Topics & series

Browse every Medics Musings episode by topic or series: AI and technology, surgery, aging, the mind, hospital life and culture, plus the multi-part Pax Inguinalis summit.

Topics

• AI & Tech 8 episodes Satirical episodes about artificial intelligence in medicine: chatbots with opinions, algorithms that promise empathy, robots taking over the most intimate jobs, and doctors trying to keep…
• Surgery 12 episodes The operating room seen by a veteran general surgeon: hernia diplomacy, gallbladder play-by-plays, the physics of laparoscopy, burlesque-inspired emergencies and the vanishing sense of…
• Aging 3 episodes Growing older with a clinician’s eye and a comedian’s timing: senior pickleball, walker balls, retired burlesque dancers and the robots now helping with elder care.
• Mind & Mood 5 episodes Psychiatry, psychoanalysis and the business of feeling better: physician burnout, transference, 30-second TikTok therapy and whether happiness sits behind a paywall.
• Hospital Life 8 episodes Life inside modern healthcare: grand rounds, voicemail trees, bargain-bin medicine, frozen Chicago emergencies and the everyday absurdities doctors and patients share.
• Culture & Sports 6 episodes Where medicine collides with sports, the stage and pop culture: surgery called like live football, pickleball showdowns, burlesque history and Black Friday healthcare deals.

Series

• Pax Inguinalis 4 parts A veteran surgeon convenes a mock diplomatic summit to settle the long war over inguinal hernia repair. Three negotiating sessions, then a programme of evening salons. Start with Part 1.
• Play by Play 2 parts Medicine called like live sports: a gallbladder operation with bile duct exploration covered snap by snap, then a psychotherapy breakthrough narrated from the booth.