Troyen A. Brennan - America’s Healthcare Is Broken — Can Primary Care Save It? | STM Podcast #244
Release Date: 10/05/2025
Patricia Martin - Who Are We Becoming? Identity in the Internet Age | STM Podcast #251
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 251, we welcome Patricia Martin to discuss identity formation in the modern world, our preoccupation with external validation and why it’s unsustainable in the internet age, Carl Jung’s understanding of the persona and our tendency to perform, the persona and chronic self-doubt, socially prescribed perfectionism and the fog of self, physical practices to re-center oneself, and the importance of cultivating meaning for identity integration. Patricia Martin is the author of four books, a researcher, and speaker. Her work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Huffington...
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Amy Nathan - The Untold Story of Civil Rights Icon Sara Keyes Evans | STM Podcast #250
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 250, we welcome Amy Nathan to discuss civil rights icon Sara Keyes Evans, her own decision to not move to the back of a bus, the decades long legal battle that followed, the battle between federal and state laws regarding interstate travel for minorities, Sara’s more measured and less aggressive stance on social justice, the values and temperament that were the foundation of her brand of activism, why she was unrecognized for so long, and what inspired her tenancy to fight racism. Amy Nathan is the author of more than fifteen books, including Together: An Inspiring Response...
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Jack El-Hai - Were the Nazis Insane? The Psychiatrist Who Studied Hitler’s Inner Circle | STM Podcast #249
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 249, we welcome Jack El-Hai to discuss the Nuremberg trials and the recent film about them, the psychiatrist who analyzed Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas Kelley’s motivations for doing so, whether Nazis were monsters and if being human makes them scarier, how the results of Göring’s Rorschach test reveled a narcissistic personality, the foundation of evil, Kelley’s stifled ambitions and why his social contributions make his work meaningful, and the warnings in ‘Nuremberg’ about our political future. Jack El-Hai is an acclaimed author and journalist whose writing has appeared...
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Dorothy Roberts - Interracial Marriage Is an Important Step to Ending Racial Inequality | STM #248
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 248, we welcome Dorothy Roberts to discuss the history of interracial marriage in the US, how it was used to help sustain Black slavery, Dorothy’s resistance to and eventual acceptance of being biracial, her disagreements with her father (a fellow researcher) on the benefits of interracial marriages, defining race and why Nazis and white supremacists both struggled to define whiteness, whether love can overcome social injustice on its own, the Black Belt being populated with whites, and how culture and power influence whom we feel attracted to and love. Dorothy Roberts...
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Lybi Ma -The Mental Habits Keeping You Miserable (And How to Stop Them) | STM Podcast #247
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 247, we welcome Lybi Ma to discuss the thought patterns we get trapped in, the differences between ruminating and deliberating, why avoiding and suppressing our emotions can make them feel more intense, challenging the negative narratives we create about our lives, why our brains are programmed for survival rather than happiness, why Freud was right, spotting cognitive distortions, the importance of mindfulness and gratitude, Lybi’s divorce and how she overcame resentment and bitterness, how anxiety affects our bodies, and the importance of perceiving satisfaction as stemming...
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David Bather Woods - Can Pessimism Save Us? Schopenhauer’s Surprising Message About Life | STM Podcast #246
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 246, we welcome David Bather Woods to discuss the life and philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer, how his father’s suicide shaped his beliefs about suicide, suffering as the source of compassion, happiness as the negation of pain, Schopenhauer’s anti-slavery sentiment, his difficult relationship with Marxist thought and its thinkers, whether writing about changing the world for the better can be enough, why he believed life was worth living, and whether it’s fair to judge his philosophy by his life and choices. David Bather Woods is associate professor of philosophy at the...
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Michael Uebel - Philosophy Meets Psychotherapy: On Equanimity as Awareness | STM Podcast #245
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 245, we welcome Michael Uebel to discuss the practice of equanimity, its similarities and differences from mindfulness practices, how perspective taking helps mitigate difficult feelings as in PTSD, how it can be used to help bridge political divides, shifting goals to less ambitious ones for greater equanimity, perspective taking and its influence on self-esteem, and psychoanalysis as a foundation for increased humility and curiosity. Michael Uebel, PhD, LCSW, studies intellectual history. He has taught theory and literature at the University of Virginia, Georgetown University, and...
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Troyen A. Brennan - America’s Healthcare Is Broken — Can Primary Care Save It? | STM Podcast #244
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 244, we welcome Troyen Brennan to discuss the pitfalls of the US healthcare system, the fee-for-service model’s implications for patient outcomes, primary care as a more viable alternative, Walmart’s failed attempt to establish primary care clinics, Optum’s contrasting success, how to incentivize primary care, AI streamlining prior authorizations, increasing government funding and venture capital for primary care, how preventative care keeps patients from falling through the cracks, and why medical professionals tend to dislike the business side of medicine. Troyen A. Brennan...
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Eram Alam - Why U.S. Healthcare Depends on Immigrant Physicians | STM Podcast #243
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 243, we welcome Eram Alam to discuss the experiences of foreign-born physicians practicing in the US, the structural problems that led to significant deficits in healthcare across the US, the Hart-Celler Act of 1965 and the other political underpinnings of migrating physicians to the US, skepticism of immigrant physicians from rural populations, the exploitation of healthcare by capital, what we owe the countries whose physicians we entice, and why race continues to occupy our minds despite our desire to surpass the construct. Eram Alam is a historian of medicine and Associate...
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Cass R. Sunstein - The Surprising Truth About Fame: It’s Not What You Think | STM Podcast #242
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 242, we welcome Cass Sunstein to discuss the foundations of fame, the roles of information cascades and reputation cascades in fostering one’s success, the rise of Obama as a cascade, whether talent is enough for sustainable success, how group polarization influences our perceptions, network effects and our dependence on others, the significance of luck, why talent doesn’t always see the light of day, and the importance of cultivating a sense of pride and fun in our pursuits rather than pursuing fame. Cass R. Sunstein is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law...
info_outlineOn episode 244, we welcome Troyen Brennan to discuss the pitfalls of the US healthcare system, the fee-for-service model’s implications for patient outcomes, primary care as a more viable alternative, Walmart’s failed attempt to establish primary care clinics, Optum’s contrasting success, how to incentivize primary care, AI streamlining prior authorizations, increasing government funding and venture capital for primary care, how preventative care keeps patients from falling through the cracks, and why medical professionals tend to dislike the business side of medicine.
Troyen A. Brennan is an adjunct professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. A former professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the former chief medical officer at CVS Health, he is the author of The Transformation of American Health Insurance: On the Path to Medicare for All and Just Doctoring: Medical Ethics in the Liberal State. His new book, available October 7, 2025, is called Wonderful and Broken: The Complex Reality of Primary Care in the United States.
| Troyen A. Brennan |
► Website | https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Troyen-A-Brennan-38805570
► Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/troyen-brennan-494bb533
► Wonderful and Broken Book | https://amzn.to/3KBnjQD
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