NBM Talks: Podcast from the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab

Conor Mc Donnell has launched several creative and academic projects since we last spoke on the podcast. Conor is the Editor-in-Chief of Case Repertory, an initiative that seeks to reimagine the genre of the traditional...

Sarah Kim encourages us to imagine what's possible with a prompt of imagination and magical powers. Find a quiet spot and pick up a pencil for this guided writing exercise that will help you pay closer attention to the...

John Launer invites you to draw inspiration from an ordinary moment in this guided writing exercise. Begin with a recent moment or memory, pick up where the events left off, and let your imagination ponder where the...

Summer is here and we're kicking off the season by revisiting a few of our earlier episodes. Today, we're rerunning this conversation with Sarah Kim (Temerty Medicine Medical Education Health Humanities Theme Lead)...

We're celebrating 50 episodes of NBM Talks! To mark the occasion, this special episode was recorded live at the NBM Lab when members of our community gathered in Toronto for a celebration of how far we've come and the...

Damian Tarnopolsky (Creative Lead, Narrative-Based Medicine Lab) introduces the conversations, inspiration, and content you can expect to find on NBM Talks.

Sayantani DasGupta shares a creative work in progress that reflects on the difficulty of writing during uncertain times. The piece explores the fear, vulnerability, and responsibility that can accompany creative...

In this episode, Sayantani DasGupta reflects on how growing up in an activist family shaped her view of medicine as a tool for social justice. She discusses the resonances between her work as a paediatrician supporting...

Patricia Houston reflects on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of collaboration across multidisciplinary healthcare teams, including how shared responsibility, communication, and mutual support...

Patricia Houston (Vice Dean, Medical Education at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine) is a longstanding leader in health professions education. In this wide-ranging conversation, she reflects on the...

Anne Matlow shares how narrative reflection can shape leadership and professional development in healthcare. Anne elaborates on how practices like journaling can help clinicians pause, reflect, and improve health care...

Rita Charon joins us from Columbia University in New York City and reflects on the origins of narrative medicine as one of the field’s founders. She tells the story of the field's development over time into the...

Jay Baruch, physician, writer, and member of the NBM Lab's International Advisory Board, joins us from Providence, Rhode Island to trace where his interest in story, narrative, and medicine began. Jay shares stories...

John Launer, educator, writer, and retired family physician and family therapist, joins us from across the pond just outside London, UK to discuss his career and the state of the narrative-based medicine field. John...

Conor Mc Donnell reads a passage from his new book of poetry What We Know So Far Is... (Wolsak & Wynn, 2025). Filled with vivid imagery, literary allusions, contemplations on the role of language, and cultural...