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Unscripted: How Times Have Changed
45 Plays23 days ago
Join the ladies of Unscripted for an all resident discussion!
Dr. Dumebi Okocha, Dr. Isabella Ntigbu, and Dr. Samiza Palmer discuss trends in body image and body positivity, take a look back on one of America's largest natural disasters and the attitudes around it as well as a small amount of tea being spilled!
To share your thoughts on our discussion or if you have any questions to ask our hosts, email podcast@snma.org for a chance to be featured on the show!
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed on our podcast do not reflect the official stance of the Student National Medical Association.
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Transcript
Introduction and Series Purpose
00:00:00
Speaker
The views expressed on this podcast represent only those of the hosts and do not represent the views of the Student National Medical Association. Welcome to Unscripted, a series where we take our most high yield, run the list conversations a step further.
00:00:14
Speaker
Our goal for each episode is uncover our personal takes of previously discussed topics while highlighting diverse viewpoints that may be representative of our listeners. So sit back, relax, and get your tea ready as we, your hosts, take you through our thoughts on some very trending topics.
Host Introductions and Serena Williams Discussion
00:00:47
Speaker
I'm Dr. Isabella. hi everybody. It's Dr. Samiza.
00:00:55
Speaker
hi guys. It's Dr. Akocha. What's good? So and to get us started off today, i guess the first topic we're going to delve deeper into is how Serena Williams admitted that she uses g l p one drugs as well and exactly how that can impact the stigma of obesity. So um I think last time on Running the List, we talked about how Serena Williams kind of described her troubles with trying to lose weight, which for her was a really uncomfortable situation to be in because she's obviously like one of the greatest athletes of all time.
00:01:33
Speaker
And she was training for five hours a day and running and doing everything that she usually does, but wasn't losing her last bit of postpartum weight like her other opponents on the tennis court. So she talked about how, you know, she decided to go down the route of using GLP-1 drug and it helped her lose over 31 pounds in the last eight months.
00:01:59
Speaker
um And I guess, you know, It's really interesting because obviously there's like the stigma that, oh, people are using Ozempi or, you know, they're doing whatever or taking the easy way out.
00:02:11
Speaker
But I think it was really interesting and sort of i I'll say refreshing um to like hear somebody who clearly is in shape and is very athletic, takes care of her body and has for literally maybe even longer than some people on that are listening to this podcast have been alive.
00:02:32
Speaker
And she's still struggling with weight. Right. um So for me, I think it was a little bit like empowering to hear like, OK, well, you know, as a woman who's more on the plus size and that, you know, it is really difficult to lose weight. There are some things that make it more difficult for us, especially women that are in their postpartum era.
00:02:53
Speaker
um And I think it was very humanistic to see that side of her. But what do you guys thought?
00:03:01
Speaker
Yeah, it's crazy. like This is a whole US Open, Wimbledon, like all the big tennis competition like star. And she still needed an ah medical aid in order to assist with weight loss. And I think, like you said, it just speaks to...
00:03:22
Speaker
just the complexities that come with what makes somebody retain weight more than another person would. What are the other things that are working in place? Is it just purely diet and exercise? Can it there be a metabolic component? Can there be a hormonal component?
00:03:36
Speaker
Like there's so many things that kind of go into that. And so I think it's really, um i would say in some ways it's inspiring that someone who is as visible as Serena is kind of being able vocal about her choice to use the GLP-1 drug. And because I feel like in a lot of ways, it it was kind of it's kind of been demonized in like social media and people who choose to use it. But now it's like, oh like Serena used it So this must be something that could have some validity in certain
GLP-1 Drugs and Obesity Management
00:04:10
Speaker
situations. Now, do I think I need, like, I ah support people overdosing on GLP-1? No. Like, I think that if you're just buying it off, you know, the black market, like, there's no doctor who's following your care.
00:04:21
Speaker
That's when I'll start getting a little bit, you know, nervous. Yeah. But I do think that, um yeah, I think it's nice that she has become an example for people who may have been having similar struggles as her and not really knowing is it appropriate to explore this option? And I think that as long as we're doing it from health-centered lens, going to a provider who actually administers the drug and who can talk to you about the side effects and talk to you about whether you're a good candidate, then I think, why not? Like, why not see if that's something that's appropriate? So yeah, that's kind of my thoughts on um her her decision.
00:04:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I think, you know, the day I qualify I'm going to get it. I have no influence with people. I um mean mean, I'm a bride. Like the day I qualify today, I'm going to get it.
00:05:11
Speaker
I think people forget that like, People who are healthy, like athletic can have chronic conditions too. Like people can struggle with obesity, struggle with diabetes, struggle with like, and I think it's fine to treat things as a medical condition. Obesity is a chronic condition that people experience, um no matter how active you are you know what I mean? And I just see nothing wrong with it. I think.
00:05:37
Speaker
you know, no one's too good for it. I also think that people have been, she's not the only one. She's just the only one who spoke about it. You know what i mean? People wake it up. And it's not, you know, it's true in an unethical way. Like you heard of other athletes, like getting all this muscle mass from, you know, unethical ways and things like that. So at least she told you all the truth. I mean, she could have and said she ran a mile and shook it all off. if he Right.
00:06:00
Speaker
So, and she probably still is running miles. You know what to mean? She's an athlete, you know? So I, I have no issue with it. Like I, prescribe patients as emphatic no problem like again with the appropriate follow-up um just because like you know it impacts so many parts of your health it is like from an ob-gym perspective like it impacts like every time a woman like has a baby and goes to the postpartum period and then has the next baby, she's heavier than when she had the first baby. Like the pounds just kind of like pack on, unfortunately, because you know, obesity is a problem in United States. And like you add on the switch from postpartum, but you don't lose And then have the next baby, you don't lose it.
00:06:39
Speaker
And then by the next baby, you know, you're well over the BMI you were when you had your first baby. You know what I mean? Right, right. um It just like increases like obesity, just like increase a lot of postpartum outcomes, like increase with a shoulder, gestational diabetes, free eclampsia, increased risk of a C-section. So if I can decrease all that by like giving you Ozempic, you know, i just don't see a problem.
00:07:02
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. 100%. Yeah, that's super real. um Literally, they say in surgery all the time, like BMI is the fifth vital sign. Like, for real. Like, there's no reason, which there's a lot of things to unpack in that statement. But that's neither here nor there. we're not going to. I'm i'm not going to get into the historical construct of BMI and how that doesn't proportionately like actually describe but health and weight in people that weren't the, um I guess, the standard when it was created.
00:07:39
Speaker
But what I will say, i i think in general, you should want to be able to take agency over your own health. And I don't think that having the stigma of using Ozempic, it should be enough to like keep you away from it. So I'm glad that people like Serena Williams are like talking about it.
00:07:59
Speaker
Now we are not, we are not, and I repeat, we are not condoning back alley Ozempic. Okay. Don't do that. don't write don't get it from your friend who tried to get it like literally it has to be adjusted and titrated like all other medications in life so correct like please don't just get your cousin's ozempic and be like oh yeah it's working up for me no it's really not like yeah you don't have the same metabolic profile as they do so If you are going to use it, make sure you're, you know, talking to your health care provider about it.
00:08:34
Speaker
That's my general statement. And that's how we that's how we get into now the side effects, like we talked about in a prior run the list of, you know, patients literally experiencing the side effects that are listed.
00:08:45
Speaker
um, when you take ozempic, but i think to a higher degree, um because either who knows whether or not it was actually prescribed by like a bonafide healthcare care provider who is in within that realm that can prescribe the drug, um, and who was, who was actually monitoring how much you're even taking of it if you're taking the appropriate dose, like, you know, all of those things.
00:09:05
Speaker
So yeah, that's what now we creep into those lawsuits and, people complaining about, Hey, this carries this certain weight or this happened to me.
00:09:16
Speaker
And not to say that there's maybe not some truth to it, but I do think that like when it's not being done correctly or when it's not being administered correctly, that's where you kind of lead into these other issues that could have probably been avoidable.
00:09:28
Speaker
So yeah, I totally agree. but say right Yeah. But for we are in the age of Bozempi and, uh,
00:09:41
Speaker
it's it's kind of crazy because this isn't something that we had a couple of years ago that people had such wide access to. So I think it's been interesting how weight loss journeys have changed. like from a very large standpoint ever since like Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonists have come into the market.
00:09:59
Speaker
um So whether it's for it's been a good or negative experience, I think it's up to the user and people who are kind of seeing the ramifications. I think that all all ah things in moderation is kind of how I how i look at it. So yeah.
00:10:16
Speaker
The best way to do it, Chow. Mm-hmm. Yeah, so. Yeah. I don't really have any other remarks, though, about it. I think that Serena has definitely been a good example of other avenues that we can take with weight loss. So just like looking forward to how it continues to change and trend you know as the years come.
00:10:42
Speaker
Yeah. And I, I'm sorry. um sorry I was going to say my last thought. I love the word Ozempe. Like, I don't know. it kind of and da Right.
00:10:55
Speaker
Right. um And other things health related.
Cardiovascular Health Disparities
00:10:58
Speaker
um Obviously, we know like obesity is a big topic in America, but some things that have also been happening is like younger people are having like an increased like incidence of heart attacks and As we know, one of the news anchors, Celeste Wilson on WAPT, she passed away at 42 years old from a heart attack. And we talked about that on one of the run list episodes.
00:11:21
Speaker
um One of the things i would like to reiterate here on here is White heart disease remained the lead remains the leading cause of death among women in the United States and there's significant racial, oh sorry, significant racial and sex disparities in cardiovascular disease.
00:11:39
Speaker
And that persists in among, it's a high risk among young and middle-aged black women in particular and becoming increasingly apparent. And in comparison to white women, black women have more CBD risk factors and develop CBD early and have higher CBD mortality rates.
00:11:53
Speaker
And I think given the nature of our podcast, i think that's just important to highlight. And I want to know your guys' thoughts on this because I was on that last episode.
00:12:04
Speaker
yeah You can go first. Yeah, I mean, no, no, it's okay. I mean, i do think, um you know, rest first and foremost, rest in peace to Celeste Wilson. It's definitely really um sad to hear of a young Black woman, you know, who um lost her life at an early age due to ah heart attack.
00:12:26
Speaker
um I think it's, I'm grateful that you mentioned those points, you maybe in terms of these risk factors that women tend to carry when it comes to heart attacks, specifically like Black women, I think um are more higher risk due to us just being more likely to have obesity or certain diet, certain lifestyle, um maybe ah in it like disparities when it comes to access to certain things that kind of help to mitigate some of these risk factors.
00:12:58
Speaker
um, to me, it kind of ties into like racism and medicine, um, and how like those things can kind of like be a landing point or a jumping point to other bad things happening. I don't necessarily think that there's like a genetic predisposition. I feel like when they like to link the race, they want to say, oh, because you're, you're black or any, a certain kind of race, that means that you are more genetically predisposed to this. And I think that's like very dangerous language to use. Cause it's like,
00:13:23
Speaker
there are you being black in itself does not then make you more susceptible to having a heart attack. It's more so what comes with being black in terms of societal um factors and then how those things can impact your health and, you know, and how likely you are to get certain things. So I do think that her being 42, um,
00:13:44
Speaker
It just makes me wonder like what could have been at play that allowed her to be predisposed you know predisposed to getting a heart attack at that age. um yeah Things like you know hypertension and all those things are also other risk factors. Sometimes there are some families who tend to like have higher blood pressure.
00:14:00
Speaker
um Once again, like what what are what's behind the curtain in terms of what could be leading people to, a Black women to be having such a fatal disease process at such a young age. I think it just, it requires us to be a little bit more thoughtful about like, what are we missing?
00:14:17
Speaker
um That we are losing people to this, you know, ah disease process. um And it's, yeah, it's really, i mean, it's tragic and And yeah, like my heart really goes out to her loved ones who have to mourn her loss um because it's just disappointing that, yeah, that this even happened. And I just hope it leads to larger discussions that we can have about ways to prevent things like this happening to women like her moving forward.
00:14:47
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. And I think something that's also interesting to me is that um she's from Louisiana. And this is now like where I do residency.
00:14:58
Speaker
And I can definitely say that. I mean, I've just seen some very young people be incredibly impacted by the health disparities that exist within the state. Like, I think I had a patient and so that was like 21 or 22 that we got consulted on. Her BMI was like 80, right? Like she's had heart attacks and just, I mean, it was so heartbreaking to like go in there and you know, do this consult, but like, she just like, that's sort of like where her life is now. Right. Because from our, my perspective as somebody who's going into surgery, like I have to think about like, can you survive whatever surgery they're trying to make me complete on you?
00:15:44
Speaker
I don't know if you're going to make it out of that. Right. So I think it's just really interesting that it's that, that this woman was sort of impacting the state that I think I want to say, maybe we have the worst health rates in the nation. i feel like somebody told me that statistic or something.
00:16:02
Speaker
Right. um But not only that, if you guys actually looked up Celeste, she doesn't necessarily fit the picture of the person I just described. Right. So I think sort of like what you were talking about in terms of like how do we get the people that don't necessarily fit within the mold that we're trying to make sure we screen, but also just so that we're screening everybody, just so that we're screening everyone. um Just because it you never know who the silent killer is going to, to impact.
00:16:32
Speaker
um So i think it's very heartbreaking. Like we all said um, and I don't know, i think that there's a better way that we need to go about in terms of screening and sort of tackling like what you were talking about, Isabella, like the epigenetics of it all, right?
00:16:50
Speaker
Like there's something that if are the unifying thing between this is that, you know, we're black or we're Southern or whatever has you that that's identifier, what is the thing we need to be tackling that doesn't make us get impacted by this so um disproportionately?
00:17:10
Speaker
Yeah. so No, 100%. Yeah. I think it's like, it's multi-layered, but do maybe, I mean, I'm interested to hear if there's anything that you wanted to, if there's anything that you didn't get to say during the run the list.
00:17:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. i mean, i was just thinking about, I just came off of my OB rotation at the main hospital where we work at and I was just seeing some crazy stuff. Like pregnant women with aortic dissections and and a woman who had a stroke like crazy things in pregnancy and like you know obviously pregnancy is you know younger people like people definitely like in their 20s and 30s you know what i mean and having an aortic dissection a stroke all those things and like you said like the honestly morbid obesity that's in the u.s s right now that's like
00:17:55
Speaker
causing people to have like these increased risk factors as well. It's like kind of crazy. I've seen like teen pregnancies and they have BMI's at 50, BMI's, you know, it's just kind of like, yeah yeah you know, it's like a huge like epidemic in the US. s And um I was also thinking about when, Isabel, you talked about like how like people say like being black is a risk factor for an MI.
00:18:17
Speaker
but like it's not because black people have like different genetics because of social determinants and like racism and stuff like that and i was thinking about how like and you know when we initiate aspirin and people who are pregnant you know at 12 weeks one of the indicators for aspirin is being black and i remember like when the patients asked me like why do i need aspirin because i'm black and i'm like literally because of racism like it really has nothing to do with anything except the fact that there's racism and you're less likely to get all these other things like or not less likely to get other things but less likely to be caught for other things like preeclampsia when you do get worse outcomes um so i just find it like really interesting how we modify our care truly because of race like of racism and like even acog like clearly states like the reason why black women need aspirin is because of racism you know so i just think like you know me i usually treat at least in the the general obgian world like
00:19:11
Speaker
younger, healthier women, you know what i mean? But like anyone can have a heart attack. Anyone can have a stroke. um And I should work people up as such. Like it costs nothing to get an EKG on a lu lady and a young lady. They may just have GERD or whatever, but you have to rule out other pathology before just sending them home. So yeah.
00:19:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, 100%. I think it's definitely something that we have to like continue to be mindful of. And um yeah, just like making sure that people understand that like our lives matter too. I think, once again, like going more into like the racism point, like a lot of times when the demographic who is being affected by these things is not something that's actually of concern.
00:19:50
Speaker
to the larger population who basically controls the masses they don't really care about looking deeper into like what are things that we can do to kind of help tackle these things and you have less research and we already know like from a research standpoint what are threats happening for you know right now currently in our society but even beyond that like just just thinking about like we have we kind of have to be our own advocates, if that makes any sense. like If we don't advocate for ourselves, who's going to? it really starts with us.
00:20:16
Speaker
So I feel like you know making sure that if we do have patients that come in who may have certain risk factors or who may um just, we can tell maybe it could be more predisposed to have like suffering from something like this. Let's say if they've had a stroke in the past or they've had they have like chronically uncontrolled hypertension, like those kinds of things that kind of pop up, making sure that we do our diligence as physicians to let them know, hey, like um what what are what like, what are the things you feel like right now in your life that could be contributing to it? Is it that you are under a lot of stress at work?
00:20:51
Speaker
You know, do you have access to like fresh foods, health, know, vegetables, fruits, like, where you live? Like, do you have good transportation? Like all the things you have, like, are you plugged into care? Do you have health insurance? Like just thinking and thinking about those things and making sure that those things are being addressed, I think is like other ways that we can kind of be advocates for our patients who are Black women who might have these things.
00:21:12
Speaker
And even just beyond Black women, but I just like, once again, thinking about the demographic that a lot of times is overlooked and no one is really advocating for, like we kind of have to be the advocates. So yeah, that's kind of how I Yeah, think that's kind of how I i see us taking the next steps to trying to prevent what like what happened Miss Celeste Wilson happening to other young Black women.
00:21:33
Speaker
Yeah, I agree.
Hurricane Katrina's Ongoing Impact
00:21:36
Speaker
Speaking of preventing things that should never happen again, um i think we would be remiss not to talk about the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and just sort of all the documentaries that kind of came out in the last couple of months.
00:21:53
Speaker
um Just to like get into a little bit more about what Hurricane Katrina really was. It was one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in US history. resulting in over 1,300 deaths, displacing hundreds of thousands of people, and causing an estimated $125 billion dollars in damages as of August 2025, which makes it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. um And honestly, i don't know how much you guys like watched, and I don't know if it's because I live here now that like the topic just became like more, ah I don't know,
00:22:30
Speaker
prevalent or prominent to me. Like I literally would go home after a depressing day at the hospital and I would go home and watch these depressing ah documentaries. And it, I don't know, for me, it was more like, you need to know about the history of the place where you're at and where you're training. And like,
00:22:46
Speaker
what impacts your patient population, right? Like it's very clear when you speak to people that are from New Orleans that they're like, there is a before Katrina and there's an after Katrina. And what you are seeing now is nothing like the New Orleans of my childhood or my mother's childhood or whoever previous generations. um And I don't know, I think it was just very eyeopening to watch just sort of how many levels of government failed,
00:23:15
Speaker
the people here and how honestly it was just ah a powder keg of things that made Katrina as bad as it was. Like yeah the city didn't warn people in time really. So like people couldn't leave and there's a lot of structural racism and economic immobility here, right? So people, even if they wanted to leave, when they told them that they should leave and that they need to leave, they could not leave.
00:23:45
Speaker
like There's literally videos of people like, oh, we having a hurricane party. We always have the hurricane party because this is what happens. like We can't go nowhere. anywhere We don't have nowhere to go. People couldn't drive or didn't have access to cars. So like you're telling people they need to leave immediately, but like you have nowhere to take them.
00:24:03
Speaker
And then just sort of the you know devolution of everything that happened in the... in the super dome and, uh, the convention center. I don't know. Like if you guys have any time, which we don't because we're in residency and we shouldn't do it.
00:24:20
Speaker
Um, right. Like, I, I don't know. it was incredibly eyeopening. And I think it gave me a better perspective just on, I don't know, just how bad Katrina really was. Like,
00:24:31
Speaker
I mean, I think I obviously knew because I was alive and cognizant at the time. But i think as an adult, you're able to appreciate like, oh, my God, these people were just literally between a rock and a hard place. Like they didn't have anywhere to go. And then they literally like kept them from going to places.
00:24:50
Speaker
It was crazy. Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:54
Speaker
Yeah, I definitely think that Hurricane Katrina, the the aftermath is still, we're still seeing it at play um in terms of the displacement of black and brown people who were living in New Orleans, because they were the ones who were most affected, just kind of your point to me. So they had literally nowhere to go. They didn't have the financial resources most likely, or just even just like the community um to be able to flee to when their homes were devastated by such a tragic hurricane.
00:25:26
Speaker
um I know that there was many lives lost. And to this day, there's still people who are living away from New Orleans who were displaced from that hurricane. And i think it just kind of once again speaks to like all of the racial and economic disparities that were at play.
00:25:40
Speaker
um When we see the aftermath of the, of Hurricane Katrina, like to this day, where we still like, there's even places I don't even think they fully rehabilitated in new Orleans yeah since that tragedy.
00:25:52
Speaker
yeah, so that's a problem, right? Like if that was a white area, would we have already seen things looking more like they were prior? And so once again, it goes back into whose lives do we really value in this country? Because a lot of times black and brown people get the shorter end of the stick.
00:26:10
Speaker
um And so our trauma and our devastation can be put on hold. And other people's lives can continue as normal. So I think, you know, just remembering Hurricane Katrina, even though it happened all the way back in, i believe it was what, 2005? Correct.
00:26:25
Speaker
ah Correct. Yeah, 2000. So, so many years ago, we still remember to this day, and we know there's people walking this earth still that are healing from that situation, that experience. I mean, like you said, we all lived through it. Like, we all heard about it, but I think maybe at that age, we didn't really appreciate the the true damage that was done. But, like, clearly now at our age and what we do, we see what really was at play in this situation. So um I think it just, once again...
00:26:55
Speaker
allows us to kind of pause and think about how can we continue to advocate for people who necessarily are not usually advocated for, particularly when it comes to environmental crises like Hurricane Katrina. And the reason why it's important for the government to have things in place, right, when it comes to natural disasters and making sure that you have a ah plan for your citizens, right?
00:27:16
Speaker
cannot speak to where we're at right now in the current administration of how those things are being dished out, but I would hope that they're still, you know, um that it's still working.
00:27:30
Speaker
Yeah. That's, that's all I could say. um Yeah. So definitely want to remember all the lives um that were lost during hurricane Katrina, as well as the people whose lives were affected, even if you are still alive, whose lives were significantly in affected by the hurricane and,
00:27:48
Speaker
you know, continuing to think and pray for you guys that, um you know, that your lives continue to move forward in a positive direction, despite such a negative um experience that happened so many years ago.
00:28:03
Speaker
Yeah, I was in Jackson, Mississippi at the time of like Katrina. So I was only five years old. So everything's, of course, like very spotty. But I remember like,
00:28:14
Speaker
And I was like, obviously like in New Orleans at the time, but like it did impact Jackson. um yeah In a way as well. Like we definitely got the reverberations of that. And then also like a lot of people from New Orleans that were able to leave came to Jackson, Mississippi. um So a lot of my mom's closest friends, they actually met like when they left New Orleans to come to Jackson. So I remember not going to school for a couple of days. I remember,
00:28:40
Speaker
um I went by my friend's house and there was tree like on her house. um So there definitely was like a lot of impact that I remember seeing as a kid, but obviously like not knowing like the effects of it. And know I just thought it was like a really bad, you know, a rainstorm or whatever. I remember like my mom kept telling me like Hurricane Katrina is coming. and I was like, who is Katrina? Like I thought it was like a human being like coming to the cafe everywhere.
00:29:04
Speaker
um But like, the even when we went to like, AMEC, like in New Orleans, I remember like, I went to go visit one my friends and like, you can still see the areas that were like truly impacted by Katrina that have not been like, like you said, restored.
00:29:20
Speaker
um Yeah. So I haven't watched the documentary yet, but I really want to. But it's I just obviously we don't have time, but I just think that the work should be done to like try and restore some of like the great parts of New Orleans that were affected by this hurricane.
00:29:37
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, obviously without spoiling things and spoiling things, there's two things in the documentary that i thought were its just like wild. One was sort of like midway through quite literally the most botched state, local and national response to a natural disaster. Mm-hmm. Oh my gosh. They basically told people to like walk across this bridge because there was a part, there's like ah another part to the city that wasn't as deeply impacted, right?
00:30:14
Speaker
And wasn't like as flooded. So they told people to walk across the bridge to get there. And literally when people got across this bridge and I've driven across this bridge, which I think is why it's crazier to me, like citizens of that part of New Orleans said, you guys can't come inside.
00:30:32
Speaker
Like they just stopped other private citizens from going into it, which to me is just like very indicative of how the human condition can be. Like we have our resources. We want to keep everything to ourselves, which is crazy to me when people that you've known your whole life are literally struggling and dying, right? And drowning. right And then to also speak to your point, Isabella, about ah Like the response and the restoration practices, like there's literally there was a program that was put out to like help people rebuild their homes, but they basically funded you based on.
00:31:14
Speaker
I don't know, kind of like the ability, like your taxes or something. So it basically systematically pushed out everybody that, you know, came from lesser means and is the reason why you still go to New Orleans and you see those places that haven't been restored because the programs that were put into place to help them, they never got the loans back, right?
00:31:36
Speaker
Right, right. I think, yeah, there's a lot of plate there's a lot of parts to the documentaries and there's a whole bunch. There's Ryan Coogler's, there's um an older show, but there's also a documentary attached to it that talks about like the one hospital that stayed open during Katrina. I think it's called Memorial Hospital.
00:31:55
Speaker
um there's ah There's a bunch of documentaries and movies, not just during this 20th anniversary that like talk about it, that I would recommend there. And they're all over there on Netflix. It's on Apple TV.
00:32:07
Speaker
um But just in general, I think it's important to have that knowledge that you don't really make that mistake in the future. And given where we're going and how climate change is a real thing, and we continue to see it in literally all parts of the country.
00:32:21
Speaker
um i think it's even more important to take that, you know, into perspective with your own particular lo well locality, right? Oh yeah, 100%.
00:32:31
Speaker
And um I think that, yeah, I think it's really good that we just kind of think about Katrina and like how we can learn learn and move forward from it, similar to kind of how Karen Huger from Real Housewives of Potomac had to take the time to sit with her mistakes, learn and move forward with it. um You know, this is not funny because it's at the end. He who can hear must feel. Sorry.
Public Figures and Legal Accountability
00:32:59
Speaker
Like it's not funny, but you know, like this fan, if you rob if you watch Real Housewives of Potomac, you will understand why i had to have- Yeah, thank you, Kimmy. A little jokey joke.
00:33:09
Speaker
These past couple years, so she faced another DUI back in, believe it was March of 2024. She into a street sign just three miles from her home. Mind you, this was not her first DUI.
00:33:22
Speaker
um She's had these in the past. I believe this was like her fourth one. um And so she was hit with multiple charges, unfortunately did have to, she was sentenced to two years in prison prison um initially with one year suspended and then five years of probation.
00:33:37
Speaker
um However, she only served about six months of that. And so she was released early. thankfully, um for her case, because I was like, I don't see how Karen is going to survive for his life. This is like, she calls herself the grand dame of Potomac. like She's not billed for anybody's jail cell.
00:33:53
Speaker
However, I do think it it's important for us to note that she is somebody that did something that really could have been very detrimental to the other person driving that vehicle that she came in contact with.
00:34:12
Speaker
um Thank God she did not hit anybody. i believe that she just, like, I think, what is this? I think she was just recklessly driving a vehicle in wanton willful disregard for safety.
00:34:22
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think she, i don't think she actually like hit anybody, but it's just the fact that she was driving like very recklessly that could have led to an accident. um And so, Her situation to me is just a good example of like, just because you are somebody in the public eye doesn't mean that the rules do not apply to you.
00:34:41
Speaker
You still have to care about people's lives. you I mean, just in general, if you're a human being and you're thinking about what happens if you were on the other person ah the other side in a different vehicle and someone was driving under the influence, like you would want your life to be protected by good decision making for people who are on the road.
00:34:56
Speaker
So I think that, I don't know what she was going through, I don't know what led her to like do this. um And the fact that it wasn't her first time does make me feel like it's hard for me to defend someone who made a decision to do something multiple times when they were already charged the first time.
00:35:13
Speaker
um And I think also too, just thinking about the dangers of drunk driving is like very important as well. So that's just something that I feel like we all should be aware of and know. And once again, the rules apply to everybody just because you're on a reality show, you're not exempt from it.
00:35:30
Speaker
um But yeah, I don't know what you guys' thoughts are about kind of, one, Karen choosing to have these DUIs or choosing to drive under the influence um without disregard for other people's safety. And then just like what that means as like a Black woman on this like very public facing reality show and like how she's representing herself to people who are watching. So first of all,
00:35:59
Speaker
Not to make light of the situation, but she tried this in MoCo, Montgomery County. Like, I promise y'all, we might've been the first place to have traffic cameras, like the speed cameras with the cameras. Like, they're out. Right, oh my God. There's so many speed cameras in DC. That's crazy.
00:36:16
Speaker
Like, I mean, I'm pretty sure this is the pilot place for that program. I never saw anywhere else until I saw it there. And now Philly wants to have it in other places. But really, like I said, not to make light of the situation, she one just did it in a crazy place, but you you're also a public figure. People are looking up to you and people like know you. like i don't I don't understand what was- That's her. But I think more importantly, right like it's let's assume that she has sense, right?
00:36:49
Speaker
So I would want to give her the benefit and the doubt in that this might be a real problem, right? and And I don't necessarily know When it comes to that, is the penal system the correct, I guess,
00:37:02
Speaker
ah way to like sort of correct this behavior, right? Like clearly this a woman who needs help in terms of either AA or NA or, you know, actual pharmacological help with trying to detox from alcohol.
00:37:17
Speaker
um Because obviously like we all know the dangers of trying to do it cold turkey. Like you really actually, this is the one withdrawal that you can really actually die from. um If you're not properly it like um supervised by somebody as you're tapering it.
00:37:31
Speaker
So, I think in that regard, I guess I'm happy for her that she was able to get released and hopefully she was getting help in jail and that she continues to seek help for it because like yeah like you said, she's not just putting herself in danger, but she's putting others in danger.
00:37:49
Speaker
um So honestly, hopefully she's getting the help that she needs.
00:37:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I just feel like, I mean...
00:38:03
Speaker
Honestly, I don't feel bad for her. The pause. I don't really care. If I'm being quite honest, four DUIs, what kind of wreck this? Yeah, four DUIs is super crazy.
00:38:16
Speaker
Who do you think you You think you're above the law. You think you've got the moves like Jagger. You think that no one's going to catch you. Moves like Jagger is crazy. I like Karen Huger, but you're so reckless. You are so reckless.
00:38:32
Speaker
You could have killed yourself. could have killed others. And then you think your money's going to save you. And then the things that she was saying on camera to the, I didn't want to say them here because thought they were quite vulgar, but you know, the things she was talking about Thomas Jefferson's blank and all this, we'll talk about it later then.
00:38:50
Speaker
But like she was saying a lot of vulgar things when she was drunk. Oh, we like at the police station. Yeah. at the police station. Okay, okay. yeah I think I did see that video. She has lost her mind completely. like yeah And so I don't really care. in this like i I think she should stayed a little bit longer. you know, like four DUIs and you're out? like To do what?
00:39:09
Speaker
You know what mean? Yeah. yeah Those six months have really done a number on her, to be honest. Right. you know and You know, everyone's like, poor... I'm watching Potomac like right now, and like everyone's like, poor Karen and in the jail in the jail. And yeah um like you're not immune from jail just because you're rich and you're bright like i don't care know what i mean like you're driving drunk you know so i don't want to get the sympathy i love her down i'll see you next season but i mean my god's grace we'll see the crime you do the time okay i don't can handle that PR.
00:39:47
Speaker
There's too much going in Potomac right now. She has to talk to her colleague, Wendy, because they're all simply going down to that prison pipeline. Wendy, um now, you're my Nigerian girl, but I don't know what's going on.
00:39:59
Speaker
I don't understand what... You're playing in Montgomery County. I'm very confused. Like, the police are out. I'm just going to let, you know, justice take toll.
00:40:12
Speaker
I don't know what's I don't understand it Honestly, we need we really need to look further into what's going on in that Potomac place because it's not any sense. In the Housewives franchise, there's too many women seeing the clank, the clank. There's too many women seeing the bars.
00:40:29
Speaker
And I'm not understanding. It's crazy. What happened to the professorship? Right. you know Honest work. Yeah. You know, prestigious positions. there ah To me, these are successful Black women who were trying to show a positive example on television. But right now, it's not looking too bright.
00:40:50
Speaker
so you know They're just showing an example. Just an example. No, literally. Not bright, not dark. wow last but And I don't like it. I don't like They're letting Giselle and Ashley Darby have the last laugh and I don't appreciate my gosh. Like why, why did we get here? Cause you guys know your enemies are sitting right next to you. You let them. They're having meetings in your honor. Like in your honor is crazy.
00:41:16
Speaker
They are. They're talking about you. Step up. playing Meetings in your honor. That's a note. That's a word. That's a word. a bar You're letting your enemies having meetings in your honor. or Like, my God, i just can't imagine. It's too much embarrassment for me.
00:41:34
Speaker
Well, let it happen. Lord. Well. but
00:41:40
Speaker
lord well
Episode Conclusion
00:41:44
Speaker
Yeah. um For Karen, I wish you the best. And I hope that you you learn from the mistakes that you made because drinking and driving is a huge no.
00:41:56
Speaker
Yeah, big no.
00:41:59
Speaker
Thank you so much for tuning in into Unscripted and be sure to tune into our future conversations that we'll be having here on SMA Presents The Lounge. Bye. Bye, guys.
00:42:10
Speaker
Bye, everyone. Catch you next episode. Bye.