
EPISODES
EP. 27: FACING THE RAREST OF CANCERS
A patient shares her journey facing one of the rarest cancers in the world — and lessons learned along the way on hope, uncertainty, joy, and living well.
EP. 26: A PHYSICIAN-ENGINEER AND HIS PATIENT STORIES
A physician-engineer discusses why storytelling is the key to ensuring that medical innovations are grounded in what really matters to patients.
EP. 25: A DOCTOR’S JOURNEY FROM THE EDGE OF DEATH
An intensivist and acclaimed author shares lessons on hope and human connection learned from her time as a patient in her own ICU.
EP. 24: PURPOSE AND JUSTICE ON THE PANDEMIC FRONTLINES
An emergency physician and author gives an intimate account of life on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and a heartfelt vision of healthcare as a foundation of social justice.
EP. 23: STEWARDING THE VULNERABLE MOMENTS
An anesthesiologist and the founder of Stanford’s medical humanities program shares how she comforts patients during their most vulnerable moments and why the medical humanities matter.
EP. 22: LESSONS FROM A LIFELONG PATIENT TURNED ONCOLOGIST
The Director of Yale Cancer Center and President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology shares what being a lifelong patient with hemophilia has taught him about compassion and empathy.
EP. 21: PAIN, PLEASURE, AND FINDING THE BALANCE
The Director of Stanford’s Addiction Medicine Service discusses how we can renew meaning and connectedness in our lives by moderating overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world.
EP. 20: ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN THE HOSPITAL
A leading clinical ethicist shares his experiences dealing with the most complicated of clinical situations and discusses how clinicians can overcome the challenges inherent in patient communication.
EP. 19: TRANSFORMING THE CULTURE OF MEDICINE
The former CEO of the Permanente Medical Group — the largest medical group in America — shares his thoughts on both the admirable and dangerous aspects of physician culture and his vision for improving American healthcare.
EP. 18: THE DOCTOR AS DETECTIVE
A journalist-turned-physician and the mind behind popular TV show House, M.D. shares her passion for approaching medical mysteries as detective work.
EP. 17: ART, DRAMA, AND A TERMINAL ILLNESS
An actress, playwright, and patient of co-host Dr. Tyler Johnson shares her experiences receiving a terminal diagnosis and how she has grappled with grief and found hope through the creation of a play about her illness journey.
EP. 16: THE (TRUE) COSTS OF ILLNESS AND HEALTH
An essayist opens up about her experiences confronting the financial and personal costs of health care, having lived it both as a patient and a caregiver.
EP. 15: GRIEF, LOSS, AND A BRIGHTER PATH FORWARD
The founding medical director of Stanford’s Palliative Care Services shares how the death of a close friend propelled her to pursue a career often filled with grief and loss — and despite that, how she helps her patients create moments of profound meaning.
EP. 14: MEDICINE, FAST AND SLOW
An acclaimed physician writer and medieval historian shares stories that illustrate how “slow medicine” — medicine that is relational, personal, and perhaps even spiritual — can often be the key to better healing.
EP. 13: FIGHTING FOR EMPOWERMENT AND EQUITY
The Director of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Program at Yale Medicine shares how she overcame years of gender discrimination and how she now advocates equity in academic medicine.
EP. 12: COURAGE AND CURIOSITY
A former dean of Stanford Medical School and leading pediatric oncologist discusses what caring for seriously ill children has taught him about courage and why he maintains a curious and scholarly habit of mind.
EP. 11: ON READING THE BODY
Physician and bestselling author Abraham Verghese discusses the transformative power of the human touch in shaping the bond between doctors and patients.
EP. 10: IN SERVICE OF A GREATER CAUSE
An infectious disease specialist and retired Air Force colonel shares poignant stories from the early days of the HIV epidemic and from his service as a flight surgeon.
EP. 9: LESSONS ON MORTALITY AND DYING WELL
A leader in hospice and palliative care shares how viewing death as a normal part of human living can help patients create meaning at the end of life, and what all clinicians can learn from palliative care about good doctoring.
EP. 8: MAKING SENSE, SPACE, AND MEANING IN THE ICU
An intensivist and poet discusses—among other subjects—serving marginalized communities, medical miracles, making sacred spaces in the ICU, and motherhood in medicine.
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