Explore The Space

"This required a grassroots presence that we now have in every single state, this army of badass women fighting every single day." Shannon Watts is the founder of Moms Demand Action, author of "Fight Like A Mother" & a generationally-important activist on the issue of gun violence. We discuss the extraordinary progress made by her and her team in the past 6.5 years against the National Rifle Association & towards a safer gun culture in the United States, as well as look into the creation of one of the largest grassroots movements in American history Key Learnings 1. Shannon's vision of where the movement is and identifying where and how to play offense and play defense 2. Why Shannon, her team, and the entire movement will not be intimidated & will stay on message 3. The importance of being a non-partisan organization which welcomes anyone into the coalition 4. Barriers to progress aside from the NRA 5. Preparing for the 2020 Presidential election cycle & seeing candidates mirror the message of Mom's D

Esther Choo is an Emergency Medicine physician, a founder of TimesUp Healthcare, and a cornerstone voice driving progress in our profession. She is a remarkable voice on social media, on stage, and in the press. Her research, creativity, and passion are rocket fuel for change; she is highly sought-after and after speaking with her it is clear why! Key Learnings 1. Being one of the key influencers for our profession on social media and beyond 2. The moment her social media presence took off and comparing impact to writing for academic publication 3. Reconciling tension between effort and visibility 4. How Esther deals with, learns from, and ignores criticism on social media 5. The art of sharing controversial and provocative takes and trusting your audience will provide guidance on "bad" takes 6. Her path to becoming a student, expert, and spokesperson around issues of gender bias 7. The formation & mission of TimesUp Healthcare and the historical foundation it is built upon 8. Sharing stories of curt

"I remember him turning to me and saying 'Hey Doc, you ready?'" Claudia Kannel is one of the first women in our nation's history to be awarded the Combat Medical Badge, which she earned for her service as a medic under fire with the 1st Armored Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She joins us to discuss her experiences in combat and being a groundbreaking woman in the United States Army. She also shares how the CMB connects her to her Grandfather, who won the same award during World War II. This is a remarkable conversation with a brave soldier and great leader. Key Learnings 1. Preparations and training for her first deployment in Iraq and realizing that she would be going into combat 2. The moment she first answered the call for aid in combat 3. One story... 4. The meaning of the Combat Medical Badge 5. Hearing that she was initially not receiving a CMB while men who had done the same work were receiving one, then subsequently learning she was receiving one as well 6. The "Stars & Stripes" arti

"This is about trying to shatter all myths, all notions about gender equity within these institutions of medicine, of science, of global health" Jocalyn Clark is the Executive Editor of The Lancet and has her PhD in public health and women's studies. She joins us to discuss how to drive international change around gender equity & the exceptional 2/9/19 Lancet issue, the impatience she and her team feel, and why change must come from institutions. Key Learnings 1. A snapshot of The Lancet's background, the current pivot in content, and the dedication to providing excellence in science along with analyzing the world's most pressing issues. 2. How The Lancet has become a leader in gender equity and the fantastic February 9th, 2019 issue 3. Constructing an special issue that is intentionally forward facing (it's free) and available/designed for a broad audience 4. Ways the editorial staff at The Lancet push one another to drive towards excellence and change 5. Leading towards change in traditional institut

Avital O'Glasser is back to discuss our recent Explore The Space White Paper addressing the question of social media on the ERAS application for residency and fellowships in medicine. The demand for how we can all modernize the way we promote ourselves including our social media work is growing quickly, this second White Paper plays an important role. Links: White Paper 1: https://www.explorethespaceshow.com/podcasting/white-paper-on-social-media-cvs/ White Paper 2: https://www.explorethespaceshow.com/podcasting/white-paper-on-social-media-eras-application-for-residency-fellowship/ Avi on Twitter: @aoglasser  

"My favorite speeches are when I go to places that aren't receptive to the climate justice message and I can just school them." Jamie Margolin is the founder of Zero Hour, creator of the upcoming World Climate Summit, and one of the world's most important climate activists. She's also getting ready for her senior year of high school. We discuss how she rose to prominence, the goals of the World Climate Summit, her incredible Teen Vogue article, and her ability to seek out and handle confrontation. An amazing conversation with an exceptional leader. Key Learnings 1. Seeing natural beauty juxtaposed with clear evidence things are wrong with the environment 2. Sharing a feeling of existential dread 3. Getting some reps in local politics and building off how the 2016 presidential election made her feel 4. How Jamie started with social media and learning to leverage those tools to drive her work 5. Creating a vision for a youth climate march and executing on the vision to create (link) youth climate march

Seth Hain is Vice-President of Research & Development and Chris Mast is a Family Medicine physician & Vice-President of Clinical Informatics at Epic. They join for a candid and broad conversation of the current state and future goals of Epic. We also cover their understanding and perspective of challenges and frustrations coming from end users. Epic staff very rarely do any kind of press, it was absolutely fascinating to get behind the curtain. Key Learnings 1. Background on rise and growth of EHRs, affirming that we are not going back to paper charting, and identifying points of tension 2. What is their sense of the "temperature" of the end-users of Epic and the barriers keeping us from the ideal future state 3. Closing the training, implementation, and experience gap 4. Steps to build and rebuild perceptions and trust 5. What they see and hear from the peer-reviewed literature and social media regarding the work they do 6. Wherein we discuss this JAMA paper 7. The connection of physician and health

Warren Binford is a Professor of Law at Willamette University and an internationally recognized children's rights scholar and advocate. She was part of a group that recently toured the Customs and Border Patrol Detention Center in Clint, Texas where hundreds of children who have been separated from their families are being held. In this episode we discuss what she saw, what she heard from the children, and where concerned people can channel their energy to help drive change. Links Twitter: @childrightsprof Raices: https://www.raicestexas.org ACLU: https://www.aclu.org

"You can't lead others until you understand how to lead yourself" Mark Hertling returns to Explore The Space to discuss leadership through the prisms of character and resilience. His insights from a career as an officer & 3-star General in the US Army and his current work training physician leaders are truly remarkable. We cover character, servant leadership, resilience, and many other essential elements of leadership. Key Learnings 1. The value of getting reps & being humble, positive and reinforcing when starting out on a new media journey 2. Building new cultures with the inclusion of many different cultures and perspectives to get the best ideas to move forward 3. Defining leadership through an individual's character and what character means 4. Understanding your own character and when you are ready to lead by harvesting feedback and perceptions from others 5. Being a 22 year old Lieutenant leading a tank platoon, then 40 years later leading US Army-Europe as a 3-Star General and how character driv

"The best antidote to a feeling of despair is progress, and that's what we are seeing now" David Wallace-Wells is a Deputy Editor & climate change columnist with New York Magazine & the author of "The Uninhabitable Earth" a book which caused a tremendous stir around where our planet is heading due to climate change. We discuss overcoming complacency, why we should end fossil fuel subsidies, and the importance of progress and discussion to overcome despair.  His sense of urgency and clarity of message is incredibly compelling! Key Learnings 1. How the book has been received, and how it's a reflection of how serious climate change is being viewed 2. Honing in on the impact the book and the response has had on David himself 3. The ripple effect from the UN Report on Climate Change using alarming and clear language and how his book has served as an accelerant 4. Being both a journalist and an activist 5. Reflecting on how we viewed climate change during the 1990s, how complacency reigned, and how complacen

"Each and every one of us, we have a story to tell. Using that narrative to change the hearts and minds of Americans, that's what will move the needle forward. " Joseph Sakran is a gun violence survivor and a Trauma surgeon at Johns Hopkins. He helped launched #ThisIsOurLane in November of 2018 and has since been a lightning-bolt advocate around stemming the gun violence epidemic. We talk about driving change, creating an inclusive movement, and changing the narrative around gun violence. An amazing discussion with a vital leader. Key Learnings A quick word about our new Instagram feed @explorethespaceshow and also about Rock The Ride 1. Learning to appreciate the power of his personal story as a driver of change 2. The rise of #ThisIsOurLane and how the issue of gun violence came to the forefront with physicians & healthcare workers 3. Overcoming the unofficial gag rule around physicians discussing gun violence and feeling inspired by this movement 4. Identifying a disparity between the gun lobby and

“There’s a lot more listening and amplifying that needs to happen that doesn’t involve a white man’s perspective" Caitlin Thompson is the creator and publisher of Racquet Magazine and host of Racquet Magazine podcast. She joins us to discuss the parallel path, tennis and healthcare are on around elevating creativity and new voices, resolving ongoing issues with gender bias, and her spectacular viewpoint on what makes a growth mindset. She is an incredible voice for change! Key Learnings 1. Caitlin’s evolution as an athlete, journalist, publisher, and advocate 2. Finding overlap around bringing people together under one umbrella and elevating something we love 3. The importance of staying on mission and the recognition that operant words are interchangeable 4. A few words about Roger Federer & players who engage with fans and society at a high level 5. The parallel roads professional tennis and healthcare are walking around gender bias, and tennis as microcosm of the challenges faced 6. The importance of Title

"I don't think anyone expected the rates of melts that we found. It's really alarming" Rob Larter is a marine geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey who studies ice sheet history and climate change. He joins us to discuss his research as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, being on the front lines of climate change science in the Antarctic and making the connection between his work and the potential impact on human health Key Learnings 1. What it's like to be a scientist and explorer in Antartica on board a ship 2. Focusing on rapid and accelerating ice loss in West Antarctica, which is the biggest unknown in predicting sea level rise 3. The experience of watching a glacier shatter 4. The way research seasons in Antarctica work and the layering of research 5.  When he noticed a shift in rhetoric around climate change and the debate moving towards "what can we do about it" 6.  Connecting his research and the impact of sea level rise, climate change & human health 7. Where

"I am in a unique position to be a voice where some people may not feel empowered to be that voice because of all that they have gone through" Jasmine Marcelin is a prototype modern physician, she wears many hats which are deeply mission-driven. She joins us to discuss the impact of diverse teams on patient care, where her focus comes from,  &dealing with bias as a woman of color & and as a foreign medical graduate. Key Learnings 1. Defining the skill set for the 21st Century physician as Pluripotent 2. How to avoid perception of "dabbling" when doing many different things 3. The importance of recognizing our patient's diversity and how it positively impacts care 4.  How Jasmine's practice and outlook were informed by her mother's breast cancer diagnosis & subsequent treatment 5. Teaching the "hidden curriculum" in medicine and the value of "In Shock" by Rana Awdish 6. The importance of ensuring patients feel like they're being taken seriously and avoiding labeling a patient as "difficult" 7. Becomin

"My favorite part of the job is finding something that City Hall is doing wrong that's negatively affecting regular people who live here and hammering them over and over until they fix it." Heather Knight is a columnist with the San Francisco Chronicle who covers The City from street-level. She shares stories from the hardest edges up to the halls of power and her columns are superb. We discuss pushing powerful people towards change, leveraging individual stories, responding to calls of "Fake News, and the fun side of #TotalSF Key Learnings 1. The power of having access to political leaders especially when writing about Social Determinants of Health and the problems facing a city. 2. Heather's favorite part of the job and why she cares so much. 3. The impact of social media on the stories she writes, with an incredible column about car break-ins in San Francisco 4.  Writing about the unfair billing practices at San Francisco General Hospital and learning about the connection with the Board of Supervisor

"Be able to acknowledge the limits of knowledge, be authentic, and invitational to other perspectives on the edge of the unknown" Alexa Miller is an artist and creator of Arts Practica, which builds experiential learning opportunities that allow leaders, practitioners, and teachers in healthcare to be more effective and mindful in uncertainty. She joins us to discuss the incredible rise of her work, the impact it's having, and the ways we can liberate our powers of observation.  Key Learnings 1. A reading and discussion on the importance of a curious spirit 2. Understanding the ripple effect of her work and seeing the lineage grow 3. The rapid growth of art, observation, and medicine and what makes our profession want to be so agile around this topic. 4. Data, impact, and response to using these tools 5. How a tour with Alexa begins and a discussion of the value of space 6. The ways in which art and the power of observation at the edge of uncertainty applies to other industries 7. Being a Fellow for

"We have a human right to have a child, to not have a child, and to parent a child in safe and healthy communities." Dani McClain is a journalist and writer who has been covering the issues of reproductive justice and the black maternal health crisis. She joins us to discuss her experiences being pregnant, the impact of implicit bias in medicine, & the importance of cultural congruence through the prism of her incredible essays and her new book, "We Live For The We." Key Learnings 1. Dani's reporting background in reproductive rights and reproductive justice 2. Deciding to report on the black maternal health crisis 3. Step into the tension of Dani's experience entering her doctor's office 4. How shame can enter into the narrative and perceptions for women of color when they seek healthcare 5. Assessing the connection between maternal health & implicit bias 6. Hearing from young black women who feel "terrified" to have a child and how it informs her reporting and storytelling. 7. The importance of cul

Rebecca Kotch is the Director of Rock The Ride, which is a fundraiser for gun violence prevention efforts taking place this June. She stepped into being an activist around gun violence after the Yountville VA Home shooting and she joins us to discuss becoming an activist, levers anyone can pull to join in a fight that meaningful, and how people can support Rock The Ride. Key Learnings 1. The origin of Rebecca's activism around gun violence 2. The importance of being resolute and saying "we're doing this" 3. How gun violence has invaded all of our lives 4. Levers to help individuals break the inertia around become active in a cause that's important to them 5. Learning about the myriad groups and individuals working on gun violence projects 6. How people who live locally and far away can all participate and engage with Rock The Ride and the 3 non-profits that benefit 7. The importance of including and learning from younger generations in activist work 8. Dealing with pushback, the impact of changing mi

"The key is always trying to get better, do better and be better and figure out how to bring people along on the journey." Arghavan Salles is a surgeon and a PhD who has an incredible fan base on social media & was the most-requested guest when I posed the question several months ago. She joins us for an amazing discussion of her authenticity around gender discrimination, being a perfectionist, and the art of saying No. Key Learnings 1. Why does Arghavan think she was so heavily requested by #MedTwitter 2. Where her motivation to talk openly about her personal struggles come from 3. The most powerful tools for sharing stories & how she selects where to publish, including her superb article in USA Today on women's anger & gender discrimination 4. The ripple effect of writing in Time Magazine about egg freezing and infertility and hearing from many other women who had been struggling in silence 5. The tension between pouring energy and years into an academic article which quickly fades, being in a mainst

"All we are doing here is feeding the squeeze if we don't turn this thing back" Eric Topol is one of the great bell-weathers in medicine, his new book "Deep Medicine" looks to the future and he joins us to discuss. You will not hear the trumpets of how great artificial intelligence and machine learning are, in this conversation we sound the alarm for both physicians and patients & discuss the tension of whether new tech is margin vs patient-centered. Key Learnings 1. Being a bell-weather 2. The value of feeding on one another's interests, fears and hope to build common purpose and activism 3. Why "Deep Medicine" is a warning about a potentially destructive and dangerous future for medicine 4. Pushing back against discourse saying AI can and should shrink the physician workforce 5. The need for physicians to have a say in what and how gets shifted and changed by new technologies 6. Wherein we debate a rational first phase of deploying this new technology 7. The tension around margin-driven vs patient-