Inflamed

Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice

By: Rupa Marya, Raj Patel

Narrated by: Raj Patel, Rupa Marya

This program is read by the authors.

Raj Patel, the New York Times best-selling author of The Value of Nothing, teams up with physician, activist, and cofounder of the Do No Harm Coalition Rupa Marya to reveal the links between health and structural injustices - and to offer a new deep medicine that can heal our bodies and our world.

The COVID pandemic and the shocking racial disparities in its impact. The surge in inflammatory illnesses such as gastrointestinal disorders and asthma. Mass uprisings around the world in response to systemic racism and violence. Rising numbers of climate refugees. Our bodies, societies, and planet are inflamed.

Boldly original, Inflamed takes us on a medical tour through the human body - our digestive, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems. Unlike a traditional anatomy book, this groundbreaking work illuminates the hidden relationships between our biological systems and the profound injustices of our political and economic systems. Inflammation is connected to the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the diversity of the microbes living inside us, which regulate everything from our brain’s development to our immune system’s functioning. It’s connected to the number of traumatic events we experienced as children and to the traumas endured by our ancestors. It’s connected not only to access to health care but to the very models of health that physicians practice.

Raj Patel, the renowned political economist and New York Times best-selling author of The Value of Nothing, teams up with the physician Rupa Marya to offer a radical new cure: the deep medicine of decolonization. Decolonizing heals what has been divided, reestablishing our relationships with the Earth and one another. Combining the latest scientific research and scholarship on globalization with the stories of Marya’s work with patients in marginalized communities, activist passion, and the wisdom of Indigenous groups, Inflamed points the way toward a deep medicine that has the potential to heal not only our bodies, but the world.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

©2021 Rupa Marya and Raj Patel (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

unique and deeply informative

Reading this book with a small pod of folks; we are impacted and informed by the remarkable synthesis of information shared here. A tough task to balance the degree of specificity offered with the message to take, this is one way to do that, but hard to keep our reading group “on the same page” through the depths of detail. I think the producers could have worked more with the author as reader, but perhaps her schedule did not permit for that…

How inflamed our world is and what can be done to heal

Incredibly eye opening, and provides a deep understanding of where inflammation comes from, history lessons, and provides a path to healing our bodies, communities and the earth. Very much worth listening to and will certainly move those who do 🙏🏼 Thank you for providing awareness along with paths to heal and create harmony

Inflammation Affects All of Us

Inflamed is full of insight on how we deal with inflammation and how the environment contributes to the cause. Fascinating!

Phenomenal!

Why has no one ever connected all these dots before now?? This book is no less than phenomenally groundbreaking work! Once you hear it, the connections between illness (body inflammation) global warming (earth inflammation) police violence and other issues of life in low income neighborhoods that inevitably cause emotions and stress levels to stay inflamed- it’s no mystery why as a species and as a planet we are in trouble. I appreciate the care, concern and cultural respect the authors wrote the book with, beautifully done. Also answers to problems suggested. Cannot be more highly recommended.

Incredible book!

I already know that I'll listen to it multiple times. Thank you for writing such a powerful and revolutionary book!

Words don’t do this book justice

Everyone should hear/read this book. Everyone.
At times I had to take breaks due its impact and how much it was transforming me as I engaged with it. The breaks helped me process and reflect and have the openness to continue. Now, I’m moved to action. Thank you kindly to the authors.

Innovative & Amazing.

Finally, A publicly accessible work that connects the human body to the planet. This writing openly takes human health and connects its 100% to the environment we inhabit.

Culture and community of care

this is one of those books I wish every human could read. it inspires solidarity and deep introspection surrounding our bodies, our environment, and our impact. it makes plain what for many might seem complex, and offers tender guidance towards a more caring future. you will not regret reading this twice💚

The book of our healing for generations!

This poetic and magnificent call to systemic and structural awareness of what clearly ails all of humanity and beyond is the most brilliant offering I’ve read. The nuanced understanding of multiple forms of structural oppression woven with the science of how our bodies and the earth are so deeply connected in both our healing and destruction is a masterpiece. Both the authors message and storytelling is so compelling is so hard to stop listening even when the content about which they are writing is so horrific to hear even when they are historical and present day truth. I will listen again and again! There is so much to take in and yet as I do I feel more possibility.

Powerful book

I loved this book - it really opened my eyes to a new way of seeing food, society, and healing. I am exciting to share this with my friends and family!