share what she learned writing Unmasked: COVID, Community and the Case of Okoboji.

This episode originally aired 4-7-22

Guest:

  • Emily Mendenhall, medical anthropologist, professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa
Matthew Alvarez
Matthew was a producer for IPR's River to River and Talk of Iowa
Samantha McIntosh is a talk show producer at Iowa Public Radio. Prior to IPR, Samantha worked as a reporter for radio stations in southeast and west central Iowa under M&H Broadcasting, and before that she was a weekend music host for GO 96.3 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.