Episodes

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 ap...

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 ...

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 ...

Today on a special episode, Ali and Asif interview actress, comedian and YouTube sensation Julie Nolke. They start off by discussing Julie’s background and how she almost pursued engineering before studying theatre. She then discusses how she struggled for years with auditioning before finding her voice on YouTube. They then discuss her viral hit video “Explaining the pandemic to my past self”, which has over 20 million views. Ali then asks Julie about online criticism which is often sexist when...

Today the guys discuss the career of actress and comedian Mindy Kaling (2:12). Ali and Asif start off her background and when they first saw her on television. They then talk about her roles in ‘The Office’, ‘The Mindy Project’ and her creating ‘Never Have I Ever’, as well as her book “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?”. Then, Asif tells the unbelievable story about Mindy’s brother pretending to be black to get into medical school in the USA. The guys then discuss the diabetes and weight loss...

Today, Ali and Asif discuss the phenomenon of “Nepo Babies” in Hollywood (1:30). They talk about the origin of the term, which was coined by Meriem Derradji, a 25-year-old Canadian tech-support worker while commenting on Maude Apatow from ‘Euphoria’ being the daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann. Then the guys give the audience a quiz, asking if they can guess the famous father of the lead singer of the band ‘Inhaler’. Asif then asks Ali if he has encountered the “Nepo Baby” phenomenon over t...

The guys start off by welcoming everyone to 2023 and they also talk about their recent trip to Dubai. They then discuss the career of Celine Dion (4;16). Ali talks about how he heard about her in the 80’s while growing up in Quebec. They talk about her crossover success with her English albums and her mega hits “Beauty and the Beast” and “My Heart Will Go on”. They then go over some little known facts about her life and career. Then Ali asks Asif about Celine’s recent diagnosis of Stiff-Person S...

As a year-end treat, the guys go over their favourite entertainment from 2022… and decide to omit a medical topic. Ali and Asif start off by talking about their favourite books they read last year. Then they discuss what they listened to last year including music and podcasts. The guys then compare notes on their favourite tv shows and movies from this past year. NB: The pod will be taking the next two weeks off. We will see all of you in the new year! The opinions expressed are those of the h...

WARNING: Explicit Language in this episode Today Asif and Ali are pleased to welcome comedian Steve Way, co-star of the hit Hulu show ‘Ramy’ (0:57). They talk about how Steve got into comedy, his influences, and some of the barriers he has faced being a comedian with a disability. Ali then asks Steve about his past employment as a substitute teacher and Steve talks about how much he enjoyed interacting with and teaching high school students. They then discuss how Steve got his role on ‘Ramy’ an...

Today the guys start of with some (good/bad??) news about the podcast TikTok account. Then the guys discuss their favourite albums from 1992 (5:25). The guys each give their top 10 lists from the year. Then Ali asks Asif about the sometimes controversial topic of circumcision (45:13). Asif talks about the history of the practice and some of the criticisms of it. Then Asif talks about whether there is evidence for health benefits from circumcision and also talks about the risks of the procedure. ...

Jay Leno is now at home recovering from serious burn injuries; on today’s episode, Asif and Ali discuss Jay’s career and accomplishments. However to start off, Ali asks Asif about how common burns are and the differences between first, second and third degree burns (1:20). Asif then goes over how to treat burns and the use of hyperbaric oxygen for burns. They then discuss Jay Leno’s career and his early life (and specifically mention that they will NOT be talking a lot about Conan or cars) (15:1...

On this special episode, Ali and Asif interview the hosts of ‘The Gritty Nurse Podcast’, Amie Archibald Varley and Sara Fung. They start off by asking Amie and Sara their origin stories, how they got into nursing and how they started their podcast. Amie and Sara then discuss the issues of hierarchy and bullying in the culture of nursing. They speak about the success of their podcast and their favorite episodes. They then discuss the current crisis in nursing in Canada and the rest of North Ameri...

With Elon Musk now having purchased Twitter, the guys devote an episode to Twitter and Comedy and Twitter and Medicine. Asif starts off by asking Ali if there is any positive effects of Twitter on Comedy (0:58); then Asif challenges Ali with the opposite question, namely “has Twitter ruined comedy”? Ali uses the examples of comedians getting canceled (ie Kurt Metzger) and why comedians need to be extra careful on social media. They then discuss how while comedians have to be careful, non-comedia...

This past month was breast cancer awareness month and in the last episode we did the entertainment part, with an interview with musician and Bif Naked (who is herself a breast cancer survivor). Today we will be doing a deep dive into breast cancer. Asif starts out by mentioning that a lot of the main points for the episode today were informed by a conversation with Dr. Tulin Cil, breast surgical oncologist from the University of Toronto. Ali starts off by asking how common breast cancer is and w...