Dr. Hassan Fehmi started his podcast, Arab American Cafe, in October 2020 because he felt like Arab American perspectives were not widely represented in the podcasting industry. Initially, the English and Arabic conversations focused on politics, but soon enough they started talking about the pandemic and other health care issues affecting the community.
"My partner and I are healthcare professionals, so it only made sense that we start talking about health care," says Fehmi, a nephrologist and specialist in kidney disease based in Dearborn, Mich., home to the country's highest concentration of Arab American communities. "We were actually able to share with our audience some of the relevant information about COVID."
One of their recent episodes provided answers to listeners about COVID-19 vaccines and masking among other public health questions in Arabic.
"It's not only because we are Arab Americans and we care about our community. It's because we are doctors and we care about the community at large," he says. "You can't have a group of individuals who are at risk of having all of those problems and don't really try to spend some time and energy to understand them."