The Public Health Podcast: Recent Episodes

Thunder11

Let's bring the public back into public health. Produced by a team of NPR veterans, and hosted by a brother-sister duo -- she's a nurse practitioner, he's in health care PR -- The Public Health Podcast shares the rarely heard experiences of the women and men who really make our health systems run.

Sign up for the The Public Health Podcast email at: http://eepurl.com/hgBeM5

Follow @RyanBirchmeier and @Thunder11PR on Twitter.

The Public Health Podcast is a production of Thunder11, a strategic communications firm with audio production by Paul Ruest at Argot Studios.

View Details

Lyndsay Springer has turned a tragedy into a force for good. After her husband Chike passed away after a battle with Lymphoma, she worked with his family to establish the Chike Springer Foundation, which is charting a new course to improve treatment outcomes and increase diversity in cancer research.

Learn more about the Foundation's work at:

Chikespringerfoundation.org

Take part in the Foundation's fitness fundraiser:

https://www.kilterrewards.com/events/chike-springer-foundation-overcome-fitness-fundraiser

View Details

Anyone seeking medical treatment hopes to get better. But what happens when treatment make things worse?

Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD joins The Public Health Podcast to discuss her book, When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error.

She is a founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Bellevue Literary Review, the first literary journal to arise from a medical setting.

Danielle is on the faculty of NYU School of Medicine, and sees patients at Bellevue Hospital.

Learn more here:

https://danielleofri.com/

https://blreview.org/

View Details

The medical ICU -- reserved for dire medical situations -- can be one of the most intense units of a hospital. Those who work there on a daily basis may never picture themselves as patients in the unit. Philadelphia-based medical ICU nurse, Jelena DeCarolis, joins The Public Health Podcast to share her experience landing in the ICU.

The Public Health Podcast is a production of Thunder11, a strategic communications firm with audio production by Paul Ruest at Argot Studios.

View Details

For many, the road to become a nurse is challenging. Bev Warne, an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe, tells us how this road can be even tougher for Native Americans. Bev joins The Public Health Podcast to discuss her work with the Native American Nursing Education Center at South Dakota State University.

The Center's vision is to provide a place where Native American students achieve their dreams and aspirations of entering and transitioning to professional nursing roles, poised to promote health and well-being of Native people.

Learn more about the Center at:

https://www.sdstate.edu/native-american-nursing-education-center


The Public Health Podcast is a production of Thunder11, a strategic communications firm with audio production by Paul Ruest at Argot Studios.

http://www.thunder11.com/

View Details

How much do you know about chronic disease and what really determines patient success?

Garry Welch, PhD, an expert in behavior medicine for chronic disease care, joins The Public Health Podcast to discuss all of the surprising behavioral, motivational, and psychological drivers of chronic disease.

Dr. Welch is the Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Silver Fern Health Care, which is transforming care for people with chronic disease through an evidence-based behavior and psychosocial assessment platform.

Dr. Welch gives regular advice for how we can better manage chronic disease at the Silver Fern Health Care Blog.


The Public Health Podcast is a production of Thunder11, a strategic communications firm with audio production by Paul Ruest at Argot Studios.

Sign up for the The Public Health Podcast email list here.

View Details

Regardless of which side you’re on, chances are, you’re keyed up for election night. To quell these anxieties, Ryan and Katie solicit the advice of three medical professionals for how to stay calm and healthy during election night, the best ways to engage family members with different political views, and what to do if the results don’t turn out the way you’d hoped. The episode features advice from:

  • Dr. James Berry, chair of behavioral medicine and psychiatry at the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute
  • Malia Susee, a licensed acupuncturist based in Portland, Oregon
  • Maret Pfohman, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at Hilltop Behavioral Health Center in Clackamas County, Oregon

The Public Health Podcast is a production of Thunder11, a strategic communications firm with audio production by Paul Ruest at Argot Studios.

View Details

Ryan's future sister-in-law and public health expert, Robin Pfohman, joins The Public Health Podcast to discuss her work with the Community Resilience and Equity Program, serving vulnerable populations in Seattle and King County.


The Public Health Podcast is a production of Thunder11, a strategic communications firm with audio production by Paul Ruest at Argot Studios.

View Details

Sustainability expert Tony Schifano, Founder and CEO of Antos Environmental, joins Ryan and Katie to discuss the massive issue of waste management in hospitals and what health care organizations (and everyone) can do to reduce the ballooning amount of waste we produce every day.

Hospitals produce 6,600 tons of waste every day, according to a 2012 report by the Commonwealth Fund. That same report found that if hospitals reduced their environmental footprint, they could save $5.4 billion over a five year period, and $15 billion over 10 years. Those savings could be redirected to health care.

Learn more about Tony’s work and how he’s helped hospitals and large organizations reduce their waste at Antosinc.com.

View Details

The Public Health Podcast speaks with Mass Memorial Health Care's Tony Berry, Senior Director of Media and Public Relations on the health system's successful preparation and response to COVID-19. 

View Details

The Public Health Podcast speaks with Ian Burkhart, a quadriplegic who has regained movement in his arm using a brain-computer interface. Learn more about Ian's journey at ianburkhart.com.     

View Details

The Public Health Podcast speaks with Jason Molinet, Senior Director, Online News Editor for Northwell Health, New York's largest healthcare system, about Northwell's successful response to COVID-19.

View Details

The Public Health Podcast speaks with Sharon Content, Founder and President of Children of Promise, NYC, a non-profit organization offering free after-school, summer day camp, and therapeutic services for children of incarcerated parents.

View Details

The Public Health Podcast speaks with Michael Riotto, a volunteer patient specialist and cancer survivor working with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.