Defining Moments Podcast: Conversations about Health and Healing
Humans tell stories to make sense of birthing and dying and everything in between. Defining Moments Podcast showcases stories about living well in the midst of inescapable illness, suffering, and hardship. Episodes feature an eclectic group of guests who share moments of uncertainty, innovation, and resilience. Co-hosts Dr. Lynn Harter and Dr. Joe Bianco draw on twenty years of experience in health contexts to spark conversations that move between personal anecdotes and societal health challenges. Each segment is accompanied by articles published in Health Communication and other online resources. Defining Moments Podcast disrupts the silence that too often surrounds vulnerability, and allows narrators and audiences to imagine new normals.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 55 minutes
- Episodes
- 43
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
Well-being, Risk, and Vulnerability Among Activists and Protestors
How do citizens pursue freedom and fellowship through protest and advocacy? Dr. Shelley Rawlins of Utah Tech University joins co-host Dr. Lynn Harter and reflects on matters of risk and possibility a…
01:05:14 |
Fri 05 Sep 2025
Shifting the Landscape of Childhood Cancer Care Through Athletic Activism
Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of children in the U.S. Even so, only four percent of that National Cancer Institute’s budget focuses on childhood cancers. These are more than abstr…
01:30:15 |
Fri 29 Aug 2025
Beyond Stigma and Shame: Finding Health, Humor, and Hope in the Diabetes Community
Dr. Ally Hughes, Assistant Professor of Primary Care at Ohio University, joins co-host Dr. Joe Bianco to recount her journey from being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age seven to a career as a di…
00:50:51 |
Sun 24 Aug 2025
Metaphorically Speaking
Elena Semino, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University, joins host Dr. Joe Bianco to discuss the subtle and surprising ways that language and humor shape he…
00:54:23 |
Fri 15 Aug 2025
Cultivating Intergenerational Cultures of Care Through Gardening and Artful Place-Making
Over 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease and other associated dementias amid a shortage of health professionals trained to care for aging adults. Drs. Anne Kerber and Kristi Oedin…
00:42:36 |
Sun 10 Aug 2025
Touch Meets Tech: Finding Agency and Humanity in an Era of Medical Advancements
Dr. Jay Baglia, Professor of Health Communication at DePaul University, joins co-host Dr. Joe Bianco to recount his journey toward cancer survivorship. Reflecting on the implanted port that delivered…
00:57:21 |
Fri 01 Aug 2025
Place Matters: Virtual Reality Nature Experiences for Patients and Families
Dr. Olivia McAnirlin, Co-Director of the Virtual Reality and Nature Lab at Clemson University, joins co-host Dr. Lynn Harter to reflect on her use of 360-degree virtual reality storytelling in workin…
00:57:00 |
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Weaving Just and Joyful Communities One Story at a Time
Embedded within Ohio University but with footprints in Southeastern Appalachian Ohio, the Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact creates, shares, and studies storytelling in its…
01:24:36 |
Thu 17 Jul 2025
Milk Banking: On Family, Fieldwork, and Liquid Gold
Each year, thousands of premature and vulnerable infants receive the life-sustaining gift of donor breast milk. On this episode of Defining Moments, Dr. Sarah Jones shares how her discovery of human …
01:08:06 |
Mon 04 Apr 2022
Stroke, Recovery, and the Moments in Between
When patient safety scholar Dr. Annegret Hannawa suffers a massive stroke at age 39, her life becomes a case study from her own books. Her journey toward recovery is as surprising as the stroke itsel…
00:53:49 |
Thu 24 Mar 2022
Cottage Industry Employment and the Healing Potentials of Collaborative Art
Patty Mitchell, Susan Dlouhy, and Tad Semsel of Passion Works Studio join co-host Dr. Lynn Harter to explore the healing potentials of collaborative art and cottage industry employment. The mission o…
01:03:55 |
Fri 18 Mar 2022
Disrupting the Spiral of Silence: Loud Healing for Strong Black Women
Asha Winfield, Assistant Professor in the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University, joins guest host Dr. Jill Yamasaki to explore her journey as a Black woman scholar with u…
00:55:53 |
Fri 11 Mar 2022
Racism, Health Inequities, and Healing through Words
Tiandra Finch, Founder and CEO of Spirit Over Flesh, joins co-hosts Dr. Lynn Harter and Dr. Joe Bianco to explore her journey to heal through words. Spirit Over Flesh prioritizes and supports black w…
01:10:31 |
Mon 07 Mar 2022
Always a Surge: Managing Public Health Operations in the COVID-19 Pandemic
As we enter year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, cases are starting to decline in the U.S. For front-line health care professionals, this is a welcome reprieve from the back-to-back surges caused by …
00:55:20 |
Fri 25 Feb 2022
Environmental Determinants of Health: Supporting Local Agricultural Systems and Housing Security
Hylie Voss, President of Sugar Bush Foundation Board of Directors, joins co-host Dr. Lynn Harter to explore campus and community partnerships that seek to improve quality of life in Southeastern Appa…
01:03:00 |
Mon 21 Feb 2022
Unmasking Traumatic Brain Injury with Smith Brain Connections
When 22-year old Spencer Smith sustained a severe traumatic brain injury, physicians predicted he would spend the rest of his life in a nursing home—if he survived at all. In the eight years since hi…
01:06:02 |
Fri 11 Feb 2022
Storytelling and Well-Being Amidst Hardship
How does storytelling foster resilience amidst inescapable suffering, trauma, and vulnerability? In this episode, new co-host and co-producer Dr. Joe Bianco joins Dr. Lynn Harter to explore this ques…
00:59:30 |
Sat 05 Feb 2022
Legacy Leaving and Memoir Writing: Narrating the Life-Limiting Experience of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
How do you reframe a terminal disease as a life-limiting experience? In this episode of Defining Moments, guest host Dr. Erika Kirby speaks with Dr. Chad McBride and Dr. Kathy Miller on how they’ve b…
00:53:15 |
Mon 12 Oct 2020
Birthing Practices in the U.S. Across Time
Childbirth is a biological and cultural experience. Birthing practices and women’s experiences of childbirth are shaped by ever-shifting medical practices and societal values and preferences. On this…
00:57:09 |
Fri 07 Aug 2020
Communicating about Food Allergies: Moving Between Personal Stories and Public Advocacy
Managing food allergies is a communicative process. In this episode, Dr. Jennifer Bute reflects on her family’s personal experiences with food allergies, and how her personal experiences led her to b…
00:54:00 |
Fri 31 Jul 2020
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