Medical Humanities Podcast

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, calls to confront racism, systemic bias, and inequity in global health have become increasingly urgent. But what does meaningful change look like in practice? In this episode, Dr Sarah Ahmed and Dr Sabina Dosani are joined by the co-founders of the Black and Brown in Bioethics (BBB) network: PhD scholar Matimba Swana, postdoctoral researcher and artist Kumeri Bandara,...

Traditional methods of research and clinical practice are facing a radical shift as scholars push for deeper inclusivity and new ways of thinking. In this episode, Dr. Sarah Ahmed and Dr. Sabina Dosani talk with Dr. Louise Creechan and Professor Femi Oyebode about the future of the Medical Humanities. They explore the boundaries of inclusivity, questioning who truly gets to speak for lived experie...

What 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...

In 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 t...

"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 P...

Join Dr. Sabina Dosani and Dr. Sarah Ahmed as they interview world-class artists, scholars, and clinicians about health, illness and systems of care.

The 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’...

The 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 Wr...

Teun 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 g...

Introducing 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. Heathe...

In 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 voice...

In 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-t...

Making 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 S...

Stuart 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/202...

In 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 p...

Medical 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...

Editor'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/202...

Dr Khalid Ali, film and media correspondent, interviews British documentary filmmaker, Edward Lovelace. They discuss his film ‘’Name me Lawand’’, a rapturous portrait of a deaf Kurdish boy’s emotional journey towards discovering how to express himself. A love letter to the power of communication and community. Edward describes how he bonded with Lawand and how together they created a poignant film...

The moving story of an English professor studying neurology in order to understand and come to terms with her father's death from Alzheimer's. Brandy Schillace (Medical Humanities' Editor-in-Chief) interviews Cindy Weinstein, Vice Provost and Professor of English at California Institute of Technology. Related blog including the transcription of the podcast: https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities...

Join us for a fascinating discussion about the ethics of care, and most especially the way structural racism and impediments to access heightened existing inequalities during both outbreak and lockdown. Brandy Schillace speaks to epidemiologist Professor John Wright, Bradford Institute for Health Research and Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research. A blog post containing the transcript of this...

In this month's podcast, Brandy Schillace talks to Dr Sally Waite and Dr Olivia Turner, of Newcastle University. They discuss "corporeal pedagogy", a form of learning and teaching that suspends conventional modes of Western education, particularly within a university setting, to facilitate embodied and haptic learning and production of knowledge. A blog post containing the transcript of this podca...

LivingBodiesObjects is a 3-year project funded by the Wellcome Trust designed to test and extend the boundaries of Medical Humanities research. Today we talk to Stuart Murray and Amelia DeFalco, University of Leeds, about the value of de-centering structures and opening diversity. Link to the blog post with more information about the project, and transcription of the podcast: https://blogs.bmj.com...

Editor-in-chief of Medical Humanities, Brandy Schillace, interviews Narin Hassan and Jessica Howell about their innovative and interdisciplinary approach to health humanities. Narin Hassan is Associate Professor and Director of Global Media and Cultures (MS-GMC) in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech. Jessica Howell is Professor of English and Associate Director of t...

Clio Barnard is multi-award winning British Film writer, director and producer. In this conversation with Medical Humanities' film and media correspondent, Khalid Ali, she revisits her 'Bradford Film Trilogy'; 'The Arbor' (2010), 'The Selfish Giant' (2013), and 'Ali & Ava' (2021). The uniqueness and diversity of Bradford community portrayed as a love story between two unlikely characters made...

LivingBodiesObjects is a 3-year project funded by the Wellcome Trust designed to test and extend the boundaries of Medical Humanities research. Editor-in-chief of Medical Humanities, Brandy Schillace, interviews Stuart Murray, Professor of Contemporary Literatures and Film and Director of the Centre of Medical Humanities at the University of Leeds, in the UK. Read the blog with the transcription o...