Book Club

Host: John J. Russell, MD A cure for HIV? Two men, known in medical journals as the Berlin Patients, were cured of HIV in distinct yet related ways. The two patients’ disparate cures came twelve years apart, but Nathalia Holt, an award-winning scientist at the forefront of HIV research, connects the molecular dots of these cases for the first time. Her book, CURED: How The Berlin Patients Defeated HIV and Forever Changed Medical Science, explores this new field of investigation and paradign shift in HIV treatment inspired by the Berlin Patients. Dr. John Russell hosts.

Host: John J. Russell, MD The beginning of AIDS epidemic has been traced to a single event, localized rather precisely in place and time. David Quammen's book, The Chimp and the River: How AIDS Emerged from an African Forest explores these origins. Dr. John Russell's interview with David Quammen explores the real story of AIDS—how it originated with a virus in a chimpanzee, jumped to one human, and then infected more than 60 million people.

Host: John J. Russell, MD Dr. John Russell welcomes author Gerald Imber, MD to talk about his book, Genius on the Edge: The Bizarre Double Life of Dr. William Stewart Halsted, an intriguing biography about the 19th century doctor who invented modern surgery. Halsted was a brilliant and driven physician, but he was also haunted by a lifelong addition to cocain and other pain killers. Despite his internal struggles, he is credited with taking surgery from the horrific, dangerous practice it once was to what we now know as a lifesaving art.

Host: John J. Russell, MD When was it decided that exercise could only be good for you? In his recent book, Exercise Will Hurt You: Concussion, Traumatic Brain Injury, and How the Dangers of Sports and Exercise Can Affect Your Health, leading neurosurgeon Dr. Steven Barrer calls for a change in the way we think about exercise in the United States. His work arises from an extensive career treating exercise-related injuries, anecdotal experiences from his own personal exercise injuries over the years, and scientific data culled from the latest research. Dr. Barrer is Director of the Neurosciences Institute and Chief of the Division of Neurosurgery at Abington Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia.

Host: John J. Russell, MD Dr. John Russell welcomes author Deborah Blum to talk about her book, The Poisoner's Handbook. In early twentieth-century New York, poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime. Science had no place in the Tammany Hall-controlled coroner's office, and corruption ran rampant. However, with the appointment of chief medical examiner Charles Norris in 1918, the poison game changed forever. Together with toxicologist Alexander Gettler, the duo set the justice system on fire with their trailblazing scientific detective work, triumphing over seemingly unbeatable odds to become the pioneers of forensic chemistry and the gatekeepers of justice.

Host: John J. Russell, MD An award-winning memoir that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is the powerful account of one woman's struggle to recapture her identity. When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she'd gotten there. Only days earlier, she had been leading an exciting life at the beginning of her promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened? Susannah's memoir tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family's inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis of an exceedingly rare disease which led to her complete recovery.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD It's a common rite of passage for parents to have "The Talk" with their kids about the beginning of life (aka the birds and the bees). But as parents age, the "Other Talk" focusing on their later years of life is equally important. Yet this discussion between parents and adult children is frequently neglected, leaving both parties with no contingency plans or options after a health crisis hits. In The Other Talk: A Guide to Talking with Your Adult Children About the Rest of Your Life, author Tim Prosch explores critical questions for later life planning such as how parents should manage their finances and budget for unknown needs, where to live if assistance is required, and which medical treatments and advocates should be sought. Dr. Maurice Pickard hosts.    

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Personal recognition of mental illness can be frightening for many people, but there are added implications for those in the world of fine arts, where the lines between creative genius, artistic license, and erratic brain health become blurred. Host Dr. Maurice Pickard welcomes Ellen Forney, author of the graphic memoir, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me. Darkly funny, intensely personal, and visually dynamic, Forney's graphic memoir provides a visceral glimpse into the effects of a mood disorder on the artist's work. Her story seeks the answer to the question of whether a correlation exists between creativity and mood disorders, and whether an artist's bipolar disorder should be viewed as a curse or a gift.    

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Obesity and sedentary activities have contributed to an epidemic of diabetes mellitus in the US. Is there an answer that is not simply a "fad" diet? Joining host Dr. Maurice Pickard to address this important question is Dr. Osama Hamdy, Medical Director of the Weight Management Program at Joslin Diabetes Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Hamdy is co-author of Diabetes Breakthrough: Better Health in Just 12 Weeks.

Host: John J. Russell, MD A New Orleans hospital, after Hurricane Katrina, was surrounded on all sides by several feet of water. The power was out, and as time went on without restoration of basic operations, rumors began circulating of the hospital being overrun by looters. It was a period of total chaos with breakdowns in institutional leadership, compromises in patient care, and in some cases, clinical decisions with deadly consequences. Dr. Sheri Fink, author of Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, takes us on a tour of the aftermath of these events, and the public outcries that both villified and defended the healthcare workers involved. Click here for Part 1 of this fascinating two-part exploration of the disaster, a hospital's response, and the repercussions that have rippled through its affected staff, patients, and families years later.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Host Dr. Maurice Pickard welcomes award-winning journalist Katy Butler. In her book, Knocking on Heaven's Door, she speaks for the twenty-four million Americans who are helping their parents through their final years. Ms. Butler's memoir and investigation reports on the modern complications of technology, medicine, and business toward the process of dying. Knocking on Heaven's Door helps encourage readers to have the difficult conversations with loved ones that are needed in order to discover paths toward a better way of death. Download and listen today!  

Host: John J. Russell, MD Strange Medicine is an account of the practice of medicine throughout the ages that highlights the most bizarre treatments, medical blunders, and odd medical behavior that seem to do more harm than good. Author Nathan Belofsky joins host Dr. John Russell to discuss a variety of medical oddities across the timeline of history.

Host: John J. Russell, MD Have your patients shared with you paranormal experiences? Have there been unexplained medical mysteries resolved? Sharing case studies and analyses from respected medical journals, Dr. Robert Bobrow researches various instances that do not fit into the normal lexicon of medical diagnoses. He encourages health care providers to be aware of unexplainable phenomena in order to experience opportunities to advance science. Tune in to listen to host Dr. John Russell reviewing Dr. Bobrow's book, The Witch in the Waiting Room: A Physician Investigates Paranormal Phenomena in Medicine. Dr. Bobrow has practiced general medicine for over thirty years and is currently a clinical associate professor at Stony Brook University. Dr. Bobrow's articles have been published in numerous journals such as American Family Physician, New York State Journal of Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, and Psychology Today. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards including Family Medicine Facult

Host: John J. Russell, MD Host Dr. John Russell chats with author Thomas Goetz about his recent book, The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest To Cure Tuberculosis. The book chronicles the lives of two men: Robert Koch, great German scientist, who convinced the world of the germ theory of disease; and Arthur Conan Doyle, trained physician and author of Sherlock Holmes stories. The Remedy traces the history of tuberculosis, the people who brought its diagnosis, etiology, and treatment approaches to light, and ways in which scientific discoveries evolved into everyday realities. Mr. Goetz is a writer, entrepreneur and health care innovator.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Host Dr. Maurice Pickard welcomes author, Richard Colgan, MD, Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In this second interview, Dr. Colgan highlights the importance of developing the personal skill sets beyond the technical skills taught in medical school and residency, such as communicating with patients, having empathy, and being respectful. Download and listen today!

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Ha! The Science of When We Laugh and Why wirtten by Scott Weems, PhD examines the internal process of how the brain and the mind operate in interpreting humor. Dr. Weems will also review humor as an exercise for the brain, the psychological and intellectual benefits of humor and what happens physiologically. Dr. Weems' career began as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he served as communications officer in Kodiak, Alaska. His travels then took him to New Orleans, Boston, Los Angeles, Annapolis, and Little Rock, where he earned graduate degrees in psychology, education, creative writing, and a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from UCLA along the way. Download and listen today!

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD The healing professions have an ancient and venerable tradition of service, honor, and humanism that is often communicated from teacher to student in anecdotes and bits of wisdom told quickly in passing. In his book, Advice to the Healer: On the Art of Caring, Dr. Richard Colgan, Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, expertly gathers together this type of valuable information in one place. Joining host Dr. Maurice Pickard, this discussion features biographies of historical luminaries in medicine, tales from everyday practice, inspirational quotes, and advice for new and veteran healers alike.

Host: John J. Russell, MD Author and journalist Molly Caldwell Crosby joins host Dr. John Russell to discuss her second book, Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic that Remains One of Medicine's Greatest Mysteries. Asleep is another fascnating look into medical history.  In the 1920s and '30s, a team of neurologists investigated a rare but disturbing group of patients spread across various hospitals and insane asylums to try to solve the worldwide epidemic of encephalitis lethargica, or sleeping sickness. Tune in and listen today!

Host: John J. Russell, MD Host Dr. John Russell welcomes author and journalist Molly Caldwell Crosby to discuss her first book, THE AMERICAN PLAGUE: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic That Shaped Our History. The discussion focuses on one of history's most controversial human studies - the story of yellow fever and how it overshadowed this country, and in Africa, where even today it strikes thousands every year. Download and listen today!

Host: John J. Russell, MD In her book, Five Days at Memorial, physician and reporter Sheri Fink reconstructs 5 days at Memorial Medical Center and draws the reader into the lives of those who struggled mightily to survive and to maintain life amid chaos. Drawing from a culmination of six years of reporting, Dr. Fink unspools the mystery of what happened in those days, bringing listeners into a hospital fighting for its life and into a conversation about the most terrifying form of health care rationing. Click here for Part 2 of this fascinating two-part exploration of the disaster, a hospital's response, and the repercussions that have rippled through its affected staff, patients, and families years later.