NBM Talks: Podcast from the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab

John Launer invites you to draw inspiration from an ordinary moment in this guided writing exercise. Begin with a recent moment or memory, pick up where the events left off, and let your imagination ponder where the story might go next. *** Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠ ⁠Nar...

Summer is here and we're kicking off the season by revisiting a few of our earlier episodes. Today, we're rerunning this conversation with Sarah Kim (Temerty Medicine Medical Education Health Humanities Theme Lead). Sarah brings her attentive eye to such diverse issues as medical education, mindfulness, high performance, and the practitioner’s body, considering how they all relate back to...

We're celebrating 50 episodes of NBM Talks! To mark the occasion, this special episode was recorded live at the NBM Lab when members of our community gathered in Toronto for a celebration of how far we've come and the collaborative spirit that keeps us going. A roundtable discussion featuring lab leaders (Damian Tarnopolsky, Karen Gold, Sarah Kim, and Allan Peterkin) in conversation with t...

Damian Tarnopolsky (Creative Lead, Narrative-Based Medicine Lab) introduces the conversations, inspiration, and content you can expect to find on NBM Talks.

Sayantani DasGupta shares a creative work in progress that reflects on the difficulty of writing during uncertain times. The piece explores the fear, vulnerability, and responsibility that can accompany creative expression in moments of political and social instability. This reading is an excerpt from a longer piece that originally appeared on Literary Hub in February 2026 entitled "How Do We...

In this episode, Sayantani DasGupta reflects on how growing up in an activist family shaped her view of medicine as a tool for social justice. She discusses the resonances between her work as a paediatrician supporting children's health, as an educator facilitating the intellectual and emotional growth of learners, and as an author nurturing the imagination of young readers. Together, these pe...

Patricia Houston reflects on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of collaboration across multidisciplinary healthcare teams, including how shared responsibility, communication, and mutual support shaped patient care and strengthened resilience in the face of uncertainty. *** Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach...

Patricia Houston (Vice Dean, Medical Education at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine) is a longstanding leader in health professions education. In this wide-ranging conversation, she reflects on the extraordinary privilege that comes with caring for others as a health professional and the importance of understanding the full context and the people at the centre of the stories...

Anne Matlow shares how narrative reflection can shape leadership and professional development in healthcare. Anne elaborates on how practices like journaling can help clinicians pause, reflect, and improve health care practices. She reflects on the power of the be-do-have personal development framework and the importance of vertical development, which can help us continuously expand our perspectiv...

Rita Charon joins us from Columbia University in New York City and reflects on the origins of narrative medicine as one of the field’s founders. She tells the story of the field's development over time into the internationally significant area of thought and practice that it is today. Rita also considers the key questions facing the future of the field and shares news about some exciting current p...

Jay Baruch, physician, writer, and member of the NBM Lab's International Advisory Board, joins us from Providence, Rhode Island to trace where his interest in story, narrative, and medicine began. Jay shares stories from his career that illustrate how we can keep these interests joined and alive. In particular, he describes the benefits that working narratively has in the emergency room. Jay a...

John Launer, educator, writer, and retired family physician and family therapist, joins us from across the pond just outside London, UK to discuss his career and the state of the narrative-based medicine field. John shares examples from his own career where he's witnessed the power of narrative at work in clinical settings, reminding us about the importance of allowing stories to develop, flow, an...

Conor Mc Donnell reads a passage from his new book of poetry What We Know So Far Is... (Wolsak & Wynn, 2025). Filled with vivid imagery, literary allusions, contemplations on the role of language, and cultural references, Conor joins the revival of the long poem movement. This recording accompanies a feature article about Conor's latest publication, available for reading over on the Narrat...

Petal Abdool reads "The Tree of Life," a poem first penned in her youth and completed years later. Listen along and trace the passage of time woven through its lines.

Petal Abdool shares how storytelling and lived experience bring medicine to life: from actors performing King Lear to help psychiatry residents reflect on aging to stepping into a geriatric suit to feel the physical challenges of growing older. She sheds light on how these immersive, hands-on experiences go beyond textbooks to help learners connect more deeply with their patients. About Our Guest:...

Ryan Giroux reflects on his journey as a Métis physician, exploring identity, marginalization in Canada, and the struggle of belonging that shaped a resilient and distinct Métis culture in this personal narrative.

Ryan Giroux shares how his experiences as an Indigenous resident inspired his work to support Indigenous learners in medicine. He discusses creating more inclusive residency training by fostering strong relationships among learners, faculty, and support staff. Through narrative-based medicine, he honours the stories of colleagues and transforms them into meaningful change in medical education and...

Rory O'Sullivan reads from an original short narrative, "Teachings," which first appeared in Pulse in 2024.

In this episode, Rory O'Sullivan chats with us about his work as a writer and family physician. He shares the place that writing holds in his life and how it interacts with his clinical work, as well as offering advice on balancing careers and thoughts on publication strategies for those starting out. Rory also shares the latest on his pseudonymous psychological thriller:  Waking on the Ground...

Darian Goldin Stahl invites us to expand our perspective on what a book is, and what the act of reading a book entails, as she shares an excerpt from the introduction of Embodied Books: Experiencing the Health Humanities through Artists’ Books (Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2024).

Artist and scholar Darian Goldin Stahl joins us for a conversation about her work making (and teaching others to make) embodied books : beautiful, physical manifestations of health stories. Darian shares how her work in this field has origins in her family history and a family collaboration, which has become a profoundly original and generative approach to health humanities over time. About Our Gu...

Monica Kidd reads an excerpt from her new novel The Crane (Breakwater, 2025).

In this wide-ranging conversation — author, physician, journalist, editor, mother, and Antarctic expedition guide (and much else) — Monica Kidd discusses the origins of her new novel The Crane . She also shares her creative advice for doctor-writers (“notice everything, dismiss nothing”), and tells us what she’s keeping an eye out for in her role as editor of the CMAJ Encounters column. About Our...

Jeff Thompson shares one of his collaborators' definitions of “awe,” which prompts us to consider how we can experience moments of wonder, amazement, and grandeur (or awe) amidst our daily routines.

Jeff Thompson is a research psychologist and scientist, and retired NYPD police detective and hostage negotiator with more than 20 years of experience. Joining us from New York City, Jeff shares his journey into narrative-based medicine, and the ways in which narrative tools can help us remain calm in high pressure situations and moments of crisis. Jeff also shares his approach to “stories as scie...