The Nocturnists

Pediatric hospitalist Monica Stemmle tells a story about her imperfect strategies for coping with feelings on the job. Warning: this story depicts sick and injured children This season of The Nocturnists was made possible by the California Medical Association. Learn more at cmadocs.org Illustrations by Lindsay Mound. Original theme music by Yosef Munro. Check out our website at thenocturnists.com. 

Season 3 of The Nocturnists, hosted by physician Emily Silverman, will be coming soon to your feed. This season of The Nocturnists was made possible by the California Medical Association. Learn more at cmadocs.org. Illustration by Lindsay Mound (https://lindsaymound.com/). Original theme music by Yosef Munro (http://munro.media/). Check out our website at thenocturnists.com. 

In this live podcast taping, Emily speaks with UCSF geriatrician and author Louise Aronson about her New York Times best selling Book, Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life. Louise opens the episode with a reading from her book. Emily follows with questions about the inspiration behind Elderhood, biases in medicine that impact geriatric care, and ways to reframe our prespectives on aging.

In this special episode, Emily sits down with palliative care doctor BJ Miller and IDEO's Global Editorial Director Shoshana Berger to talk about their new book, "A Beginner's Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death." First, BJ and Shoshana read excerpts from the book about their individual stories. Following the readings, Emily and the two guests discuss the inspirations behind the book, the dying process, and the importance of preparing for our final days. 

In this special episode, Emily sits down with physician Matt McCarthy, a infectious disease specialist at New York Presbyterian Hospital who researches drug-resistant microbes, to talk about his latest book, Superbugs. First, we have Matt reading an excerpt from his book. Then, Matt and Emily talk about the practical, ethical, and emotional aspects of his work, and what the future of antibiotics may look like. Follow Matt on Twitter @DrMattMcCarthy.

In this special episode, we share a tapestry of voices that we stitched together from the 38 audio submissions we received for our first storytelling contest on the theme of "Learning." The entries came from 28 institutions, 14 states, and 3 countries. We plan to announce the contest winner before the end of the month. Thank you to all who submitted!

In this special episode, Emily sits down with internist and thought leader Lucy Kalanithi to discuss her late husband's book When Breath Becomes Air, and topics diverse as as illness and identity, prognosis and uncertainty, love and suffering, and the importance of community. This episode was recorded live at the UCSF School of Medicine's AOA Gold-Headed Cane Lecture. Emily and Lucy were introduced by UCSF medical student Tara Benesch.

After hearing a mentor make an inappropriate joke, medical student Jenny Tiskus grapples with humor’s place in the world of medicine. Illustrations by Lindsay Mound. Original theme music by Yosef Munro. Other music comes from Blue Dot Sessions. Check out our website at thenocturnists.com. We invite you to support us with a donation. You can also make small, recurring donations through our Patreon page.

Physician Maureen Miller describes how a dusty box of autopsy reports from 1897 helped her embrace her new professional future as a pathologist. Illustrations by Lindsay Mound. Original theme music by Yosef Munro. Other music comes from Blue Dot Sessions. Check out our website at thenocturnists.com. We invite you to support us with a donation. You can also make small, recurring donations through our Patreon page.

Psychiatrist Matthew Hirschtritt turns to lessons from his Jewish upbringing when caring for a patient with severe refractory depression. Illustrations by Lindsay Mound. Original theme music by Yosef Munro. Other music comes from Blue Dot Sessions. Check out our website at thenocturnists.com. We invite you to support us with a donation. You can also make small, recurring donations through our Patreon page.

Hospitalist Archna Eniasivam describes the time she made a diagnostic error with one of her favorite patients. Illustrations by Lindsay Mound. Original theme music by Yosef Munro. Other music comes from Blue Dot Sessions. Check out our website at thenocturnists.com.  We invite you to support us with a donation here. For more content, we recommend some of our favorite medical podcasts, The Curbsiders, The Clinical Problem Solvers, and Core IM.

Family medicine physician Catherine Forest listens to her one of her classical music idols serenade a dying loved one in the hospital. To learn more about music and the brain, check out Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks. For more of Catherine's work, check out this essay in Vox.  Illustrations by Lindsay Mound. Original theme music by Yosef Munro. Other music comes from Blue Dot Sessions.

82-year-old retired trauma surgeon Bill Meffert, who cared for wounded soldiers in Vietnam, reflects on that bloody experience and the words of a priest who worked beside him.  You can read more about Bill and his novel, A Long Way From Home, on his website. Illustrations by Lindsay Mound. Original theme music by Yosef Munro. Other music comes from Blue Dot Sessions. Check out our website at thenocturnists.com. 

When caring for a young woman with a new brain cancer diagnosis, medicine resident Colleen Farrell comes to grips with her own mortality. Books referenced include Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon. Check out the poem "Intensive Care" by Jane O. Wayne. Illustrations by Lindsay Mound. Original theme music by Yosef Munro. Other music comes from Blue Dot Sessions. Check out our website at thenocturnists.com. 

Hospitalist Peter Barish recounts an intense, intimate moment with a patient. Illustrations by Lindsay Mound. Original theme music by Yosef Munro. Other music comes from Blue Dot Sessions. Check out our website at thenocturnists.com.  We invite you to support us with a donation here. You can also make small, recurring donations through our Patreon page.