KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony sat down with WORLD executive producer Chris Hastings to discuss the origins of the “Silence in Sikeston” project, which explores the impact of a 1942 lynching and a 2020 police shooting on a rural Missouri community. The collaboration with Retro Report includes a documentary film, educational videos, digital articles, and a limited-series podcast on the toll racism has on health.

For more on the “Silence in Sikeston” project:

WATCH: The documentary film “Silence in Sikeston,” a co-production of KFF Health News and Retro Report, is now available to stream on WORLD’s YouTube channel, WORLDchannel.org and the PBS app.

LISTEN: The limited-series podcast

• Episode 1: “Racism Can Make You Sick”

The 1942 lynching of Cleo Wright in Sikeston, Missouri, and conversations with one of the few remaining witnesses launch a discussion about the health consequences of racism and violence in the United States. Host Cara Anthony speaks with history scholar Eddie R. Cole and racial equity scholar Keisha Bentley-Edwards about the physical, mental, and emotional burdens on Sikeston residents and Black Americans in general.

• Episode 2: “Hush, Fix Your Face”

Racial violence is an experience shared by residents of Sikeston, Missouri, and many Black Americans. Staying silent in the face of this threat is a survival tradition families have passed down to their children to keep them safe. After host Cara Anthony uncovers details of a police killing in her family, she and psychologist Aiesha Lee discuss the silence that surrounds racism and its effects on health across generations — including the reverberations Anthony and her family live with today.

• To catch the upcoming episodes, subscribe and listen on PRX, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, or wherever you get your podcasts.

READ: KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony wrote an essay about what her reporting on this project helped her learn about her own family’s hidden past.

• “No One Wants To Talk About Racial Trauma. Why My Family Broke Our Silence.”

By Cara Anthony
Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.