First Opinion Podcast
A weekly podcast about the people, issues and ideas that are shaping health care.
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Have you ever taken phenylephrine for a stuffed-up nose and then felt better? If so, you might have been perplexed when Food and Drug Administration experts said last year that that the drug — which is in some versions of DayQuil, Sudafed, and other medicines — is no more effective than a placebo. On this episode of th
Biomedical engineer Jeff Karp’s famous lab has created medical tape inspired by spider webs, waterproof adhesive bandages that take inspiration from geckos, needles reminiscent of porcupine quills. But as an elementary school student, Karp told me on the “First Opinion Podcast,” he struggled. His second-grade teacher w
About 75% of U.S. hospitals use chaplains, who are either employed by the health care center or are spiritual leaders from the local community. Physician Robert Klitzman and chaplain Molly O’Neil Frank join today’s podcast to discuss why chaplains are a critical part of patient care. Perhaps counterintuitively, they sa
When Randi Johnson was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, her husband, Brian, often felt at a loss to help. But then, when he and Randi met with a surgeon to discuss reconstructing her breast, he was struck by something he could do. The Midwestern father of five, a lifelong tinkerer, decided to make his wife the b
Torie speaks with Carmel Shachar, an assistant clinical professor at Harvard Law and health policy expert, about how the second Trump term might differ from the first, how the health policy world is preparing, and her work on reproductive health, telehealth, and vaccines.
No matter who wins the 2024 presidential race, one thing is clear: Political anxiety and division will remain high for the foreseeable future. So just before Election Day, Torie spoke with Kevin Smith, a professor of political science at the University of Nebraska who studies the intersection of political attitudes, bi
