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We tend to surround ourselves with people we identify with, in appearance, beliefs and perspective. This subconscious habit, known as homophily, occurs because it’s validating to have our own ideas reflected back to us by the people around us, whether it’s friends, family or colleagues. But the truth is that homophily significantly inhibits the success of a team.

It was a treat to get to discuss Matthew Syed's brilliant book with James Thambyrajah and to think about why it's so relevant to us in healthcare working in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environment so much of the time

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This week I'm joined by Belfast GP Susan Buchanan to discuss Bruce Parry and Oprah Winfrey's bestselling book What Happened to You.

This is an accessible and engaging book written in the format of stories and conversations between Dr Parry and Oprah which means that a lot of complex and deep information is made really clear and easy to follow.

This is a book all about ACEs and why they matter but is also full of hope and kindness.  
It's one that has made me a better doctor and one I would absolutely recommend to some patients too

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This week a massive thank you and well done to Lewi Gee my amazing sound editor who tackled a recording which had been horribly messed up by a combination of technology failure and terrible Islay weather and my guest using a not very good satellite link!


It's a huge pleasure to welcome back remote and rural GP Catriona Davis to talk about Barbara Kingsolver's newest novel, a retelling of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield set in Appalachia in the opiate epidemic of the early 21st Century.

It's a brilliant book with such a huge amount to discuss.  It's dark, it's deep, it's thought provoking and also filled with light.

Follow Catriona on twitter here: https://twitter.com/catrionadavis

We also mentioned the book Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/empire-of-pain-the-secret-history-of-the-sackler-dynasty-patrick-radden-keefe/6452138?ean=9781529063103 and the Disney+ series Dopesick - there's a fabulous episode of the Boggleddocs podcast all about this one:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1300702/12482048-dopesick-how-we-ve-all-been-sucked-in-to-the-opiate-crisis

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I'm joined this week by counsellor Bridget Hargreave https://www.cayatherapy.co.uk/bridget-hargreave to talk about Cariad Llloyd's https://twitter.com/ladycariad wonderful book You are not alone which builds on her superb podcast The Griefcast and is described by Phillipa Pearce on the cover as "the friend you need when you are grieving"

This book is moving, practical, funny. So many things and explores so many feelings and ideas in such a brilliant and accessible way.

Bridget and I mention Cariad's podcast, Griefcast which can be found here: https://cariadlloyd.com/griefcast

Follow Cariad on twitter here: https://twitter.com/ladycariad

and find Bridget here https://twitter.com/bhargreave

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I'm joined this week by Victoria Kinkaid, military doctor, women's health enthusiast, feminist and host of the Virago Voices podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/virago-voices/id1518617892

We had a brilliant conversation about Half the Sky a book which is sadly just as relevant and current now as it was in 2009 when it was first published.
 
A review in the New York Times  explains that “Half the Sky” tackles atrocities and indignities from sex trafficking to maternal mortality, from obstetric fistulas to acid attacks, and absorbing the fusillade of horrors can feel like an assault of its own. But the poignant portraits of survivors humanize the issues, divulging facts that moral outrage might otherwise eclipse.

It does this and so much more, illustrating with individual human stories big issues across the world and twins them with solutions and calls to activism.  It's an important book and a deep one but also a book full of hope and opportunity.

Victoria and I also mention briefly Christina Lamb's stunning book Our Bodies, Their Battlefield which we'd also both read recently and which complements Half the Sky  brilliantly (Guardian review here:  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/08/our-bodies-their-battlefield-christina-lamb-review-women-war-rape-victims)

 
Follow Victoria on Twitter here:  https://twitter.com/vkinkaid11

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Illiyin Morrison is a midwife by background and now well known on instagram as @mixing-up-motherhood and working as a birth debrief facilitator  https://mixingupmotherhood.com/

find her brilliant instagram page here https://www.instagram.com/mixing.up.motherhood

We got together to discuss Bessel van der Kolk's book "The Body Keeps the Score" as well as Illy's fabulous new book The Birth Debrief.

We talk about the lack of teaching about trauma informed care in medical and midwifery training, about the subjective nature of what trauma might be, why The Body Keeps the Score is a book for everyone and much more

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How many times have we consoled ourselves with the truism "this too shall pass"? In the world of change which we all currently inhabit there's so much uncertainty and I was hugely reassured to read Julia Samuel's gorgeous book and realise that the experiences of my patients, my friends and I are not actually all that weird after all.

I absolutely loved talking to Kate Wharton about her take on Julia's wisdom as well as discussing the similarities between our jobs (she's a vicar, I'm a GP) and the importance of community, congregation and connection.

Follow Kate on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/KateWharton27

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Barrington Jedidiah Walker is seventy-four and leads a double life. Born and bred in Antigua, he's lived in Hackney since the sixties. A flamboyant, wise-cracking local character with a dapper taste in retro suits and a fondness for quoting Shakespeare, Barrington is a husband, father and grandfather - but he is also secretly homosexual, lovers with his great childhood friend, Morris.

His deeply religious and disappointed wife, Carmel, thinks he sleeps with other women. When their marriage goes into meltdown, Barrington wants to divorce Carmel and live with Morris, but after a lifetime of fear and deception, will he manage to break away?

This is a book like no other, funny, moving, warm, fristrarting. The full spectrum of humanity. And a protagonist who is 74 and loving sex, lots of sex, just not with his wife.

I loved it. And thoroughtly enjoyed exploring themes in it with Pim Dhahan

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Tuesday 28th March 2023 marks the third anniversary of poet, writer, broadcaster and all round national treasure Michael Rosen's admission to hospital with Covid-19. It felt only right therefore to release this episode today.

I'm talking to GP Kirsty Shires about Michael Rosen's wonderful Many Different Kinds of Love  which documents his experiences of that time. It is such a moving and engaging book and one I'm sure I'll come back to repeatedly for teaching, for reflection and for enjoyment.

follow Kirsty on twitter https://twitter.com/shireskirsty

It's a celebration of love in some familiar different forms: Eros – Romantic love, Philia – Affectionate love. Storge – Familiar love, Pragma – Enduring love, Agape – Universal love. At the heart of the book is Michael Rosen's story told in his own voice and in the recollections of so many others from so many walks of healthcare who looked after him during that terrifying time.

Kirsty and I do talk about illness, about uncertainty and fear and of course Covid-19 itself, we hope we are celebrating the wonderful diversity of those NHS teams who worked together to care for (and love in the sense of agape and pragma) so many patients and we remember those who didn't make it too.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of those healthcare professionals who didn't make it through the pandemic. The WHO estimate there are 180 000 of you, we want to say thank you, and we remember you.

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Imagine being a household name, a sporting hero and a member of England's world cup winning rugby team from 2003.  Imagine having no recollection at all of the tournament of all tournaments in your sparkling career. Imagine being unable to remember the names of your children or the name of your dog. Imagine realising this was preventable and that the game you loved, to which you gave your career has harmed you irreparably.  Welcome to the world of Steve Thompson.

I'm joined today by Gary Turner to discuss Unforgettable  Steve Thompson's powerful and heartbreaking memoir of rugby and dementia.

Follow Gary on Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/smilerturner

We mentioned a number of useful resources around the topic of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy CTE

https://concussionfoundation.org/
 https://headforchange.org.uk/

'Concussion', starring Will Smith, real life story of Bennett Omalu discovering CTE in American Football Players, and the NFL attempt to cover it up

More Books:
League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions, and the Battle for Truth: Amazon.co.uk: Fainaru-Wada, Mark, Fainaru, Steve: 9780770437565: Books

A Delicate Game: Brain Injury, Sport and Sacrifice : Walker-Brown, Hana: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Concussion and Traumatic Encephalopathy - Victoroff and Bigler, the best text book on the subject of brain injuries in sport Concussion and Traumatic Encephalopathy: Causes, Diagnosis and Management: Amazon.co.uk: Victoroff, Jeff, Bigler, Erin D.: 9781107073951: Books

Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing (Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Prize) : Dixon, Tris: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Gary also recommends a selection of papers - too many to list here which can be found by following this google drive link if you are interested:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E3G7eDD1yPTA3aTWXGD95i11XTdgCpfPNG12kfkNtkE/edit?usp=sharing