Social Cohesion Dialogue

Jeff Goodell was born and raised in Silicon Valley, where his family has lived for four generations. He has worked as a blackjack dealer, a glazier, a janitor, a bartender, a professional motorcycle racer, an editor at a Russian literary journal, and a technical writer at Apple Computer. He has a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MFA from Columbia University in New York.

In 1989, Goodell began covering crime and politics in New York City for7 Days, a weekly magazine that won a National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 1990. Since 1996 he has been a Contributing Writer at Rolling Stone and a frequent contributor to the New York Times Magazine.

Goodell’s most recent book is The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet (Little, Brown, 2023).  Goodell’s “masterful, bracing” (David Wallace-Wells) investigation exposes “through stellar reporting, artful storytelling and fascinating scientific explanations” (Naomi Klein) an explosive new understanding of heat and the impact that rising temperatures will have on our lives and on our planet. “Entertaining and thoroughly researched,” (Al Gore), it will completely change the way you see the world, and despite its urgent themes, is injected with “eternal optimism” (Michael Mann) on how to combat one of the most important issues of our time.

The Heat Will Kill You First was an instant New York Times bestseller and selected as one of the best books of 2023 by NPR, The Los Angeles Times, and The Economist.  It was a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize and New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism.

Goodell was a fellow at New America in 2016 and 2017. As a commentator on energy and environmental issues, he has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, ABC, NBC, Fox, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. He was awarded a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship in General Nonfiction. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Simone Wicha, the director of the Blanton Museum of Art.

Dr. Rob Gore is a dynamic lecturer, speaker, activist and emergency medicine physician based in Brooklyn, NY. For close to 20 years, in both his personal life and professional career, Dr. Gore has explored and continues to develop programming and solutions focusing on community violence, and other disparities affecting urban and global health.

Dr. Gore is a member of the 2016 inaugural class of TED Residents.  He was one of the Root’s 100 most influential African-Americans in 2020.  He is one of the top ten 2018 CNN Heroes alongside other humanitarians from around the world. He was a 2018 Presidential Leadership Scholar with the leadership program for people doing social impact work, coordinated by the presidential libraries of past U.S. presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush and Lyndon Johnson.

Growing up in Brooklyn and returning to the neighborhood in which he grew up to practice emergency medicine, has given Dr. Gore a unique perspective on health and wellness, and his story embodies the true definition of coming “full circle.”  His engaging speaking style and comprehensive insight have made him a highly sought-after speaker and educator who has trained countless physicians, health professionals, activists and students from around the world.   Dr. Gore is an attending physician and clinical assistant professor at Kings County Hospital – SUNY Downstate Department of Emergency Medicine in Brooklyn, NY. After finishing his undergraduate studies at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, he went to the State University of New York at Buffalo for medical school.  He then completed his emergency medicine residency training at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, where he was chief resident.

Dr. Gore was the assistant program director for the Kings County-SUNY Downstate Emergency Medicine Residency Program (the largest Emergency Medicine training program in the U.S.) for four years. He is the founder of the KAVI (Kings Against Violence Initiative), a hospital-, school- and community-based youth violence intervention, prevention, and empowerment program, which targets teens affected by violence. Dr. Gore is also the founder and director of the Minority Medical Student Emergency Medicine (MMSEM) Summer Fellowship, a mentoring and enrichment program for under-represented minorities interested in Emergency Medicine, with a focus on project development.

Dr. Gore has lectured around the U.S, the Caribbean, Canada, Australia, South America and Asia and has worked in East Africa, Haiti and South America. Since 2008, he has worked as a consultant for Clinique Espérance et Vie in Terrier Rouge (Northern Haiti), and has been involved in efforts to establish a regional healthcare system in the northern part of Haiti. He is on the advisory board for EMEDEX International, a non-profit organization dedicated to the global promotion and advancement of emergency medicine, disaster management and public health.

When he’s not working, he spends time with his wife Hibist and son Araya.  He is an avid snowboarder and is a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a yellow belt in Judo.