STAT Debuts New Season of “First Opinion” Podcast

Tune in weekly for conversations with notable experts exploring issues and ideas that influence the life sciences across the U.S. 

BOSTON, March 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The STAT “First Opinion” podcast returns with a new season featuring interviews with renowned contributors and newsmakers, including politicians, researchers, and health care providers. Past podcast guests include Dr. Anthony Fauci, Mark Cuban, and Dr. Will Flanary (Dr. Glaucomflecken).

“Our First Opinion platform has become the most sought after forum for persuasive and personal essays, ranging from patients to global health leaders to members of Congress,” said Rick Berke, STAT’s co-founder and executive editor. “Through the provocative First Opinion podcast, we bring those voices to life.”

This season, the podcast will feature exclusive conversations with esteemed guests including:

• Award-winning author and columnist Carl Zimmer discussing his newly published book, Airborne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe
• Medical professionals Faith Crittenden and Jared Boyce exploring the workforce crisis in pediatrics
• Dr. Ted Johnson from Emory University School of Medicine on using improv techniques to connect with Alzheimer’s patients
• Neurosurgeon and medical consultant Vijay Agarwal from Montefiore Medical Center featured on Severance
• Vet, epidemiologist, and microbiologist Meghan Davis from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on cats and bird flu

“On the First Opinion podcast, the people who shape medicine in ways big and small share what they really think with an audience ranging from biotech executives to health care providers to patients and caretakers,” said Torie Bosch, STAT’s First Opinion editor. “I get to serve as the listener’s voice, asking the questions to try to get to the nuances of ideas that are often flattened into a simple pro or con, left or right, good or bad. In a moment of polarization, I think conversation is one of the best tools we have.”

Subscribe to the “First Opinion” podcast available weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other major podcast platforms.

Sign up for the “First Opinion” newsletter, delivered every Sunday, which features first-person essays from patients, biotech executives, and social media influencers.

Contact: Carla Kath, Director of Communications, carla.kath@globe.com

About STAT:

Founded in 2015, STAT is a digital media company that focuses on delivering fast, deep, and tough-minded journalism about the life sciences to over 8 million monthly site visitors and an additional 20 million readers on the Apple News app. STAT takes you inside academic labs, biotech boardrooms, and political backrooms, casting a critical eye on scientific discoveries, scrutinizing corporate strategies, and chronicling the roiling battles for talent, money, and market share. With an award-winning newsroom, STAT provides indispensable insights and exclusive stories on the technologies, personalities, power brokers, and political forces driving massive changes in the life sciences industry — and a revolution in human health.

STAT has twice been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist and has won a number of prestigious journalism prizes, including the George Polk Awards, Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting, Edward R. Murrow Awards, and SABEW “Best in Business” Awards.

STAT’s main newsroom is located in Boston, and it also has reporters in Washington, D.C., New York City, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

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SOURCE STAT