Dr Ben and Friends

Episodi

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  Capillary Comedy 13.09.2026 11min

  Medical jargon sounds harmless until you learn what it actually describes. We kick things off with a simple premise: hand a comedian a handful of real ER and cardiology terms, ask her to pronounce them, ask her to guess what they mean, then translate the truth in plain English. Comedian Kristan Barczak delivers! The result is a mix of laugh-out-loud wrong answers, surprisingly sharp instincts, and a clearer sense of how healthcare teams use shorthand under pressure. Dr. Domenic joins us as t...
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  Five-Second Rule Fails and Crispy Bacon Tales 10.09.2026 12min

  Internet nonsense? A headline about worm larvae in someone’s brain sounds like nonsense until you hear the details and realize it’s a real food safety story. We’re putting the “med in comedy” with a round of Headline Or Hoax, joined by Dr. Domenic (Chief Medical Officer, ER doc, DJ, pilot) and Kristan Barczak (mom, writer, comedian), and we invite YOU to guess right along with Team Dr Ben! Once the reveal hits, we dig into what’s actually going on behind the shock value: undercooked pork, co...
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  CHEERS TO THE CHIEF! 08.09.2026 50min

  You know that feeling when a hospital shift (or a comedy set) starts with a plan and immediately turns lively? That’s the lane we live in today, and we brought the perfect guests for it. Dr. Domenic joins us as an emergency medicine physician who’s now a Chief Medical Officer at a Level 1 Trauma Center in Nashville. He’s the doctor in the executive suite whose job is to keep the whole machine running safely when the pressure spikes. Kristen Barzak brings fresh comedian energy and...
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  DECODE THE DOCS WEEK: Medical Words that Sound like Pasta Dishes (replay) 02.09.2026 12min

  JOIN US FOR DECODE THE DOCS WEEK! We're revisiting our most popular episodes about medical word trivia. This is when our pro comics do the heavy lifting. Celebrate these heroes who keep you healthy and laughing with Team Dr Ben! Medical words can sound like spells, pasta dishes, or something a doctor invented on the spot and that confusion is exactly what we’re fixing today. We’re Dr. Ben and Dr. Jennifer (a hospitalist), and we bring comedian Marcus Saputo into a game of “W...
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  DECODE THE DOCS WEEK: maxillofacial surgery (replay) 01.09.2026 13min

  JOIN US FOR DECODE THE DOCS WEEK! We're revisiting our most popular episodes about medical word trivia. This is when our pro comics do the heavy lifting. Celebrate these heroes who keep you healthy and laughing with Team Dr Ben! A word can be funny until it’s on your chart. We’re turning the most intimidating oral and maxillofacial surgery terms into something you can actually understand, using a simple setup: Comedian Drew Davis takes a bold guess at what the term means, an...
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  Surgery Jargon Showdown 28.08.2026 20min

  Join us for DECODE THE DOCS Week! Most people hear a word like “anastomosis” and instantly feel like they missed a semester of medical school. We get it, so we turned that confusion into a game. We’re joined by Adam, a surgical first assistant who works beside surgeons in the operating room, and Dr. Ben Sawyer, a history professor and stand-up comedian who’s brave enough to pronounce OR jargon on the fly and defend his wild definitions. We break down what these terms actually mean in r...
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  Autobrewery Syndrome And The Truth Behind Snake Oil 26.08.2026 18min

  Your gut can turn into a microbrewery, and that’s not a metaphor. We kick things off with our “Headline or Hoax” challenge, then follow the truth to autobrewery syndrome, a real medical condition where gut microbes (often involving yeast) ferment carbohydrates and produce ethanol. That means someone can show up slurring their words, fail a breathalyzer, and still be telling the truth when they say they didn’t drink. We talk through what’s happening inside the gut microbiome, why it’s so...
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  SCALPEL SIDEKICK 25.08.2026 1h 4min

  Someone hands the surgeon the exact instrument they need at the exact second they need it, and most patients never even learn that person’s job title. As our friend Professor Ben Sawyer walks into this medical podcast, we sit down with Adam, a certified surgical first assistant. Adam explains what the role really is, how the OR team works, and what it feels like to manage pressure when the patient on the table is counting on you to get it right. We also get into the culture of th...
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  Dr John Explains, We Pretend to Understand 20.08.2026 13min

  Some mental health terms sound like prank words until you learn they describe real experiences people live with every day. We bring you into a fast, goofy game where I quiz Dr. John Delony on hard-to-pronounce psychiatry vocabulary while Dr. Brian keeps us honest with the clinical meaning. The laughs are real, but so is the learning, and you end up with a mental health glossary that actually sticks. We unpack formication, that creepy-crawly “bugs on my skin” sensation that can show up ...
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  Dad Jokes Delivered: Docs Who Love Puns 18.08.2026 5min

  BONUS EPISODE: A single great dad joke can change the mood of an entire room, and we put that theory to the test with two guests who know a thing or two about people. We hang out with child and adolescent psychiatric medicine physician Dr. Brian Bradford and mental health champion Dr. John Delony for a fast, funny run of clean comedy, puns, and family-friendly humor that will make you smile. We start with a listener-submitted Pavlov joke that “rings a bell,” then keep building th...
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  GRAND OLE PSYCHE pt2 12.08.2026 34min

  Nicotine pouches that turn a noisy mind quiet in minutes sound like a miracle until you realize how fast “helpful” can become “hooked.” We’re joined by mental health expert Dr. John Delony and child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Brian for a candid, funny, and surprisingly practical talk about focus, anxiety, and the performance culture pushing people toward chemical shortcuts. Dr. Ben shares a personal N=1 experiment with nicotine and what it felt like when the mental chatter finally stoppe...
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  The Surgeon Is Sneezing Face First 10.08.2026 10min

  You think surgery looks simple until someone explains the sterile field, and suddenly you’re imagining a single sneeze ruining the whole day. We kick things off by pulling back the curtain on the operating room: what counts as “sterile,” why the drape and the instrument table are treated like sacred ground, and the tiny rules that keep patients safe. Along the way, we keep it light because we all need a place to decompress from serious work. Then we turn medicine into a game with the Dr. Ben...
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  Headline Or Hoax? with Dr Brian and Dr John Delony 06.08.2026 11min

  A headline says certain childhood traumas are linked to fewer mental health problems in adolescence and our brains immediately split in two: curiosity and alarm. We start with a quick round of “Headline Or Hoax,” then unpack why a clean, counterintuitive claim can be both interesting and easy to misuse, especially when it gets reduced to a clickable takeaway instead of a careful conversation about data, definitions, and outcomes. We dig into the idea that adaptation isn’t healing. Sometimes ...
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  GRAND OLE PSYCHE 03.08.2026 42min

  Your kid isn’t “broken” because they’re anxious, shut down, or fighting every boundary you set and neither are you. From the Nashville skyline, we bring on national mental health rockstar Dr. John Delony alongside Dr. Brian, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, to talk about what’s really behind rising anxiety in teens, depression in kids, school refusal, and the kind of “acting out” that leaves families exhausted and scared. We wrestle with the hard question many parents feel but rarely say...
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  Comedian Decodes ER Terms 29.07.2026 17min

  Medical words can sound like spells, and that confusion has a cost. When you don’t understand what a clinician just said, it’s harder to advocate for yourself, follow instructions, or spot a real emergency. So we built a game: we put everyday emergency medicine and toxicology terms in front of a stand-up comedian and let her take her best shot at pronunciation and meaning, then we translate everything into plain English without losing the nuance. We dig into computed tomography (yes, the CT ...
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  Headline Or Hoax with Dr Mike and Paula Kosienski 27.07.2026 12min

  A headline claims a man regrew the tip of his finger with powder made from pig bladder. Another claims coffee can reduce phantom phone vibration syndrome by 23%. Both sound just believable enough to fool you, which is why we love playing Headline Or Hoax. With comedian Paula Kosienski and healthcare hero Dr. Mike on the mic, we put our instincts on the line and then dig into what the real story actually suggests. After the reveal, we unpack the fingertip regrowth case in plain language...
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  ANTIDOTE ACE 20.07.2026 58min

  “Do not bring a live snake to the emergency room” is advice you never expect to hear. Our healthcare hero, Dr Mike, medical toxicologist and emergency room physician breaks down how poisoning, overdoses, and antidotes work in the real world. 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends Comedian and true crime enthusiast Paula Kosienski keeps the laughs coming as we move from antifreeze and snake bites to myths, drug testing, and how to avoid accidental medication mistakes. Dr. Mike, also an addiction med...
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  Surgery Tools With Funny Names 16.07.2026 16min

  A “whirly bird” in an operating room sounds like a joke, until you hear what it actually does to pull bone back into alignment. We kick off a fast, playful game where orthopedic traumatologist Dr. Kate shares real surgical instrument names and comedian Seth Hayes tries to pronounce them and guess their meaning, then we unpack the real-world trauma surgery behind the punchlines. Along the way, we translate orthopedic jargon into clear visuals: minimally invasive plate fixation of the tibia, w...
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  Headline Or Hoax? with Dr Kate and Seth Kays 14.07.2026 14min

  A medical headline about laughter curing an autoimmune spine disease sounds like the kind of internet nonsense we’re trained to ignore and that’s exactly why we put it on the whiteboard. We kick off with “Headline or Hoax,” make our guesses, and then unpack the real story behind Norman Cousins, ankylosing spondylitis, and the surprisingly practical question hiding underneath the punchline: what does laughter actually do to pain, stress, and sleep, and where does it belong alongside real medic...
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  NASHVILLE TRAUMA TITAN 06.07.2026 1h 6min

  A broken bone sounds simple until you learn what trauma surgeons actually manage around it: crushed soft tissue, infection risk, evolving wounds, and a hospital full of moving pieces that have to click into place fast. 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends We sit down in Nashville with Dr. Kate, an orthopedic trauma surgeon, and get the clearest explanation you will hear of what “bone doctor” work looks like when the injuries are high-energy and the call shift runs 7 a.m. to 7 a.m. We dig into the real...