The Pain Gap

Anushay Hossain
  • 5.0 (17)
  • Education
  • Updated Biweekly

Join Anushay Hossain, author, podcast host, and powerful women’s health advocate as she interviews feminist doctors, advocates and medical experts about the most urgent issues in women's health. Based on her Audible bestselling book, “The Pain Gap: How Sexism and Racism in Healthcare Kill Women," The Pain Gap podcast provides a vital platform for critical conversations about medical gaslighting and misogyny. Anushay Hossain brings together the leading voices in the women's healthcare to unpack why women’s pain, especially the pain of women of color, continues to be dismissed, delayed, or ignored. Through in-depth interviews and real-world examples, the podcast explores how bias shows up in exam rooms, hospitals, medical research, and public policy, and what it will take to close #ThePainGap in women's health.

  1. 5d ago

    The Truth Behind the Anti-Aging Industry with Jacynth Bassett.

    Women are living longer than before, so why do we still have to fight ageism to be seen? In this episode, I speak with Jacynth Bassett, founder and CEO of Ageism Is Never In Style, a Global Platform For Age Inclusion. As an anti-ageism pioneer, Jacynth is a powerful and influential voice in the age-inclusive, longevity space, using her platform to inspire change for all ages and champion intergenerational connection. Jacynth and I talk about what it was like for her to watch her mother become invisible and how that led her to build a global movement for millions of other women. We dive into the ways ageism shows up in work, mainstream media and the influence it has on how we view women and in turn, how women view themselves. By designing campaigns and creative work to partnering with brands, working with journalists and media, and creating new ways to challenge stereotypes and shift perceptions, Jacynth is redefining what it means to be “seen.” And exposing the truth behind the anti-aging industry. Episode Resources: https://www.ageismisneverinstyle.com/about-jacynth The Pain Gap Follow Anushay on Instagram @AnushayHossain and on Substack @AnushaysPoint To learn more about Anushay Hossain's work, check out Anushay Hossain.com or sign up for her newsletter on Substack to keep the conversation going: Anushay.Substack.com

  2. Sep 24

    Getting to the Root of the Problem with Rachel Stephens.

    Are your labs normal but you’re feeling terrible? Our guest today knows all about that life. After experiencing years of "normal" lab results while feeling anything but healthy, Rachel Stephens, Rachel Stephens, Holistic Health Practitioner, Integrative Health Practitioner (IHP) and First Line Therapy Lifestyle Educator, set out to understand what conventional medicine was missing. That personal journey shaped the philosophy behind her practice: healing doesn't require more information, it requires the right sequence. Rachel joins me on the show to talk about how she specializes in helping high-achieving women navigate complex hormone, gut, nervous system, and chronic health concerns through a root-cause, functional medicine approach rooted in nervous system safety, biological interpretation, and prioritized healing. From navigating diet trends to building sustainable habits, this conversation is about coming back to the foundations that truly support your energy, metabolism, and long-term wellness. Whether you’re considering seed cycling and strength training or stabilizing blood sugar and prioritizing whole foods, this episode is filled with simple yet powerful strategies that create real, lasting change. Episode Resources: Website: https://rachelstephenswellness.com/ The Pain Gap Follow Anushay on Instagram @AnushayHossain and on Substack @AnushaysPoint To learn more about Anushay Hossain's work, check out Anushay Hossain.com or sign up for her newsletter on Substack to keep the conversation going: Anushay.Substack.com

  3. Sep 17

    Changing the Menopause Conversation with Julie Parana.

    What happens when your body goes into menopause early? That’s what happened to Menopause Coach and Women’s Health Specialist, Julie Parana after she had a hysterectomy at 42 yrs old. In this powerful episode, Julie talks to me all about how “she lived it, then studied it.” We discuss the barrage of symptoms women experience in perimenopause, and how these major changes can last up to a decade before women hit menopause. So why are most of us still left completely unprepared for this major health transition? That’s exactly what Julie works to change by sharing her transition from occupational therapy to menopause coaching. With a background in healthcare and firsthand experience of the misinformation and lack of support around menopause, Julie dedicates herself to educating and empowering women going through this significant life stage. Her story reminds listeners of the transformative power of self-advocacy and education, especially for women’s health. If you’ve been feeling “off,” leaving your doctor’s office with more questions than answers, and exhausted from trying to figure it out on your own, this episode is for you! Episode Resources: Website: https://www.themenopauseot.com/ The Pain Gap Follow Anushay on Instagram @AnushayHossain and on Substack @AnushaysPoint To learn more about Anushay Hossain's work, check out Anushay's website, Anushay Hossain.com or sign up for her newsletter on Substack. To continue the conversation, feel free email her team at thepaingap@gmail.com.

  4. Sep 10

    Allison Butler and the Judgement of Gender: How Does Pop Culture Treat Women Today?

    Today on the show, I am joined by Allison Butler, Senior Lecturer and Associate Chair in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is also the Vice President of the Media Freedom Foundation and the author of The Judgment of Gender: How Women are Centered and Silenced in Pop Culture. Allison and I talk about how women are presented in mainstream media and society and how that, in turn, shapes our medical and overall legitimacy. We discuss how her new book examines the ways mass media fixates on prominent women while stripping away their agency, context, and voice. While it appears as though we have significant numbers of representation of women and girls, is it of significant quality? How are women’s stories being told, and by whom? How does pop culture determine how we view women’s pain? This conversation also looks at how Butler’s latest book embraces the contradiction that while women are taking up more space in pop culture, they are still being silenced, in part, by the way their stories are being told. Episode Resources: Website: https://www.umass.edu/social-sciences/about/directory/allison-butler Books: https://www.strandbooks.com/the-judgment-of-gender-how-women-are-centered-and-silenced-in-pop-culture-9798999804914.html The Pain Gap Follow Anushay on Instagram @AnushayHossain and on Substack @AnushaysPoint To learn more about Anushay Hossain's work, check out Anushay's website, Anushay Hossain.com or sign up for her newsletter on Substack. To continue the conversation, feel free to DM @anushayhossain or email her team at thepaingap@gmail.com

  5. Sep 3

    Dr. Khiara M. Bridges on Expecting Inequity: How America's Maternal Health Crisis Affects Even the Wealthiest Black Americans.

    Our guest today is Dr. Khiara M. Bridges. She is a professor of law at UC Berkeley School of Law and a leading expert on race, class, reproductive rights, and the intersection of the three. Her scholarship has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, and the Columbia Law Review among others. She is also the author of three books: Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization, and Critical Race Theory: A Primer, and The Poverty of Privacy Rights. In this conversation, I speak with Dr. Bridges about her fourth and latest book, Expecting Inequity: How the Maternal Health Crisis Affects Even the Wealthiest Black Americans. It’s a powerful and much-needed exploration of the persistence of racism in reproductive healthcare in the US, and unlike other books on this issue, it zeroes in on why even rich Black women are at risk of dying while giving birth in America. Dr. Bridges, whose previous work exposed how race and racism are embedded in maternal healthcare for the poor, draws on two years of participant-observation to show that in a country that has never reckoned with its horrific racial past, there is no escaping racism’s reach. Or is there? Dr. Bridges and I talk about why as racism and white supremacy persist, women’s voices and stories must only get louder. Episode Resources: Website: https://khiarambridges.com/ MIT Press Page: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262051552/expecting-inequity/ The Pain Gap Follow Anushay on Instagram @AnushayHossain and on Substack @Anushay's Point To learn more about Anushay Hossain's work, check out Anushay's website or sign up for her substack. To continue the conversation, feel free to DM @anushayhossain or email me at thepaingap@gmail.com

  6. May 28

    74. Dr. Veronica Gillispie-Bell on Black Maternal Mortality, Bias & Why America Is Failing Mothers.

    Dr. Veronica Gillispie-Bell is one of the leading voices in maternal health, patient safety, and reproductive justice. Dr. G sits at the intersection of clinical care, public health, and policy, and this conversation is as urgent as it is eye-opening. From Black maternal mortality and medical bias to fibroids, pain dismissal, and the dangerous fragmentation of our healthcare system, she breaks down why so many women, especially Black women, are still not being heard, protected, or believed in America’s healthcare system. We talk about the real-life consequences of systemic bias, what happens when women’s pain is minimized for years, and why maternal healthcare must be treated as a patient safety issue. Dr. G also shares her own deeply personal pregnancy story, what reviewing preventable maternal deaths takes emotionally, and why she believes women need to reclaim their power inside medical settings. This episode is heartbreaking, validating, infuriating, and empowering all at once, and honestly, it’s one every woman should hear. Episode Resources: IG handle: @drveronicawomenshealth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-gillispie-bell-md-mas-29b3206a The Pain Gap Follow Anushay on Instagram To learn more about Anushay Hossain's work, check out Anushay's website or sign up for her substack. To continue the conversation, feel free to DM @anushayhossain or email me at thepaingap@gmail.com

  7. May 21

    73. Jennifer Dunatov on Birth Trauma, Medical Ethics, and the Fight for Justice in Childbirth

    Jennifer Dunatov is a healthcare ethicist and birth justice advocate dedicated to exposing the ethical failures embedded within America’s maternal healthcare system. In this powerful episode of The Pain Gap, Jennifer joins Anushay Hossain for an unflinching conversation about birth trauma, informed consent, obstetric violence, and why childbirth remains one of the clearest reflections of systemic injustice in healthcare. Together, they unpack how racism, coercion, fear-based medicine, and the dismissal of women’s pain continue to shape birth experiences across the country, even at the most prestigious hospitals. Jennifer also explains the often misunderstood role of healthcare ethicists, revealing how ethics consults can help protect patient autonomy and slow down harmful, high-pressure decision-making in delivery rooms. The conversation explores emergency C-sections, medical paternalism, the emotional aftermath of traumatic births, and why so many women are left carrying invisible wounds long after childbirth. This episode is a raw, validating, and urgently necessary discussion about dignity, autonomy, and the fight to make maternal healthcare more ethical, humane, and just for every woman. Episode Resources: @jenniferdunatov (Instagram) @dr.jenniferdunatov (TikTok) www.jenniferdunatov.com (website) The Pain Gap Follow Anushay on Instagram To learn more about Anushay Hossain's work, check out Anushay's website or sign up for her substack. To continue the conversation, feel free to DM @anushayhossain or email me at thepaingap@gmail.com

  8. May 14

    72. Special Episode: One on One with Anushay - Confronting Hate, Racism & the Rise of Authoritarianism with Deeyah Khan

    Deeyah Khan was raised in Norway by Pakistani and Afghan parents. Deeyah reflects on growing up feeling caught between worlds and how art, activism, and music became both refuge and resistance. She shares how her early experiences shaped her Emmy and BAFTA-winning work documenting white supremacy, violent extremism, gender-based violence, and the dangerous rise of authoritarian movements around the world. Anushay and Deeyah dive into some of the defining issues of our era: Muslim identity in the West, honor-based violence, white supremacy in America, Christian nationalism, media complicity, immigration, and the global backlash against women’s rights and democracy. Deeyah speaks candidly about embedding herself with neo-Nazis and extremists for her documentaries White Right: Meeting the Enemy and Jihad: A Story of the Others, revealing what she learned about fear, hate, belonging, and the possibility of human connection even in the most divided spaces. Together, they examine how silence enables oppression — and why hope itself can become an act of resistance. At its core, this episode is a conversation about courage: the courage to speak honestly, confront injustice, reject fear, and build solidarity across borders and differences. Deeyah offers a powerful reminder that no one is coming to save us — that meaningful change depends on ordinary people choosing compassion, truth, and action. This is one of The Pain Gap’s most timely, provocative, and unforgettable conversations yet. Episode Resources: Deeyah Khan's Website Deeyah Khan's Instagram The Pain Gap Follow Anushay on Instagram To learn more about Anushay Hossain's work, check out Anushay's website or sign up for her substack. To continue the conversation, feel free to DM @anushayhossain or email me at thepaingap@gmail.com

See All (80)

5
out of 5
17 Ratings

About

Join Anushay Hossain, author, podcast host, and powerful women’s health advocate as she interviews feminist doctors, advocates and medical experts about the most urgent issues in women's health. Based on her Audible bestselling book, “The Pain Gap: How Sexism and Racism in Healthcare Kill Women," The Pain Gap podcast provides a vital platform for critical conversations about medical gaslighting and misogyny. Anushay Hossain brings together the leading voices in the women's healthcare to unpack why women’s pain, especially the pain of women of color, continues to be dismissed, delayed, or ignored. Through in-depth interviews and real-world examples, the podcast explores how bias shows up in exam rooms, hospitals, medical research, and public policy, and what it will take to close #ThePainGap in women's health.

Information

  • Creator
    Anushay Hossain
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    80
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Anushay Hossain
  • Show Website
    The Pain Gap