Dr Ben and Friends

What the Heck! 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...

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...

NASHVILLE TRAUMA TITAN 06.07.2026 1t 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...

What the Heck! Hospitalist Nerd Words 02.07.2026 12min

Some medical words sound like pasta, spells, or something your doctor made up on the spot and that’s exactly why we play “What The Heck Is That?” Dr. Ben is joined by Dr. Jennifer, a hospitalist who lives in the world of hospital medicine, plus comedian Marcus Saputo, who tries to pronounce wild-looking terms and guess what they mean before we translate them into plain English. We unpack pancytopenia (when multiple blood counts are low), then jump to pneumoperitoneum, a term that matters bec...

Headline or Hoax? with Dr Jennifer and Marcus Saputo 01.07.2026 13min

Wild medical stories travel faster than careful medical advice, and that’s exactly why games like “Headline or Hoax” are such a useful antidote to health misinformation. When you hear a claim that sounds unbelievable, your brain wants to decide instantly: true or fake. This episode leans into that impulse on purpose, then slows it down with humor and basic medical reasoning. Along the way, we highlight a key media literacy skill for anyone scrolling social feeds: plausibility is not proof, an...

ROUNDING ROCKSTAR 29.06.2026 41min

The hospital can turn into a blur the second you get admitted, and we wanted to slow it down and make it make sense. 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends Dr. Jennifer, a board-certified hospitalist in Nashville, joins us to explain what a hospitalist actually does, how patients move from the ER to the floors, and why inpatient medicine is equal parts detective work and coordination. Comedian Marcus Saputo keeps the laughs coming while asking the kinds of questions most people are thinking but never say...

What the Heck! Burn Surgery Nerd Words 25.06.2026 15min

Your skin does two jobs you never think about until it’s gone: it keeps fluid in and it keeps infection out. So what happens when a major burn breaks that barrier and every decision has to be made fast, with the right words, the right math, and the right plan? We jump into a rapid-fire round of “What The Heck Is That?” with Dr. Tommy and pro comedian Tara Brown, turning burn surgery terms into clear, usable concepts you can actually remember. We start with TBSA (total body surfac...

Headline Or Hoax? with Dr Tommy and Tara Brown 24.06.2026 8min

Two headlines hit the board, and only one can be real. One claims cracking your knuckles builds extra bones over time. The other claims a man’s hands ooze yellowish cholesterol nodules after living on an extreme meat, cheese, and butter diet. We make our picks, talk through why certain health myths stick, and then reveal the truth behind the grossest story of the day. From there, we get surprisingly practical about the science: what that knuckle “pop” likely is, why joint noise doesn’t...

BURN BOSS 22.06.2026 1t 8min

OUR FIRST VIDEO EPISODE! You can’t “walk it off” after a serious burn, and you also can’t underestimate the quiet courage it takes to rebuild after one. We sit down with Nashville burn and critical care surgeon Dr. Tommy to get clear, practical answers on burn treatment, burn first aid, and what actually happens inside a burn center when the injury is easily preventable. Tara Brown joins us with sharp humor and real heart, tying healing to something bigger than medicine: owning your voi...

What the Heck! When Your Stomach Migrates And Your Joke Lands 18.06.2026 7min

“Hiatal hernia” sounds like a problem you should keep quiet about, and “choledocholithiasis” sounds like a spell from a medical musical. We decided to make both terms make sense. I’m Dr. Ben, and I’m joined by comedian and university professor Brynn Daniels plus Dr. Jameil, a general and bariatric surgeon, for a fast, funny round of “What The Heck Is That” where we translate real medical terminology into plain English. We start with hiatal hernia and get specific: how the diaphragm separates...

Headline Or Hoax? with Dr Jameil and Brinn Daniels 17.06.2026 10min

A man gets seizures from Sudoku? That sounds like a punchline- was it a real medical case? We kick things off with our “Headline or Hoax” game and watch how quickly all of us can get fooled by a medical headline that feels just believable enough to share. Team Dr Ben unpacks prior medical history to help to understand head injury, anoxic events, and how specific triggers like intense focus or flashing lights can tip a vulnerable brain into a seizure. We also talk about the viral ...

GUT GURU 15.06.2026 49min

GLP-1s are everywhere right now and the hype is loud, the brand names are confusing, and the real tradeoffs can feel impossible to pin down. 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends We wanted a straight answer, so we brought in Dr. Jameil, a board-certified general surgeon and fellowship-trained bariatric surgeon, to explain how obesity medicine actually works when you’re sitting across from a real clinician, not an ad or a comment thread. With comedian, filmmaker, and professor Brinn Daniels in the ...

What the Heck! Oral MaxilloFacial Surgery Nerd Words 11.06.2026 13min

A single medical word can hide a whole anatomy lesson, and it gets even better when someone tries to guess the definition first. We play a fast, funny round of What The Heck? with comedian Drew Davis and Dr. Steve, turning intimidating oral and maxillofacial surgery vocabulary into plain-English takeaways you can actually remember. We dig into cleft lip repair and why it’s done early, not just for appearance, but for nursing, speech development, and restoring healthy function. From there we ...

Headline Or Hoax? with Dr Steve and Drew Davis 10.06.2026 10min

A surgeon opens a chest with a Swiss Army knife he also uses to cut lunch. Sit with that for a second, then press play, because we turn it into a game where your job is to spot the real headline before we reveal just how strange the truth can be. Our “Headline Or Hoax” round pits two surgical stories against each other, and the debate quickly gets into what the operating room is supposed to look like: sterile markers, proper instruments, and the basic safety rules patients assume are non-nego...

MEET THE SMILE SURGEON 08.06.2026 46min

If you’ve ever wondered how surgeons put faces back together after devastating injuries, this conversation gets surprisingly specific, surprisingly human, and occasionally ridiculous. 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends We sit down with HEALTHCARE HERO, DR.STEVE, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who focuses on facial trauma, to explain how modern technology is reshaping facial reconstruction. Listener, join PRO COMIC DREW DAVIS as we explore these technical topics and try to understand the adve...

What the Heck! Anesthesia Nerd Words 04.06.2026 14min

Surgery has a way of turning everyday people into instant experts on medical vocabulary. Someone says “propofol” or “intubation,” and suddenly you are nodding along while silently thinking, what does that actually mean? We keep it simple and honest by playing a quick game of “What the Heck?” where we challenge a pro comic to pronounce the term and tell us what the heck it means! We start with PROPOFOL, the fast-acting anesthetic many people recognize by its “milk of amnesia” nickname, then ...

Headline or Hoax? with Dr Justin and John Datoy 03.06.2026 10min

One is a medical HEADLINE. The other is a HOAX. Can you tell the difference? We put a healthcare hero and a pro comic head to head and make our guests decide: is “procrastination may extend lifespan” real science, or is the real story the Alabama woman who received a pig kidney transplant? The guesses are confident, the reveal is chaotic, and the lesson sticks: the health news that feels the most believable is not always the most true. After the twist, we zoom out into why medica...

CELEBRATE THE GAS MAN! 31.05.2026 32min

Meet the doc who keeps you safely knocked out--and the comedians who keep you laughing! Dr Ben hangs with anesthesiologist Dr Justin and comedian John Datoy. Dive into anesthesia secrets and comedy stories. Laugh, learn, and CELEBRATE THE GAS MAN! 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends Ep1 Join us for Nashville's premier episode of Dr Ben and Friends, where Dr Ben a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon and standup comedian CELEBRATES HEALTHCARE HEROES and PRO COMICS! Each week, Dr Ben rotates ...