
Medicine and the Humanities: the art of transgressionWhat happens when a comic book illustrator and a fine artist challenge the way medicine is practiced? In this episode, Dr. Sarah Ahmed and Dr. Sabina Dosani talk with Dr. Monica Lalanda and Dr. Tamarin Norwood about why "politeness" might be a problem for research. They explore the overlap between the arts and medical science – exploring how graphic medicine and fine art are tools to break through silos. They discuss how crossing lines and being "transgressive" can bring the focus back to the person behind the patient. The participants: * Dr. Monica Lalanda is a physician, Graphic Medicine artist and bioethics researcher who coordinates the Spanish Society of Graphic Medicine. * Dr. Tamarin Norwood is a Leverhulme Research Fellow. She is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Durham Institute for Medical Humanities and was an Associate Editor at the Medical Humanities journal from 2025 to 2026. The hosts: * Dr Sabina Dosani, Medical Humanities' Editor-in-Chief and Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist; * Dr Sarah Ahmed, Paediatrician and Medical Humanities scholar. Stay connected! Love the podcast? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation with us on social media. The Medical Humanities Podcast is produced by Letícia Amorim, and is edited by Letícia Amorim and Nick Currey.
Generative chaos: mapping the Medical HumanitiesIn the second part of our four-part series about the fundamentals of the field, Professor Stuart Murray and Professor Neil Vickers discuss the origins and institutional state of the Medical Humanities. The conversation explores the field's roots as a strategic effort in the 1960s to maintain human values within a technological medical landscape. Murray and Vickers offer differing perspectives on the discipline, debating everything from the institutional realities of research funding to how scholars in the Global South are using the field to critique traditional medical models. Their discussion highlights the core tensions and contradictions that define the Medical Humanities today. The participants: Stuart Murray, Professor at the University of Leeds and Director of the Leeds Centre for Medical Humanities - https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/102/stuart-murray; Neil Vickers, Professor at King's College London and Co-director of the Centre for the Humanities and Health - https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/professor-neil-vickers. The hosts: Dr Sabina Dosani, Medical Humanities' Editor-in-Chief and Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist; Dr Sarah Ahmed, Paediatrician and Medical Humanities scholar. Stay connected! Love the podcast? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation with us on social media. The Medical Humanities Podcast is produced by Letícia Amorim, and is edited by Letícia Amorim and Nick Currey.
What’s the point? Medicine needs the Humanities"Medicine, like people, is messy." In the first episode of a new series from the Medical Humanities podcast, we tackle a question often asked by both sceptics and practitioners: What is the point of the Medical Humanities? Jointly hosted by Dr. Sarah Ahmed (Paediatrician and Medical Humanities scholar) and Dr. Sabina Dosani (Medical Humanities' Editor-in-Chief and Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist), this conversation features a deep-dive with two leading voices in the field: * Dr. Wing May Kong, Honorary Senior Lecture in Endocrinology and Ethics from Imperial College London, and Chair of Trustees of the Institute of Medical Ethics. https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/w.kong * Dr. Grace Halden, Reader in Contemporary Literature and Medical Humanities, and co-director of the Centre for Medical and Health Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London. https://www.drgracehalden.com/ They explore why healthcare is about far more than just data and objectivity. From the unconventional use of sculpture to teach medical students the power of touch, to the "liberating" impact of bringing lived experience and creative non-fiction into the NICU, they also discuss how the humanities create a vital, legitimising space for the stories that don't fit into a clinical record. Stay connected! Visit our blog for more insights and subscribe to the podcast for the latest episodes. Love the podcast? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation with us on social media. The Medical Humanities Podcast is produced by Letícia Amorim, and is edited by Letícia Amorim and Nick Currey.
The Medical Humanities podcast is coming back soon...Join Dr. Sabina Dosani and Dr. Sarah Ahmed as they interview world-class artists, scholars, and clinicians about health, illness and systems of care.
Looking further than what you can see: non-visual design, with Simon DoggerThe design studio of Simon Dogger focusses upon stimulating equity, connection and innovation. He is able to look further than what you can see and not only because he is blind. In cooperation with Dutch schools and universities his studio is working on design education for Visual Impaired People (VIPs). VIPs are resourceful and good inclusive thinkers, but this power is rarely acknowledged. That’s a pity since the design field and societies are in desperate need of different perspectives. This podcast is about the first steps toward a non-visual design school. It deals with the image of VIPs in society, the importance of touch and the benefit for design schools. In a world where design seems reserved for those who can see, a new perspective is emerging. This podcast delves into the groundbreaking journey of blind and partially sighted designers challenging the visual dominance in the design industry. Through personal stories, innovative methods, and transformative workshops, it reveals how creativity thrives beyond sight. Experience how touch, sound, and emotion redefine design processes, making them more inclusive and human-centered. Join us as we explore a future where design is not just seen but felt, where limitations become strengths, and where diversity reshapes what creativity truly means. Please read the related blog post and transcript: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2024/12/16/4015/ Visit Simon's website at www.SimonDogger.nl or send him an email at info@SimonDogger.nl. Instagram @Simon_Dogger. Subscribe to the Medical Humanities Podcast in all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a 5-star rating on the Medical Humanities Podcast iTunes page - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/medical-humanities-podcast/id961667204. Thank you for listening!
The industrial tragedy at Bhopal through the LivingBodiesObjects’ digital storytellingThe 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India, is recognised as the world’s worst industrial disaster. The Wellcome-funded LivingBodiesObjects project has been working with the Bhopal Medical Appeal (referred to as BMA), a charity funding free healthcare for disaster survivors and water-affected communities. In this podcast episode, LivingBodiesObjects team members Clare Barker and Lynn Wray, and the Bhopal Medical Appeal’s Jared Stoughton introduce their collaborative work to produce new digital resources emerging from the stories of survivors and activists in water-affected areas of Bhopal. To learn more about the Union Carbide disasters and the work of the Bhopal Medical Appeal, please visit www.bhopal.org. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram. Please read the related blog post and transcript: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2024/07/11/livingbodiesobjects-and-the-tragedy-at-bhopal Subscribe to the Medical Humanities Podcast in all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a 5-star rating on the Medical Humanities Podcast iTunes page - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/medical-humanities-podcast/id961667204. Thank you for listening!
Humanising Care for Older People Living with Dementia - Teun Toebes in conversation with Khalid AliTeun Toebes, humanitarian activist, in conversation with Khalid Ali. In this podcast, Teun talks about his book 'The Housemates' (The Housemates by Teun Toebes, Laura Vroomen | Waterstones) and documentary film 'Human Forever' (Human Forever The Film (human-forever.com) describing his quest to understand better the experience of older people living with dementia in care in the Netherlands and globally. Read the related blog post, including a transcript of this podcast: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2024/05/30/humanising-care-for-older-people-living-with-dementia-teun-toebes-in-conversation-with-khalid-ali Subscribe to the Medical Humanities Podcast in all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a 5-star rating on the Medical Humanities Podcast iTunes page (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/medical-humanities-podcast/id961667204). Thank you for listening!
Making Modern MaternityIntroducing their forthcoming special issue of Medical Humanities, Drs. Whitney Wood, Heather Love, Jerika Sanderson, and Karen Weingarten discuss the political significance of “making” our “modern maternity” with Editor-in-Chief Brandy Schillace. Whitney Wood is Canada Research Chair in the Historical Dimensions of Women’s Health at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Heather A. Love is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada). Jerika Sanderson is a PhD candidate in English at the University of Waterloo. Her research investigates 21 st-century biotechnologies across the media, literature, and popular culture. Karen Weingarten is Professor of English at Queens College, City University of New York and the author of “Pregnancy Test” and “Abortion in the American Imagination: Before Life and Choice 1880-1940”. The issue is due in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, please read the related blog post: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2024/05/08/making-modern-maternity/ Subscribe to the Medical Humanities Podcast in all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a 5-star rating on the Medical Humanities Podcast iTunes page (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/medical-humanities-podcast/id961667204). Thank you for listening!
Black and Brown in Bioethics: A new Medical Humanities Research ForumIn this podcast, our Editor-in-chief Brandy Schillace sits down with Matimba Swana and Kumeri Bandara of Black and Brown in Bioethics to discuss how they started, why it is important to build community when challenging disparities in academia, and how Medical Humanities and Black and Brown in Bioethics are joining forces to transform the academic publishing landscape to cater to more diverse voices, knowledge, and audiences. Read more: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2024/03/28/research-forum-black-and-brown-in-bioethics Subscribe to the Medical Humanities Podcast in all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a 5-star rating on the Medical Humanities Podcast iTunes page (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/medical-humanities-podcast/id961667204). Thank you for listening!
Scenario Planning, Healthcare, and the HumanitiesIn this podcast, Brandy Schillace (EIC) and Cristina Hanganu-Bresch (Blog and Associate Editor) talk to Matt Finch and Matthew Molineux about how scenario planning can help inform decisions about healthcare and the role of narrative in building scenarios that teach and humanize the health professions. Read more: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2024/03/08/scenario-planning-healthcare-and-the-humanities Subscribe to the Medical Humanities Podcast in all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a 5-star rating on the Medical Humanities Podcast iTunes page (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/medical-humanities-podcast/id961667204). Thank you for listening!
Poetry, Disability, and the Power of Medical Humanities with Kimberly CampanelloMaking connections through poetry, disability, and medical humanities. Brandy Schillace, Medical Humanities' Editor-in-Chief, interviews Kimberly Campanello, Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Leeds University, UK. Read the related blog including the transcription of this podcast: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2023/10/26/on-poetry-disability-and-the-power-of-medical-humanities Subscribe to the Medical Humanities Podcast in all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a 5-star rating on the Medical Humanities Podcast iTunes page (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/medical-humanities-podcast/id961667204). Thank you for listening!
Virtual Reality and Disability: Supportive learning through VRStuart Murray, Professor of Contemporary Literatures and Film, University of Leeds; Wellcome funded LivingBodiesObjects project David Tabron, Blueberry Academy speak to Brandy Schillace about LivingBodiesObjects, the Blueberry Academy, and how Virtual Reality can support those with learning differences. Read the blog with the transcript of this episode: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2023/07/28/podcast-with-stuart-murray-and-david-tabron And more on the LBO website https://livingbodiesobjects.org/, and the Blueberry Academy website https://www.blueberryacademy.co.uk/.
Bittersweet Potatoes: Noura Kevorkian, documentary film maker, reflects on the plight, and resilience of Syrian Refugees in LebanonIn this podcast, Dr Khalid Ali, film and media correspondent, interviews Noura Kevorkian, a Syrian/ Lebanese documentary film-maker. Noura Kevorkian discusses the personal and professional journey of her award-winning documentary 'Batata', its impact on the film's protagonists, and how the film advocates for the rights of refugees around the world. Read the blog post and the transcription of the podcast: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2023/06/20/podcast-with-noura-kevorkian-on-the-documentary-film-batata Subscribe to the Medical Humanities Podcast in all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a 5-star rating on the Medical Humanities Podcast iTunes page (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/medical-humanities-podcast/id961667204). Thank you for listening!
Featuring the Nocturnist’s SHAME IN MEDICINE: The Lost ForestMedical Humanities, editor-in-chief Brandy Schillace speaks to Emily Silverman, MD, the University of California San Francisco (UCSF)creator of The Nocturnist podcast, and Luna Dolezal, Associate Professor in Philosophy and Medical Humanities based in the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health. They both published a 10-part podcast series called 'Shame in Medicine: The Lost Forest'. Blog link with the transcription of this podcast: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2023/03/02/shame-in-medicine-the-lost-forest Related links: https://shameandmedicine.org/ https://thenocturnists.com/ https://www.thenocturnists-shame.org/ Subscribe to the Medical Humanities Podcast in all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a 5-star rating on the Medical Humanities Podcast iTunes page (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/medical-humanities-podcast/id961667204). Thank you for listening!
Immersive and Interactive: Accessibility Theatre and LivingBodiesObjectsEditor's in Chief of Medical Humanities, Brandy Schillace, interviews Amelia DeFalco, University of Leeds and Steve Byrne Director/Chief exec of the Interplay Theatre about the Interplay Theatre's work with disabled students and the role of immersive experience for the LivingBodiedObjects project. Related blog including the transcription of the podcast: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2023/01/12/immersive-and-interactive-accessibility-theatre-and-livingbodiesobjects Subscribe to the Medical Humanities Podcast in all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and a 5-star rating on the Medical Humanities Podcast iTunes page (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/medical-humanities-podcast/id961667204). Thank you for listening!