Made For Us

A flaw in one of medicine's most trusted devices - the pulse oximeter - was first documented in the 1990s, then largely forgotten. It took the COVID-19 pandemic to bring it back to the forefront.
Michael Sjoding, a pulmonologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, was treating critically ill patients during the pandemic when he noticed something that didn't add up: pulse oximeter readings were overestimating blood oxygen levels compared with arterial blood gas tests. The discrepancy wasn't random. Black patients were significantly more likely to receive inaccurate readings than White patients.
In this episode, we talk about the impact of the study Dr. Sjoding and his colleagues published in the New England Journal of Medicine, what it reveals about the design of medical devices - and why he believes this is a problem that can be solved.
We discuss:
Why pulse oximeters can produce less accurate readings in patients with darker skin - and what that means for clinical decision-making
What the pulse oximeter problem reveals about inclusive design in medicine
Why Dr. Sjoding believes his study gained traction where earlier research did not

About Michael Sjoding
Dr. Michael Sjoding is an Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on developing new computational tools to support diagnosis and identify optimal treatment for patients with lung disease. He also studies how to effectively deploy these tools to support clinical decisions at the bedside.
Read the NEJM study on racial bias in pulse oximetry measurement: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMc2029240
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Other episodes you might like:
How to design a fairer healthcare system
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Connect with Made for Us
Show notes and transcripts: https://made-for-us.captivate.fm/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/madeforuspodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madeforuspodcast/
Newsletter: https://madeforuspodcast.beehiiv.com/

What happens when AI doesn’t understand you?
For millions of people across Africa, speaking a language that AI doesn’t recognise can be a barrier to accessing services like healthcare and participating in the digital economy.
Pelonomi Moiloa is CEO of Lelapa AI, a research and product lab building language AI for a continent with 2,000+ languages. Named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in AI in 2023, Pelonomi unpacks the technical and linguistic challenges she and her team are up against - from the data collection hurdles unique to oral cultures, to the compute constraints on the African continent.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why mainstream AI struggles with African languages
The creative approaches Lelapa AI is pioneering since scraping the internet or the archives isn't an option
What Pelonomi really thinks about being called one of the most influential people in AI

About Pelonomi Moiloa
Pelonomi Moiloa is CEO of Lelapa AI, a socially-grounded research and product lab driving AI for Africans by Africans. A biomedical and electrical engineer by training, Pelonomi has spent almost a decade deriving insights from data to address complex problems.
Learn more about Lelapa AI: https://lelapa.ai
Follow Lelapa AI on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lelapa-ai/
Follow Pelonomi Moiloa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pelonomi-moiloa
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Other episodes you might like:
What's in a name? When your device thinks you're a typo
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Connect with Made for Us
Show notes and transcripts: https://made-for-us.captivate.fm/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/madeforuspodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madeforuspodcast/
Newsletter: https://madeforuspodcast.beehiiv.com/

Ethan Pierce couldn't read when he finished third grade, but years later went on to win a full scholarship to Harvard. Recognising that not all students have the support he had, he founded Adaptive Reader, an AI-powered platform that adapts classic literature and other books to different reading levels and languages.
In this episode, Ethan talks about building a product around the learners the education system leaves behind, why your first startup idea is probably wrong (and why that's a good thing), and how listening to teachers changed everything he thought he knew about edtech design.
We discuss:
How Ethan's own struggles with reading in school inspired Adaptive Reader’s mission
Why 130 user research interviews convinced him that print was a non-negotiable equity need
How Adaptive Reader designs for learners across neurological differences, physical disabilities, and languages

About Ethan Pierce
Ethan Pierce is the Founder and CEO of Adaptive Reader, an AI-powered accessibility platform that makes any text accessible to any reader—across languages, reading levels, and formats. A former struggling reader who went on to earn a full scholarship to Harvard, Ethan is passionate about using technology to break down barriers to literacy and learning.
Adaptive Reader has been recognized globally for advancing accessibility and inclusive learning, winning the Harvard President’s Innovation Challenge and the MIT Solve E Ink Prize.
Learn more about Adaptive Reader: https://adaptivereader.com/
Follow Ethan Pierce on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanpierce13/
Follow Adaptive Reader on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adaptive-reader/
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If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Send questions for our guests or any feedback to: [email protected]
Other episodes you might like:
Speechify CEO Cliff Weitzman on building the 'voice of the internet'
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Connect with Made for Us
Show notes and transcripts: https://made-for-us.captivate.fm/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/madeforuspodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madeforuspodcast/
Newsletter: https://madeforuspodcast.beehiiv.com/

What does the world look like when women control more wealth than ever before? In part two of our conversation with Sylvia Kwan, CEO and chief investment officer of Ellevest, we discuss the “feminization of wealth” and why many companies are unprepared for this shift.
Kwan makes the case that financial power isn't just for the wealthy: every woman with capital, no matter how small the sum, has the power to create change.
Catch up on part 1 here:
The women finance forgot: Ellevest CEO Sylvia Kwan on closing the gender wealth gap
In this episode:
How the Great Wealth Transfer is driving the feminization of wealth
Why women invest differently and what that means for society
How Ellevest is preparing for a “seismic shift” in spending and investment

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Send questions for our guests or any feedback to: [email protected]
You might also like:
Where is the female crash test dummy?
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About Sylvia Kwan
Sylvia Kwan is the CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Ellevest, a women-founded and women-led financial services firm dedicated to closing the gender wealth gap. Prior to Ellevest, she founded SimplySmart Asset Management and held senior portfolio management positions at Financial Engines and Charles Schwab. A Chartered Financial Analyst with more than 30 years of industry experience, Sylvia serves on the Board of Exit 182, the investment committee that oversees the endowment of Grinnell College.
Learn more about Ellevest: https://www.ellevest.com/
Sylvia’s Monthly Market Insight (Sept. 2025): https://www.ellevest.com/magazine/2025-september-market-insights
Follow Ellevest on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ellevest/
Follow Ellevest on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellevest
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Connect with Made for Us
Show notes and transcripts: https://made-for-us.captivate.fm/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/madeforuspodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madeforuspodcast/
Newsletter: https://madeforuspodcast.beehiiv.com/

Ellevest CEO Sylvia Kwan has a striking statistic she uses to explain why the company was founded: in a survey of asset managers by BNY Mellon Investment Management, 86% said their default customer is a man.
In this episode, the first of a two-part conversation, Sylvia Kwan shares why Ellevest is on a mission to close the gender investing gap and why it may be just as important as the gender pay gap.
We discuss:
Why the gender investing gap exists and how it contributes to the wealth gap
What Ellevest discovered about women’s attitudes towards risk
Sylvia's surprising route to becoming chief investment officer and then CEO
How Ellevest is breaking down the barriers that keep women from investing

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About Sylvia Kwan
Sylvia Kwan is the CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Ellevest, a women-founded and women-led financial services firm dedicated to closing the gender wealth gap. Prior to Ellevest, she founded SimplySmart Asset Management and held senior portfolio management positions at Financial Engines and Charles Schwab. A Chartered Financial Analyst with more than 30 years of industry experience, Sylvia serves on the Board of Exit 182, the investment committee that oversees the endowment of Grinnell College.
Learn more about Ellevest: https://www.ellevest.com/
Follow Ellevest on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ellevest/
Follow Ellevest on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellevest
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If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Send questions for our guests or any feedback to: [email protected]
Other episodes you might like:
Where is the female crash test dummy?
AI vs the feedback gap
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Connect with Made for Us
Show notes and transcripts: https://made-for-us.captivate.fm/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/madeforuspodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madeforuspodcast/
Newsletter: https://madeforuspodcast.beehiiv.com/