Dr Ben and Friends
Dr Ben and Friends is a healthcare comedy podcast based in Nashville. It celebrates healthcare heroes and comedians, blending medical topics with humor. The show promises no waiting and no co-pay, putting the 'med' in comedy.
Episodes
Sterile, Fast, And Funny
Surgical jargon can sound like nonsense until you realize it’s describing real, high-stakes work. We bring on operating room tech Herb Coleman alongside comedian Marianna Barksdale and turn a simple guessing game into a surprisingly useful tour of how the OR actually runs, with plenty of punchlines along the way.We unpack flash sterilization, what it is, when it’s used, and why “we need that instr
Big Herb Tackles a 7-Centimeter Aneurysm
He’s deadlifting 600lbs, training like a machine, and then one day his body hits a wall. Herb Coleman thought he was just getting older until a routine check uncovered something that could have ended everything without warning: a thoracic aortic aneurysm measuring about seven centimeters, plus a leaking valve. What happens next moves fast, from echocardiogram to an urgent call back to the hospital
Emotional Support Hammer And Other OR Mysteries
Knock knock, howdy folks, we’re bringing the operating room to the mic, one weird term at a time. Dr. Ben is joined by his teammate in surgery and OR tech Herb Coleman plus the wildly multi-talented comedian, writer, actress, and stunt double Marianna Barksdale for a game we call “What The Heck?” The rules are simple: we hand Marianna real surgical and medical field vocabulary, she takes her best
Two Peas And A Lung
A pea plant grew inside a man’s lung, and that sentence is not a punchline. Our friends kick things off with a round of Headline Or Hoax, putting two outrageous-sounding “medical headlines” in front of Marianna Barksdale and Herb Coleman and asking them to trust their gut, their brain, or both. You get to play along too, and the twist is a reminder that real life medicine can be stranger than anyt
PATIENT CHAMPION
He chased quarterbacks for a living, then he switched careers and started protecting patients instead. Herb Coleman joins us in Nashville to talk about the real work of an operating room tech, what it means to be a “patient champion,” and how an OR runs on trust, preparation, and tight teamwork long before the surgeon makes the first cut. If you’re curious about behind-the-scenes healthcare jobs,
Less Than Eight, Intubate
A lot of people hear medical jargon and instantly tune out, but we think the fastest path to understanding is laughter plus a great story. We’re playing “What The Heck,” where our ER physician, Dr Domenic, brings real emergency medicine terms and our Nashville comedian, Kristan Barczak, takes her best shot at guessing what they mean before we translate them into plain English. Expect mispronunciat
BTS: Connecting Through Comedy
You’ve laughed at a comedy special and thought, “I could never do that.” We get it, and we also know there’s a real process behind the magic. Stand-up comedy looks effortless from the crowd, but the truth is messier, funnier, and way more human.From Nashville, we sit down with Kristan Barczak, a rising comedian and writer, plus Dr. Domenic, an emergency medicine physician and chief medical officer
Surgical Showdown with a Comedian!
How many “ailments” can you remove in 60 seconds without buzzing? We ran a surgical showdown with Kristen Barczak and a patient named Garth with a cowboy boot blister. What would your theme song be?Before the chaos, we go full operating-room theater with a surgical timeout, a named patient, and a procedure serious enough to deserve a chart but silly enough to spark instant jokes. Meet Garth, who r
Capillary Comedy
Medical jargon sounds harmless until you learn what it actually describes. We kick things off with a simple premise: hand a comedian a handful of real ER and cardiology terms, ask her to pronounce them, ask her to guess what they mean, then translate the truth in plain English. Comedian Kristan Barczak delivers!The result is a mix of laugh-out-loud wrong answers, surprisingly sharp instincts, and
Five-Second Rule Fails and Crispy Bacon Tales
Internet nonsense? A headline about worm larvae in someone’s brain sounds like nonsense until you hear the details and realize it’s a real food safety story.We’re putting the “med in comedy” with a round of Headline Or Hoax, joined by Dr. Domenic (Chief Medical Officer, ER doc, DJ, pilot) and Kristan Barczak (mom, writer, comedian), and we invite YOU to guess right along with Team Dr Ben!Once the
CHEERS TO THE CHIEF!
You know that feeling when a hospital shift (or a comedy set) starts with a plan and immediately turns lively? That’s the lane we live in today, and we brought the perfect guests for it. Dr. Domenic joins us as an emergency medicine physician who’s now a Chief Medical Officer at a Level 1 Trauma Center in Nashville. He’s the doctor in the executive suite whose job is to keep the whole machine runn
DECODE THE DOCS WEEK: Medical Words that Sound like Pasta Dishes (replay)
JOIN US FOR DECODE THE DOCS WEEK! We're revisiting our most popular episodes about medical word trivia. This is when our pro comics do the heavy lifting. Celebrate these heroes who keep you healthy and laughing with Team Dr Ben!Medical words can sound like spells, pasta dishes, or something a doctor invented on the spot and that confusion is exactly what we’re fixing today. We’re Dr. Ben a
DECODE THE DOCS WEEK: maxillofacial surgery (replay)
JOIN US FOR DECODE THE DOCS WEEK! We're revisiting our most popular episodes about medical word trivia. This is when our pro comics do the heavy lifting. Celebrate these heroes who keep you healthy and laughing with Team Dr Ben!A word can be funny until it’s on your chart. We’re turning the most intimidating oral and maxillofacial surgery terms into something you can actually understand, u
Surgery Jargon Showdown
Join us for DECODE THE DOCS Week!Most people hear a word like “anastomosis” and instantly feel like they missed a semester of medical school. We get it, so we turned that confusion into a game. We’re joined by Adam, a surgical first assistant who works beside surgeons in the operating room, and Dr. Ben Sawyer, a history professor and stand-up comedian who’s brave enough to pronounce OR jargon on t
Autobrewery Syndrome And The Truth Behind Snake Oil
Your gut can turn into a microbrewery, and that’s not a metaphor. We kick things off with our “Headline or Hoax” challenge, then follow the truth to autobrewery syndrome, a real medical condition where gut microbes (often involving yeast) ferment carbohydrates and produce ethanol. That means someone can show up slurring their words, fail a breathalyzer, and still be telling the truth when they say
SCALPEL SIDEKICK
Someone hands the surgeon the exact instrument they need at the exact second they need it, and most patients never even learn that person’s job title. As our friend Professor Ben Sawyer walks into this medical podcast, we sit down with Adam, a certified surgical first assistant. Adam explains what the role really is, how the OR team works, and what it feels like to manage pressure when the patien
Dr John Explains, We Pretend to Understand
Some mental health terms sound like prank words until you learn they describe real experiences people live with every day. We bring you into a fast, goofy game where I quiz Dr. John Delony on hard-to-pronounce psychiatry vocabulary while Dr. Brian keeps us honest with the clinical meaning. The laughs are real, but so is the learning, and you end up with a mental health glossary that actually stick
Dad Jokes Delivered: Docs Who Love Puns
BONUS EPISODE: A single great dad joke can change the mood of an entire room, and we put that theory to the test with two guests who know a thing or two about people. We hang out with child and adolescent psychiatric medicine physician Dr. Brian Bradford and mental health champion Dr. John Delony for a fast, funny run of clean comedy, puns, and family-friendly humor that will make you smile. We st
GRAND OLE PSYCHE pt2
Nicotine pouches that turn a noisy mind quiet in minutes sound like a miracle until you realize how fast “helpful” can become “hooked.” We’re joined by mental health expert Dr. John Delony and child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Brian for a candid, funny, and surprisingly practical talk about focus, anxiety, and the performance culture pushing people toward chemical shortcuts. Dr. Ben shares a p
The Surgeon Is Sneezing Face First
You think surgery looks simple until someone explains the sterile field, and suddenly you’re imagining a single sneeze ruining the whole day. We kick things off by pulling back the curtain on the operating room: what counts as “sterile,” why the drape and the instrument table are treated like sacred ground, and the tiny rules that keep patients safe. Along the way, we keep it light because we all
Headline Or Hoax? with Dr Brian and Dr John Delony
A headline says certain childhood traumas are linked to fewer mental health problems in adolescence and our brains immediately split in two: curiosity and alarm. We start with a quick round of “Headline Or Hoax,” then unpack why a clean, counterintuitive claim can be both interesting and easy to misuse, especially when it gets reduced to a clickable takeaway instead of a careful conversation about
GRAND OLE PSYCHE
Your kid isn’t “broken” because they’re anxious, shut down, or fighting every boundary you set and neither are you. From the Nashville skyline, we bring on national mental health rockstar Dr. John Delony alongside Dr. Brian, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, to talk about what’s really behind rising anxiety in teens, depression in kids, school refusal, and the kind of “acting out” that leaves f
Comedian Decodes ER Terms
Medical words can sound like spells, and that confusion has a cost. When you don’t understand what a clinician just said, it’s harder to advocate for yourself, follow instructions, or spot a real emergency. So we built a game: we put everyday emergency medicine and toxicology terms in front of a stand-up comedian and let her take her best shot at pronunciation and meaning, then we translate everyt
Headline Or Hoax with Dr Mike and Paula Kosienski
A headline claims a man regrew the tip of his finger with powder made from pig bladder. Another claims coffee can reduce phantom phone vibration syndrome by 23%. Both sound just believable enough to fool you, which is why we love playing Headline Or Hoax. With comedian Paula Kosienski and healthcare hero Dr. Mike on the mic, we put our instincts on the line and then dig into what the real story ac
ANTIDOTE ACE
“Do not bring a live snake to the emergency room” is advice you never expect to hear. Our healthcare hero, Dr Mike, medical toxicologist and emergency room physician breaks down how poisoning, overdoses, and antidotes work in the real world. 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends Comedian and true crime enthusiast Paula Kosienski keeps the laughs coming as we move from antifreeze and snake bites to myths, drug test
Surgery Tools With Funny Names
A “whirly bird” in an operating room sounds like a joke, until you hear what it actually does to pull bone back into alignment. We kick off a fast, playful game where orthopedic traumatologist Dr. Kate shares real surgical instrument names and comedian Seth Hayes tries to pronounce them and guess their meaning, then we unpack the real-world trauma surgery behind the punchlines.Along the way, we tr
Headline Or Hoax? with Dr Kate and Seth Kays
A medical headline about laughter curing an autoimmune spine disease sounds like the kind of internet nonsense we’re trained to ignore and that’s exactly why we put it on the whiteboard. We kick off with “Headline or Hoax,” make our guesses, and then unpack the real story behind Norman Cousins, ankylosing spondylitis, and the surprisingly practical question hiding underneath the punchline: what do
NASHVILLE TRAUMA TITAN
A broken bone sounds simple until you learn what trauma surgeons actually manage around it: crushed soft tissue, infection risk, evolving wounds, and a hospital full of moving pieces that have to click into place fast. 🔴 Dr Ben and FriendsWe sit down in Nashville with Dr. Kate, an orthopedic trauma surgeon, and get the clearest explanation you will hear of what “bone doctor” work looks like when t
Toenail Fungus Is Not A Code Blue
Some medical words sound like pasta, spells, or something your doctor made up on the spot and that’s exactly why we play “What The Heck Is That?” Dr. Ben is joined by Dr. Jennifer, a hospitalist who lives in the world of hospital medicine, plus comedian Marcus Saputo, who tries to pronounce wild-looking terms and guess what they mean before we translate them into plain English.We unpack pancytopen
Lemon Juice For Gray Hair Nice Try
Wild medical stories travel faster than careful medical advice, and that’s exactly why games like “Headline or Hoax” are such a useful antidote to health misinformation. When you hear a claim that sounds unbelievable, your brain wants to decide instantly: true or fake. This episode leans into that impulse on purpose, then slows it down with humor and basic medical reasoning. Along the way, we high
ROUNDING ROCKSTAR
The hospital can turn into a blur the second you get admitted, and we wanted to slow it down and make it make sense. 🔴 Dr Ben and FriendsDr. Jennifer, a board-certified hospitalist in Nashville, joins us to explain what a hospitalist actually does, how patients move from the ER to the floors, and why inpatient medicine is equal parts detective work and coordination. Comedian Marcus Saputo keeps th
What the Heck! Burn Surgery Nerd Words
Your skin does two jobs you never think about until it’s gone: it keeps fluid in and it keeps infection out. So what happens when a major burn breaks that barrier and every decision has to be made fast, with the right words, the right math, and the right plan? We jump into a rapid-fire round of “What The Heck Is That?” with Dr. Tommy and pro comedian Tara Brown, turning burn surgery terms into cle
Headline Or Hoax? with Dr Tommy and Tara Brown
Two headlines hit the board, and only one can be real. One claims cracking your knuckles builds extra bones over time. The other claims a man’s hands ooze yellowish cholesterol nodules after living on an extreme meat, cheese, and butter diet. We make our picks, talk through why certain health myths stick, and then reveal the truth behind the grossest story of the day. From there, we get surprising
BURN BOSS
OUR FIRST VIDEO EPISODE!You can’t “walk it off” after a serious burn, and you also can’t underestimate the quiet courage it takes to rebuild after one. We sit down with Nashville burn and critical care surgeon Dr. Tommy to get clear, practical answers on burn treatment, burn first aid, and what actually happens inside a burn center when the injury is easily preventable. Tara Brown joins us with sh
When Your Stomach Migrates And Your Joke Lands
“Hiatal hernia” sounds like a problem you should keep quiet about, and “choledocholithiasis” sounds like a spell from a medical musical. We decided to make both terms make sense. I’m Dr. Ben, and I’m joined by comedian and university professor Brynn Daniels plus Dr. Jameil, a general and bariatric surgeon, for a fast, funny round of “What The Heck Is That” where we translate real medical terminolo
Headline Or Hoax? with Dr Jameil and Brinn Daniels
A man gets seizures from Sudoku? That sounds like a punchline- was it a real medical case? We kick things off with our “Headline or Hoax” game and watch how quickly all of us can get fooled by a medical headline that feels just believable enough to share. Team Dr Ben unpacks prior medical history to help to understand head injury, anoxic events, and how specific triggers like intense focus or flas
GUT GURU
GLP-1s are everywhere right now and the hype is loud, the brand names are confusing, and the real tradeoffs can feel impossible to pin down. 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends We wanted a straight answer, so we brought in Dr. Jameil, a board-certified general surgeon and fellowship-trained bariatric surgeon, to explain how obesity medicine actually works when you’re sitting across from a real clinician, not an
Medical Word Games With A Jaw Surgeon
A single medical word can hide a whole anatomy lesson, and it gets even better when someone tries to guess the definition first. We play a fast, funny round of What The Heck? with comedian Drew Davis and Dr. Steve, turning intimidating oral and maxillofacial surgery vocabulary into plain-English takeaways you can actually remember.We dig into cleft lip repair and why it’s done early, not just for
Headline Or Hoax? with Dr Steve and Drew Davis
A surgeon opens a chest with a Swiss Army knife he also uses to cut lunch. Sit with that for a second, then press play, because we turn it into a game where your job is to spot the real headline before we reveal just how strange the truth can be. Our “Headline Or Hoax” round pits two surgical stories against each other, and the debate quickly gets into what the operating room is supposed to look l
MEET THE SMILE SURGEON
If you’ve ever wondered how surgeons put faces back together after devastating injuries, this conversation gets surprisingly specific, surprisingly human, and occasionally ridiculous. 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends We sit down with HEALTHCARE HERO, DR.STEVE, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who focuses on facial trauma, to explain how modern technology is reshaping facial reconstruction. Listener, join PRO
Anesthesia Words Decoded
Surgery has a way of turning everyday people into instant experts on medical vocabulary. Someone says “propofol” or “intubation,” and suddenly you are nodding along while silently thinking, what does that actually mean? We keep it simple and honest by playing a quick game of “What the Heck?” where we challenge a pro comic to pronounce the term and tell us what the heck it means! We start with PROP
Headline or Hoax? with Dr Justin and John Datoy
One is a medical HEADLINE. The other is a HOAX. Can you tell the difference? We put a healthcare hero and a pro comic head to head and make our guests decide: is “procrastination may extend lifespan” real science, or is the real story the Alabama woman who received a pig kidney transplant? The guesses are confident, the reveal is chaotic, and the lesson sticks: the health news that feels the mos
CELEBRATE THE GAS MAN!
Meet the doc who keeps you safely knocked out--and the comedians who keep you laughing! Dr Ben hangs with anesthesiologist Dr Justin and comedian John Datoy. Dive into anesthesia secrets and comedy stories. Laugh, learn, and CELEBRATE THE GAS MAN! 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends Ep1Join us for Nashville's premier episode of Dr Ben and Friends, where Dr Ben a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon and sta
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