Get Real with Jim Weiss

Renée Fleming has spent her life mastering sound. Now, she’s convincing science to see its power. Renée joins Jim to explore Music and Mind, her groundbreaking book, and Music as Medicine, their pioneering initiative with the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), focused on advancing research at the intersection of music, neuroscience, and healthcare. You'll...

Misty Copeland changed what was possible for generations of dancers to come. Jim and Kate sit down with Misty to talk about the determination it took to reach the top and why her focus today is on creating opportunity for others. They discuss motherhood and the work she's doing through The Misty Copeland Foundation to help young artists see themselves in spaces where they belong. This is a convers...

For Maimah Karmo, surviving cancer was just the beginning. In this episode of Get Real, Jim sits down with Maimah, founder and CEO of the Tigerlily Foundation, who is 20 years out from a diagnosis of stage two triple negative breast cancer. Maimah made a decision early on: she wasn’t just going to survive, she was going to live with intention. She shares how her upbringing, from Liberia to buildin...

For decades, the biotech industry has been concentrated in a handful of coastal hubs. But according to Isaac Barchas, one of the most significant opportunities in medicine may be hiding in plain sight. In this episode of Get Real, Jim Weiss sits down with Isaac Barchas, co-founder of Arsenal Bridge Ventures, to discuss why world-class scientific research is happening far beyond Boston and Silicon...

Dr. Cheri Mah has spent her career proving what elite athletes are finally starting to take seriously: sleep is not optional — it’s medicine. In this episode of Get Real, the internationally recognized sleep physician and researcher joins Jim to break down how sleep drives performance, recovery, injury prevention, and mental health, both in sports and in life. They explore why chronic sleep depriv...

Few voices are as woven into Bay Area sports as Vern Glenn’s. In this episode of Get Real, the longtime broadcaster sits down with Jim to trace his journey to becoming one of the most recognizable storytellers in local television. Vern reflects on breaking into the business, making mistakes on air, and building a career defined by curiosity, humor, and hands‑on reporting — earning the nickname “Mr...

Founder Len Kozhukh sees a new horizon of health - using a quick assessment of your oral microbiome to PREVENT THE EVENT, one of the pillars of this show. In a special in-person episode, Jim and Len discuss Len's company nihl and how Len hopes it can be the start of a longevity revolution. We need to free everyone's health data so you can be in the driver's seat - can our saliva be the key? Let's...

Sean Khozin has lived through revolution, rebuilt from scratch, and gone on to help reshape modern oncology. In this episode of Get Real, Sean shares his journey from fleeing Iran as a child to leading at the highest levels of cancer research, regulation, and innovation at the NCI, FDA, Johnson & Johnson, and now as CEO of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer. We explore why cancer is always personal,...

Former FDA Commissioner, practicing cardiologist, and adjunct professor at Duke University, Dr. Robert Califf joins the conversation to unpack the complex world of public health, drug regulation, and medical innovation. He offers a clear-eyed perspective on how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration makes decisions that impact millions of lives. Dr. Califf explores the ongoing effort to build publi...

Bravery expert, Jill Schulman, author of The Bravery Effect, reframes bravery as a trainable skill rather than an innate trait. She explains how “bravery reps” build confidence and self-trust by acting despite fear, and why fear is often a social signal pointing toward growth rather than real danger. Drawing on science, psychology, and her own experience, Jill outlines a three-part framework for c...

Christine Aylward is the founder and managing partner of Magnetic Ventures, a VC built on a thesis: the future of life sciences will be technology-driven. Her bet, placed in 2018, is paying off. Her path to venture capital is unique. She started at Roche, working on PCR, arguably the most revolutionary technology at the intersection of tech and life sciences in the last century. Then she co-founde...

Barry Sanders knows what it means to perform at the highest level, but today his focus is on something far bigger than football. In this episode, the legendary NFL running back opens up about his partnership with Amgen and his mission to raise awareness around heart disease, one of the leading causes of death worldwide. His heart attack on Father’s Day in 2024 was a wake up call. Today he is worki...

Peak performance expert Jamie Wheal explores why modern wellness culture may be overcomplicating what it means to feel whole, resilient, and alive. As the founder of Flow Genome Project and co-author of Stealing Fire and Recapture the Rapture, Wheal blends psychology, neuroscience, and ancient practices to explain how humans access peak states, meaning, and connection. He challenges the billion-do...

Jim sits down with his friend Paul Kidwell, caregiver, advocate, and fellow widower, for a conversation about what it means to lose someone you love. In 2025, both Jim and Paul lost their wives. Jim to cancer. Paul to Parkinson's. They talk about the guilt, the grief, the impossible math of caregiving, and the moment Paul realized this had to become something bigger than just his and his late wife...

Aditi Shah is a yoga and meditation teacher, speaker, and wellness advocate, best known as one of Peloton's most beloved instructors. She was recruited in 2018 to help launch their yoga and meditation platform from the ground up. She studied math at Rutgers, moved to Mumbai, and found her calling on a yoga mat. That's a career pivot worth talking about. Jim sits down with Aditi to talk about how t...

Andrew Hessel is a futurist, microbiologist, geneticist, entrepreneur, and synthetic biology pioneer known for co-founding the Genome Project-write and Humane Genomics, and co-authoring The Genesis Machine, a New Yorker Best Book of 2022. He believes cells are living computers, and DNA is a programming language. And his reasoning is solid! Andrew has spoken to the FBI, the United Nations, CERN, St...

Brian Anderson, CEO of CHAI, the Coalition for Health AI, talks about who's making sure AI in medicine actually works, and works for everyone. Brian has spent his career at the crossroads of medicine, technology, and policy. He worked alongside the White House COVID Task Force before co-founding CHAI in 2021 to tackle a gap nobody else was filling: responsible, trustworthy AI in healthcare at a na...

This is our third and final Super Bowl episode recorded at the Starter Activation House and Jim is chatting with compelling voices in sports, business, and biotech. TJ Ward, former NFL star and Super Bowl XLVIII winner, opens up about life after football. Carl Banks, President of G-III Sports and two-time Super Bowl champion and Shawn Costner, Sports Marketing Executive at CAA, talk about leading...

Recorded during Super Bowl week at the Starter Activation House Studio, this second special episode of Get Real captures Jim in conversation with a lineup of true originals whose impact spans sports, music, and pop culture. He’s joined by Adam "Pacman" Jones and Eric Metcalf, former NFL superstars, Brock Davies, influencer and reality TV star, and finally, Flavor Flav, who needs no introduction! T...

Jonathan Stewart, former NFL running back and key player in the Carolina Panthers’ run to Super Bowl 50, joins Jim to talk life after football. They dive into his passions, his mission, and how his time as an athlete continues to shape his pursuits and vision today. Antone Barnes, Founder and CEO of The Brand Architects, shares insights on helping athletes build their careers on and off the field,...

Josh Schwartz is a TV screenwriter and producer best known for creating The O.C., Gossip Girl, Chuck, Hart of Dixie, and The Carrie Diaries, to name a few. He's launched the careers of superstars and is a superstar himself. At 26, he became one of the youngest showrunners in network history when he launched The O.C. Josh is also Jim's cousin. Two and a half decades after The O.C. changed his caree...

Tina Sharkey has seen the power of faith first hand. She and Jim are diving into her rollercoaster summer, a story she's yet to share. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor that at first seemed inoperable, but turned out to be operable, and not cancer, thankfully. However, since then, and throughout her time at the hospital, she's navigated treacherous times by relying on a mantra she learned years...

Bill Nye is so much more than The Science Guy. He's an activist, a performer, a leader and changemaker. He brings his sprit and tenacity to everything he does, including being a guest on podcasts, like ours. He currently serves as CEO of The Planetary Society, a role he took over from Carl Sagan, a mentor from his time at Cornell. In this episode, Jim and Bill are talking about why Science Still M...

Dr. Elias Zerhouni, former NIH Director under President George W. Bush and Presidential Science Envoy under President Barack Obama, joins Jim for a candid conversation about healthcare, science, and public trust. He talks about his new memoir, Disease Knows No Politics, and his journey from war-torn Algeria to an array of leadership positions in American medicine. He shares stories from his profes...

Lee Shapiro is getting real. His career has touched law, venture capital, philanthropy, healthcare, and tech. He's worked with many of the most influential companies in digital health. He's lead Livongo, scaled Allscripts, and is now shaping the future of consumer health as partner at 7wireVentures. In this episode, we're talking about where healthcare innovation is headed and how personalized car...