Two New Podcasts About Our Bodies: Less Radical & On The Table With Ashley

 Two New Podcasts About Our Bodies: Less Radical & On The Table With Ashley

Two podcasts just premiered that deal with our bodies in widely disparate ways, yet they share an overarching theme: We should take ownership of our bodies when they’re broken and when they finally break down for good.

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Less Radical podcast exposes the battle behind the quest for superior breast cancer treatment.

As the world gears up for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this
October, award-winning physician, author, and cancer survivorship advocate Dr. Stacy Wentworth has launched a groundbreaking podcast series, Less Radical. 

The six-part series premiered on September 25 and recounts the remarkable and little-known story of Dr. Bernie Fisher, the surgeon-scientist who redefined breast cancer treatment and changed how we
understand cancer itself.

Host Wentworth explains that Dr. Fisher is an unlikely hero who overcame antisemitic barriers to enter medical school and made revolutionary breakthroughs in cancer treatment. 

However, his success came with a tragic cost: a public, performative Congressional hearing that unfairly destroyed his reputation and haunted him until his death. Through Less Radical, Dr. Wentworth will bring listeners into operating rooms, the halls of Congress, and research labs
to explore Fisher’s profound impact on breast cancer patients worldwide.

The first episode is out, and it is riveting. Wentworth begins with the tale of First Lady Betty Ford and her battle with breast cancer. What listeners learn is that the standard treatment for breast cancer when Ford was diagnosed was the Halsted radical mastectomy, which had been used for nearly 80 years when Betty Ford went under the knife. The procedure removes the whole breast, all lymph nodes under the arm, and the chest wall muscles under the breast. It was a disfiguring and debilitating surgery, and thanks to Dr. Fisher, we learned unnecessary much of the time. 

What Dr. Wentworth uncovers is that the male-dominated medical profession decided for women what the best treatment was for breast cancer for over 70 years. The podcasts, in large part, detail the titanic battle to change orthodoxy and find a more effective treatment for breast cancer. 

Wentworth is an excellent host, allowing the narrative to document the tragedy and travesty of the Halsted radical mastectomy. Less Radical is a compelling story, and Wentworth allows it to unfold seamlessly.

Less Radical is a stark reminder that society—including the medical profession—resists change. Too often, we feel secure with procedures, habits, routines, and lifestyles that are no longer beneficial or valuable.

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On The Table With Ashley Podcast — About Death and Dying

On the Table with Ashley is a podcast by luxury home goods brand Âme Atendre. Host Ashley Gould speaks with thought-provoking individuals about their varied life experiences and professions. On the Table with Ashley covers any topic we can put on the table to increase human connection through curiosity, respect, and understanding.

Ashley Gould is tackling an often-avoided topic in her latest series: death. In the Death and Dying series, Ashley will converse with experts who deal closely with dying and grief. From palliative care doctor Alex Gamble to Laura Sullivan Cassidy, who works at the first company to legalize human composting, everything is on the table.

Two episodes are being released each month, running through December. This eight-part series explores how vulnerability and curiosity might allow us to connect with ourselves and others in grief. From a palliative care doctor to an end-of-life doula, a will writer, the first human composting facility, and parents who have turned their grief into action, each one of the guests brings a unique perspective on how facing mortality can lead to more peace. 

The stories and insights are complex, thoughtful, and enriching. Through open, intentional conversations that challenge our biases and offer meaningful insights, the series aims to create a space where nothing is off-limits in finding what really matters.

I listened to the first episode in the series with palliative care physician Dr. Alex Gamble. In the episode, the host and guest discuss the concept of existing maturity when faced with terminal cancer. 

The second episode is a heartbreaker, with Gould talking with a mother who lost her daughter to cancer at 11 years old. 

As Gould states accurately many times, we do not handle discussions about our inevitable death well. Avoidance is our go-to tactic. 

On the Table with Ashley stimulates important discussions about death and dying. As sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov observed so accurately: “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.”