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I thought I understood sunscreen. Apply it before you go outside. Before you go to the Coralville Aquatic Center. Maybe reapply if you're helping mow the neighbor’s lawn too. It felt like a responsible amount of protection.
Then I sat down with Dr. Marta Van Beek, a dermatologist at UI Health Care who studies melanoma, and learned I've been doing just about everything wrong. Sunscreen?
"Yeah, every two hours," she said matter-of-factly. "The sunscreen degrades."
Even if I’m not sweating? Yes. Even if it's cloudy? That’s right. Join me for a humbling conversation. This is all part of The Hot Spot, our investigation into why Iowa ranks so high for cancer rates. And this week, you can read my full story over on our website.
In today’s show, the good doctor walked me through the confluence of forces that contribute to our higher-than-average skin cancer rate. What was fun about it was how it became about some of the skin cancer myths and bad practices I had absorbed over the years.
Write in and let me know if you’ve been on your sunscreen game.
Answer from you
In Wednesday’s letter, I asked if you’ve ever been impressed by how someone responded to being corrected?
David from Des Moines: "My teenage daughter corrected my pronunciation of some slang word I used, and instead of getting embarrassed, I just started laughing and said, 'Okay, teach me the right way.' She lit up and spent the next ten minutes explaining all the words I'd been butchering. It turned into this great conversation where she actually seemed proud to be teaching me something instead of just rolling her eyes at me."
ZOS: God. One of the most humbling experiences in radio was the All Things Considered shift I worked in like 2022. I was doing the weather. Easy enough. Name a town. Say what the temperature is there. I mispronounced like three Iowa towns in a row. How did I know? Because I got like 5 emails in the hour that I ‘really should know this by now.’ The worst part. They were right. To have the humility to make it a conversation, a learning opportunity… a chance for your daughter to teach you something? Incredible parenting.
Jay from Sioux City: "I was giving a presentation at work and confidently stated some stat that was completely wrong. A colleague raised her hand and politely corrected me with the real numbers. I stopped, said 'You're absolutely right, let me fix that slide right now,' and updated it on the spot. After the meeting, three different people told me they were impressed that I didn't try to brush it off or get defensive.
ZOS: Credibility is relational. You either have habits that engender it or you don’t. A little showy to stop a presentation like that but at the same time, it shows attention. And its not like editing a slide is a huge lift… An edit, a correction is a kindness. It shows care. That's the kind of person people want to work with.
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Cornhole Champions is a weekly podcast powered by Iowa Starting Line. This podcast is produced by me and edited by Rebecca Steinberg. Our music is by Avery Mossman and our show art is from Desirée Tapia.
Your friendly neighborhood reporter,
Zachary Oren Smith
Political correspondent
Iowa Starting Line
