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Welcome to “Intention to Treat,” a podcast exploring the critical issues shaping medicine today. In a new 8-week series, The Race Equation, we confront harmful assumptions about race in clinical medicine—from diagnostic algorithms to guidelines—exploring how these practices took hold, why they endure, and what it will take to change them. Hosted by health care journalist Rachel Gotbaum, the “Intention to Treat” podcast from the New England Journal of Medicine delves into groundbreaking research and clinical advances while sharing the personal stories from doctors and their patients, offering listeners a behind-the-scenes look at discoveries that are changing medical practice on the front lines of health care. Listen to The Race Equation and follow “Intention to Treat” on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Podcast episodes

Check latest episodes from Intention to Treat podcast

The Attack on Equity in Medicine

2026/06/24

The ripple effects of U.S. anti-DEI policies extend far beyond individual labs: scientific discovery is slowing, early‑career investigators are reconsidering their futures, and the pipeline of medical school applicants is shifting in real time. A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601982.

Is Change Possible?

2026/06/17

The use of race in medicine is harming patients. What is being done to move away from these practices and to change a culture of medicine based on the false premise that race is biological? A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601981.

The Myth of Race and Genetics

2026/06/10

We now know that humans are more than 99.9% genetically alike. So why does medicine still link certain diseases to race? And what do genetics actually tell us about race, ancestry, and disease? A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601980.

BiDil — The Story of the Black Pill

2026/06/03

How did a drug for congestive heart failure get approved and marketed for Black people only? A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601978.

When Race Matters

2026/05/27

The story of the pulse oximeter demonstrates that sometimes consideration of race is critical to diagnosis and treatment — as came starkly into light during the Covid-19 pandemic. A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601977.

Money and Misdiagnosis

2026/05/20

Many Black veterans live below the poverty line, often struggling to manage their illnesses. As V.A. hospitals began to stop using race-corrected interpretation of Black patients’ spirometer readings, there was an epiphany: the race correction wasn’t just harming the health of Black patients, it was also hurting them financially. A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601976.

How Did Race Get Into Lung Testing?

2026/05/13

The history of race-based correction of lung-capacity measures can be traced to a pre–Civil War belief among slave owners that slaves had naturally inferior lung capacity. Despite work to show that race-corrected spirometers mask lung-disease severity in Black patients, the majority of U.S. hospitals still use them. A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601975.

Meet the Equation

2026/05/06

Many clinical algorithms, including the eGFR test for kidney function, have actually had race baked into them and produce different results for Black patients. Most of us assume these algorithms are based on science, but what if the science is wrong? A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601974.

Intention to Treat | Season 2: The Race Equation (Trailer)

2026/04/27

What happens when medicine gets race wrong? In a new 8-week series, The Race Equation confronts harmful assumptions about race in clinical medicine, why they endure, and what it will take to change. Follow “Intention to Treat” on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Is Medicine Ready for AI?

2023/04/05

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” Maia Hightower and Isaac Kohane join host Rachel Gotbaum to explore the promise and hazards of artificial-intelligence and machine-learning tools for both clinical and administrative uses in medicine. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2301939.

The Fauci Phenomenon, Part 2

2023/03/22

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” Anthony Fauci sits down with host Rachel Gotbaum to discuss his long career in infectious disease and public health, what has motivated him, and the lessons he has learned and taught along the way. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2300938.

The Fauci Phenomenon

2023/03/08

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” some of the people who have worked closely with “America’s Doctor,” Anthony Fauci, offer insights into his character, values, accomplishments, and adventures over his decades of service at the NIH. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2300937.

The Promise and Perils of Psychedelics

2023/02/22

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” a study participant and a long-time investigator of hallucinogenic drugs for psychiatric conditions illuminate the effects of psilocybin in patients with depression. A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2300936.

Post-Roe Realities

2023/02/08

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” host Rachel Gotbaum takes us to Tennessee and Ohio, where new abortion bans are already harming patients and threatening their physicians. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2300935.

Covid Vaccines — Playing the Long Game

2023/01/25

In this first episode of “Intention to Treat,” NEJM editor-in-chief Eric Rubin and his colleague at the FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee, Paul Offit, consider the achievements, limitations, and expectations of Covid vaccines. A transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2300222.

Podcast reviews

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4.8 out of 5

53 reviews

★★★☆☆

The horse with no nickname 2026/05/21

Surprising Informative

I am a PhD epidemiologist trained 35 years ago and knew none of this and both shocked and saddened at the racist assumptions that inference medical th...

★★★★★

.>< 2025/02/08

Very interesting

Discussion of important and relevant topics.

★★★★★

kiahamid 2024/05/16

Excellent

Very excellent content and performance… Thank you for hard work.

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