Defining Moments Podcast: Conversations about Health and Healing

How do women find their voice when their health stories are met with silence, skepticism, or stigma? In this deeply personal and powerful episode, Dr. Emily Cripe of Kutztown University joins host Dr. Lynn Harter to explore how women transform private pain into public advocacy. Through raw storytelling and thoughtful reflection, Cripe shares her own experiences navigating uncertain medical diagnos...

How do we give voice to complex stories that defy words and the conventions of language? These stories, often of trauma or other profound lived experiences, reside not just in our heads and hearts, but in every cell in our body. Embodied stories are layered, complex, and often chaotic. They vie for expression but lack a means or a format to accommodate them. In this episode of Defining Moments, Dr...

As medicine heeds the call of patient-centered care, it is easy to overlook the other person in the clinic room. Physicians, like patients, have stories. Within the everyday demands of clinical practice, however, their stories are seldom invited and remain untold. In this episode of Defining Moments, medical students Libby Hill and Sumedha Kappagantula join host Dr. Joe Bianco to share their exper...

How do citizens pursue freedom and fellowship through protest and advocacy? Dr. Shelley Rawlins of Utah Tech University joins co-host Dr. Lynn Harter and reflects on matters of risk and possibility among activists. They explore the vicarious trauma and physical and emotional burnout among individuals as they pursue hopeful futures amid felt despair.

Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of children in the U.S. Even so, only four percent of that National Cancer Institute’s budget focuses on childhood cancers. These are more than abstract statistics for this episode’s guests Angela Dina and Michelle Payne. Angela and Michelle are founders of Turn it Gold, a non-profit that elevates awareness about childhood cancer and survivorship....

Dr. Ally Hughes, Assistant Professor of Primary Care at Ohio University, joins co-host Dr. Joe Bianco to recount her journey from being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age seven to a career as a diabetes and disabilities researcher, educator, and advocate. The conversation reveals that there is more to diabetes than shame, stigma, and medical trauma. Ally sheds light on innovative medical advanc...

Elena Semino, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University, joins host Dr. Joe Bianco to discuss the subtle and surprising ways that language and humor shape health experiences. Dr. Semino uses large, naturally occurring language datasets to identify imaginative alternatives to overused battle analogies in cancer and other chronic illnesses. The conversation...

Over 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease and other associated dementias amid a shortage of health professionals trained to care for aging adults. Drs. Anne Kerber and Kristi Oeding of Minnesota State University Mankato join co-host Dr. Lynn Harter and introduce artful place-making as an innovative approach to organizing and teaching care for people with dementias. They explore...

Dr. Jay Baglia, Professor of Health Communication at DePaul University, joins co-host Dr. Joe Bianco to recount his journey toward cancer survivorship. Reflecting on the implanted port that delivered life-saving toxins to his body, Jay exposes the complexities and contradictions of navigating cancer care. The conversation offers a hopeful perspective on preserving and redefining our humanity amid...

Dr. Olivia McAnirlin, Co-Director of the Virtual Reality and Nature Lab at Clemson University, joins co-host Dr. Lynn Harter to reflect on her use of 360-degree virtual reality storytelling in working with patients and families who cannot revisit memorable places in nature.  Olivia developed the concept of TandemVRTM to regift nature and recreation experiences for people facing precarious circumst...

Embedded within Ohio University but with footprints in Southeastern Appalachian Ohio, the Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact creates, shares, and studies storytelling in its many shapes and forms. The institute amplifies voices previously unheard or dismissed and disrupts inherited narratives that limit human potential. Hosts Lynn Harter and Joe Bianco alongside guest Meg...

Each year, thousands of premature and vulnerable infants receive the life-sustaining gift of donor breast milk. On this episode of Defining Moments, Dr. Sarah Jones shares how her discovery of human milk banks catalyzed a surprising personal and scholarly journey that continues to this day. Dr. Jones is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Communication in the School of Communication Studies a...

When patient safety scholar Dr. Annegret Hannawa suffers a massive stroke at age 39, her life becomes a case study from her own books. Her journey toward recovery is as surprising as the stroke itself, taking her from the despair of hospital rehabilitation units to joining helicopter rescue missions in the Swiss Alps. On this episode of Defining Moments podcast, Hannawa reflects on stroke recovery...

Patty Mitchell, Susan Dlouhy, and Tad Semsel of Passion Works Studio join co-host Dr. Lynn Harter to explore the healing potentials of collaborative art and cottage industry employment. The mission of the studio is to inspire and liberate the human spirit through the arts. In living out this mission, the studio has revolutionized societal perceptions of developmental differences, fostered more inc...

Asha Winfield, Assistant Professor in the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University, joins guest host Dr. Jill Yamasaki to explore her journey as a Black woman scholar with uterine fibroids. Asha gets personal as she reflects on silences in Black families, the myth of the Strong Black Woman, and the importance of representation for envisioning otherwise. She calls for loud...

Tiandra Finch, Founder and CEO of Spirit Over Flesh, joins co-hosts Dr. Lynn Harter and Dr. Joe Bianco to explore her journey to heal through words. Spirit Over Flesh prioritizes and supports black women on their wellness journeys. Tiandra gets personal as she reflects on health inequities connected to race, systemic biases amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of storytelling and n...

As we enter year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, cases are starting to decline in the U.S. For front-line health care professionals, this is a welcome reprieve from the back-to-back surges caused by Delta and Omicron variants. For the public health workforce, however, there is no respite from the pandemic’s demands; the pace of their work is as relentless between surges as during. In this episode...

Hylie Voss, President of Sugar Bush Foundation Board of Directors, joins co-host Dr. Lynn Harter to explore campus and community partnerships that seek to improve quality of life in Southeastern Appalachian Ohio. Voss highlights projects supporting local agricultural systems and housing security, both of which reveal how the environment and human health are connected.

How does storytelling foster resilience amidst inescapable suffering, trauma, and vulnerability? In this episode, new co-host and co-producer Dr. Joe Bianco joins Dr. Lynn Harter to explore this question and kick-off Season 3 of the Defining Moments Podcast. Listen as two narrative enthusiasts share the role that storytelling plays in their personal and professional lives and enjoy a preview of so...

How do you reframe a terminal disease as a life-limiting experience? In this episode of Defining Moments, guest host Dr. Erika Kirby speaks with Dr. Chad McBride and Dr. Kathy Miller on how they’ve been co-narrating Chad’s life in the wake of his diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. In raw and honest form, Chad reflects on the diagnosis...

Childbirth is a biological and cultural experience. Birthing practices and women’s experiences of childbirth are shaped by ever-shifting medical practices and societal values and preferences. On this episode of Defining Moments, Dr. Jackie Wolf talks about the intersections between her personal experiences with social birthing and her scholarly work on the history of birthing and breastfeeding pra...

Managing food allergies is a communicative process. In this episode, Dr. Jennifer Bute reflects on her family’s personal experiences with food allergies, and how her personal experiences led her to become a public advocate. She discusses her work with Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), the largest private funder of food allergy research in the U.S. Dr. Bute is an Associate Professor of Co...

On this episode of Defining Moments Podcast, Guest Host Dr. Jill Yamasaki talks with Dr. Leandra Hernandez and Dr. Sarah De Los Santos-Upton on how they live out the values of Chicana Feminism in their work as health communication scholars and activists. Leandra and Sarah share reflections on their work on reproductive healthcare at the Mexico-U.S. Border. They challenge listeners to join with Lat...

On this episode of Defining Moments Podcast, Guest Host Dr. Laura Ellingson talks with Dr. Leland Spencer about the vulnerability of storytelling and its emancipatory potential. Spencer challenges systemic barriers that limit opportunities for individuals based on gender and sexual identities, disabilities, and spirituality. The conversation offers a hopeful vision of inclusion and respect in sett...