The Nocturnists
The Nocturnists is an award-winning medical storytelling podcast, hosted by physician Emily Silverman. We feature personal stories from frontline clinicians, conversations with healthcare-related authors and art-makers, and special podcast documentary series such as “Post-Roe America,” “Shame in Medicine,” “Black Voices in Healthcare,” and “Stories from a Pandemic. Our mission is to humanize healthcare and foster joy, wonder, and curiosity among clinicians and patients alike.
**Anthem Award winner, two-time Webby Award nominee, and Ambie Award finalist for Best Indie Podcast in 2023.**
Learn more at thenocturnists.org.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 37 minutes
- Episodes
- 203
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
Storytelling Contest: Learning
Here we share a tapestry of voices that we stitched together from the 38 audio submissions we received for our first storytelling contest on the theme of "Learning." The entries came from 28 institut…
Love, Loss, and Legacy with Lucy Kalanithi, MD
Emily sits down with internist and thought leader Dr. Lucy Kalanithi to discuss her late husband's book When Breath Becomes Air and topics such as illness and identity, prognosis and uncertainty, lo…
The River Styx with Jenny Tiskus
After hearing a mentor make an inappropriate joke, medical student Jenny Tiskus grapples with humor’s place in the world of medicine.
Illustrations by Lindsay Mound.
Original theme music by Yosef Mun…
Dead To Me with Maureen Miller, MD
Physician Maureen Miller describes how perusing a dusty box of autopsy reports from 1897 helped her embrace her new professional future as a pathologist. Learn more about Maureen's work here. She al…
All That Jazz with Matthew Hirschtritt, MD
Psychiatrist Matthew Hirschtritt turns to lessons from his Jewish upbringing when caring for a patient with severe refractory depression.
Illustrations by Lindsay Mound.
Original theme music by Yosef…
Good Doctor with Archna Eniasivam, MD
Hospitalist Archna Eniasivam describes the time she made a diagnostic error with one of her favorite patients.
Illustrations by Lindsay Mound.
Original theme music by Yosef Munro.
Other music comes f…
Dying to Tchaikovsky with Catherine Sonquist Forest, MD
Family medicine physician Catherine Forest listens to her one of her classical music idols serenade a dying loved one in the hospital. According to the internet, the most relaxing song in the world …
Welcome To Vietnam with Bill Meffert, MD
82-year-old retired trauma surgeon Bill Meffert, who cared for wounded soldiers in Vietnam, reflects on that bloody experience and the words of a priest who worked beside him.
You can read more abou…
Enjoy Your Life with Colleen Farrell, MD
When caring for a young woman with a new brain cancer diagnosis, medicine resident Colleen Farrell comes to grips with her own mortality.
Books referenced include Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon. You…
A Form of Love with Peter Barish, MD
Hospitalist Peter Barish recounts an intense, intimate moment with a patient.
Learn more about Ladybird here.
Illustrations by Lindsay Mound.
Original theme music by Yosef Munro.
Other music comes fr…
Compassionate Release with Michele DiTomas, MD
Michele DiTomas, a hospice physician who cares for incarcerated men, races against the clock and slashes through bureaucratic tape to help a dying man go home.
Learn more about the U.S. criminal just…
The Lazarus Effect with Joe Sills, MD
Emergency medicine physician Joe Sills panics when the patient he has just pronounced dead regains a pulse.
The article mentioned in our conversation, "What Does It Mean to Die?" can be found in The …
Trailer: Season 2
Season 2 of The Nocturnists, hosted by physician Emily Silverman, launches on Tuesday, March 26th.
Illustrations by Lindsay Mound.
Original theme music by Yosef Munro.
Learn more and support us at th…
Too Important to Die with Dhruv Kazi, MD
Cardiologist Dhruv Kazi recounts the heart-stopping tale of an emergency medical encounter in North Korea.
Illustrations by Stephanie Muscat.
Learn more and support us at thenocturnists.com. Thank yo…
Even the Morgue Has a Waitlist with Galen Laserson, MD
Hospital administrator Galen Laserson recounts the time she got an unexpected call in the middle of the night, which prompted her to learn all about the hospital's underbelly and the logistics of dea…
Missing It with Milana Pebenito, MD
The electronic medical record and a list of to-dos distract family medicine resident Milana Pebenito from her patient's impending death.
Illustrations by Stephanie Muscat.
Learn more and support us a…
That's Ninja Doc to You with Meghan O'Brien, MD
Hospitalist Meghan O'Brien recounts the frustration of caring for a homeless patient who would rather be on the streets.
Illustrations by Stephanie Muscat.
Learn more and support us at thenocturnists…
I Am Enough with Grant Smith, MD
Grant Smith, chief resident in internal medicine at UCSF, recounts the story of his first code blue.
Illustrations by Stephanie Muscat.
Learn more and support us at thenocturnists.com. Thank you!
Not Always Wonderful with Dana Gal, MD
In the hospital, pediatrician Dana Gal struggles with a young patient who asserts her autonomy in ways that are frustrating, and even dangerous.
Illustrations by Stephanie Muscat.
Learn more and supp…
Out of the Way with Ann Knapp, MD
Hospitalist Ann Knapp navigates her own doubts and assumptions when her patient, a ninety-year-old man, states he wants to die—today.
Illustrations by Stephanie Muscat.
Learn more and support us at t…