Episodes

At the beginning of the episode, Asif gives a story about how the podcast has been spreading by word of mouth… and sometimes how he is mistaken for a comedian. Then, Asif asks Ali to discuss his 5 reasons to go into comedy (4:31) – then Ali gives his top 5 reasons to NOT go into comedy. Then they flip things around and Ali asks Asif about his reasons to pursue and not pursue a career in Medicine (30:28). DO go into COMEDY because it is : Creative Low Stakes Interesting schedule Minimal managemen...

Today Ali and Asif discuss the issue of “stage names” in Hollywood (1:03). They start by discussing how the topic came up on the podcast ‘Smartless’, when Keanu Reeves discussed how he was encouraged to change his name when he was breaking into the acting industry. Then Asif asks Ali if Ali ever thought about change his name. The guys then discuss entertainers going by their middle name (ie William Bradley Pitt) as well as those that have completely made up names (ie the Weeknd, Englebert Humper...

Today Asif and Ali discuss the hit TV show ’The Bear’, which recently returned for its second season (2:46). Then, since ‘The Bear’ takes place in a restaurant, in the second half, they discuss food poisoning. They start off by discussing the background of the show and how it is based on a real restaurant in Chicago. Asif then asks Ali about how well the show represents real-life restaurant kitchens. The guys then take a brief digression on the history of Italian Beef sandwiches in Chicago. The ...

Today, Ali and Asif review a movie they saw together recently in an actual movie theatre –‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3’ (2:52). They start off by discussing where we last left off with the Guardians in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They then discuss the original hiring of director James Gunn for the franchise several years ago and the controversy regarding his firing and rehiring by Marvel in 2018. They discuss how integral Gunn is to ‘Guardians’ and how the character of Rocket (played by Br...

Today, Ali and Asif discuss the life and career of the late, great Tina Turner (0:40). The discuss Tina’s early life (born Anna Mae Bullock). They discuss how she met Ike Turner, how they formed the Ike and Tina Turner Review, their history of domestic abuse and her eventual split from Ike. They then discuss her uber-successful solo career and the movie “What’s Love Got to Do with It”. They then discuss her health issues, death, legacy and their favourite Tina Turner songs. Then, since Tina Turn...

On a special episode, Ali and Asif interview comedian, producer and podcaster Graham Clark (‘Stop Podcasting Yourself’). The guys start off by asking Graham about his early days in comedy (with praise for the legendary Brent Butt) and his love of libraries. They then discuss how he got into podcasting, how they choose guests and the logo for ‘Stop Podcasting Yourself’. Ali then asks Dave about his beard and his beard paintings. They then discuss his one man show ‘Graham Clark reads the Phone Bo...

Today, Ali and Asif interview award winning screenwriter Ramona Barkert (‘Degrassi’, ‘The Hardy Boys’, ‘Wynona Earp’) about how one gets into screenwriting, the creative process and how “writers rooms” function (0:54). They discuss the term “showrunner” and what the duties of that position entail. Ramona then goes over how one writes a season of television, individual episodes and even individual scenes. Although Ramona is not a member of the Writers Guild of America, she then gives an outsiders...

On today’s episode the guys discuss superstar actor Michael J Fox and the new documentary on his life, ‘Still’ (0:52). The guys start off with the discussion with the story behind the “J” in Michael's name and his early life in British Colombia. They then discuss when they first encountered him in the NBC sitcom ‘Family Ties’. Asif and Ali then discuss Fox’s breakthrough in ‘Back to the Future’, as well as his other hit films. They then discuss his return to television with ‘Spin City’ and how ...

Today, to start off, the guys clarify an error from a few episodes ago regarding Netflix’s pricing tiers (1:24). Then Ali and Asif review Jon Mulaney’s new special ‘Baby J’ (4:20). Before this they briefly review Jon Mulaney’s career as a standup comedian and as a writer for ‘Saturday Night Live’ and ‘The Snack Lunch Bunch’. SPOILERS for the special start at 10:20. Then, since Mulaney’s special is about his recovery from cocaine addiction, Ali asks Asif about Cocaine toxicity (45:14). Asif firs...

Today the guys discuss the legendary metal band Motley Crue as well as ankylosing spondylitis, a disease which Motley Crue Guitarist Mick Mars suffers from. But before this, Asif tells a little known story about Chris Rock from his childhood, which directly ties in to the whole Chris Rock/Will Smith slap (1:25). Then they discuss Motley Crue (5:35), Ali’s early fandom and how Asif was “afraid” of metal bands back in the day. After recounting the early days of the band, the guys discuss how the b...

As a bit of bonus content the guys first offer a correction about ‘Rick and Morty’ from a previous episode. Then, since it has been a month since the finale of ‘The Last of Us’, the guys give a SPOILER FILLED review of the finale and the series as whole. Plus Asif compares the show to the video game and whether the creators succeeded in proving that video games can be art. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, given the recent release of U2’s 40 song album ‘Songs of Surrender’ and their documentary on Disney plus, the guys discuss the band U2 (1:32) and give their top 5 U2 songs. Ali starts off by talking about the funny coincidence between his book and Bono’s book ‘Surrender’, as well the band ‘Inhaler’. They start off by discussing the early days of the band and their tremendous success over the years. They then discuss the new documentary on Disney Plus ‘Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming...

Today, Ali and Asif discuss the career of the legendary comedian Chris Farley (1:15). They go over his early life and then highlight some of his famous sketches including ‘Matt Foley’ and the Chippendales sketch with Patrick Swayze. They then transition into talking about his movies including ‘Tommy Boy’ and ‘Beverly Hills Ninja’, as well as the movies he ended up not making, including ‘Shrek’ and ‘The Cable Guy’. They discuss Chris’ love of John Belushi and how both comedians ended up dying fro...

Today, Ali and Asif review Chris Rock’s recent live Netflix special ‘Selective Outrage’ (0:53)(SPOILERS for the special follow). The guys actually decide to go through the special in chronological order and highlight the highs and lows of Chris’s set (end SPOILERS at 29:10). Then Ali asks Asif about migraines. Asif talks about how common migraines are and what the main symptoms are. He then discusses why we think migraines occur and what the main triggers are for migraine attacks. The guys then...

Today Ali and Asif discuss the cult classic TV show about caterers in Hollywood, ‘Party Down’ (3:57). Before getting into the show, Asif asks Ali about his highs and lows working as a caterer. Asif then tells an anecdote about him volunteering at Norman Jewison’s barbeque at the Toronto International Film Festival (the female Canadian rock star he saw there). Then the guys talk about how the television show ‘Party Down’ came about, its connection with Paul Rudd, its eventual cancellation and its...

On today’s episode, Ali asks Asif about the phenomenon of synesthesia (2:33). Asif gives the definition of the term and gives several examples of synesthesia. He discusses how it is thought to possibly be genetic, and describes how common it is (occurs in 1 in 2000 people!). Asif talks about acquired cases (i.e. from strokes) as well as the theories as to what causes this phenomenon (disinhibited feedback between regions vs the amount or pattern of dendritic and/or axonal connections). Then Asif...

On today’s episode, Asif asks Ali about different comedy styles and why aspiring comedians would choose to adopt a particular style (1:54). He goes over ‘one-liner’, ‘storytelling’, ‘observational’ styles. He then goes over comics who adopt characters, shock/insult comics, prop/magic/music comedians, and political comics. Then Ali asks Asif about obstructive sleep apnea (33:45). Asif talks about his personal experiences with being diagnosed with sleep apnea. He then goes over how common sleep a...

On this special episode, the guys interview physician and podcaster Dr. Mark Shapiro, host of the ‘Explore the Space’ podcast and ‘Med Lasso’. The guys ask Mark about his “origin story” and how he got started in medicine and podcasting. He goes into detail on how he eventually went into Internal Medicine and became a hospitalist. Mark discusses how the name “Explore the Space” came from the Saturday Night Live “More Cowbell” sketch…and then the guys take a digression to review their favourite SN...

In this special episode, the guys preview the 95th Annual Academy Awards Preview, taking place on March 12, 2023 (no medical topic this episode). The guys start off by discussing how other awards (SAG awards, Directors’ guild, Producers’ Guild, Golden Globes, Writer’s Guild can sometimes predict the Oscars. They guys then go through each category as well as their individual pics. During the Best Actress pics, the guys go over the controversy regarding the nomination of Andrea Riseborough and why...

Today, Ali and Asif debate the merits of the cult-classic television show ‘Community’ (1:31). They start off by discussing how it was created by Dan Harmon after ‘Rick and Morty’ and then discuss Harmon’s writing style. Then then discuss the sexual misconduct allegations against Dan Harmon and his eventual apology to Megan Ganz, one of the women he harassed. Then Asif discusses how he finds the show clever, but not especially funny…and Ali disagrees. Arguments ensue. Then they discuss the pros a...

Today the guys discuss the implication for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in comedy/entertainment and medicine. The guys go over the basics of AI (1:10) and discuss the rise of Chat GPT. Ali then references how he was on the CBC show “Because News” and how he competed with Chat GPT to come up with a sonnet about hamburgers. Ali then talks about AI in comedy and how some developers created a robot who does stand up comedy. Ali then gives examples of how AI created an “Ali Hassan” stand up routine a...

Today, Ali and Asif discuss the hit TV show ‘The Last of Us’ (0:56). Asif starts off by discussing the game it is based on and whether video games can be considered ‘art’. Then the guys discuss the challenges of adapting video games to other media. They then discuss the development of the show and how the creators avoided the ‘video game curse’. The guys then give their thoughts on the show. Then Ali asks Asif about fungal infections (22:13). Asif starts off by defining what fungi are and descri...

Today for our 100th episode, Asif and Ali welcome back one of their most popular guests, Will Flannary aka social media star Dr. Glaucomflecken. As a bonus they are also joined by Will’s wife Kristen Flannary, aka Lady Glaucomflecken. They guys ask Will and Kristin about their busy lives with Glaucomflecken.com and balancing work and family and how they met back in college. They then ask about Will’s cardiac arrest in 2020 and how Kristen had to do CPR on Will for 10 minutes. They clarify how Wi...

Today, Ali and Asif discuss the career of actor Chris Hemsworth. They discuss his background, his early roles and his breakthrough roles in “Star Trek” and ‘Thor” (1:00). Then Asif gives Ali a trivia quiz on all things Hemsworth. Then, the guys discuss how on Chris’ new show “Limitless”, he discusses that genetic testing reveals that he has an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Asif starts off by giving a bit of background on Allzheimers, what causes it and how common it is (15:49). He then...