Beyond the Prescription

ABC veteran journalist Gloria Riviera has told a lot of compelling stories. 

The mother of three has spent two decades reporting on hard hitting topics like underaged sex trafficking. She’s also the host of the No One is Coming to Save Us podcast, where she examines the broken American child care system. 

Now Gloria is telling her own story. It begins in 2019 with an unforeseen brain cancer diagnosis, and it’s far from over. 

In this episode of Beyond the Prescription openly discusses how past trauma “prepared” her to cope with cancer, the lessons learned during her treatment, and why she doesn’t fear death.

Join Dr. Lucy McBride every Tuesday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts. Find her at lucymcbride.com/podcast

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe

Journalist Meghan Daum has never been one to mince her words. In her books and on her podcast, The Unspeakable, she tackles some of life’s thorniest issues — from gender politics and wokeism to death and dying — with bold honesty and humor.

 

Megan is the queen of nuance, a crusader against absolutism, a fearless explorer of taboos. 

 

In this episode, Meghan gives Dr. McBride an unreserved look into some of her most vulnerable moments, including losing her mother and being placed into a medically-induced coma. Meghan’s fresh take on life, death, and health are just what the doctor ordered. 

 

Join Dr. Lucy McBride every Tuesday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts. Find her at lucymcbride.com/podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Sunita Puri  was raised in a spiritual family who taught her the significance of not only life, but of death. Now as a director of Hospice  and Palliative Medicine Fellowship, she has spent an innumerable amount of hours helping terminally-ill patients and their family members make end-of-life decisions. 

Dr. Puri outlines this intersection of her family’s spirituality and her medical career in her 2019 memoir  “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour”. 

In episode 19 of Beyond the Prescription Dr. Puri and Dr. McBride blend their collective experiences as medical professionals into an insightful and honest discussion about the role of medicine in the quality and quantity of life. 

Join Dr. Lucy McBride every Tuesday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts. Find her at lucymcbride.com/podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe

As a seasoned school counselor and mother of three, Phyllis Fagell knows exactly how fraught — and potentially how fabulous — adolescence can be. Her latest book, Middle School Matters, equips parents with tools and guidance to navigate the tween years.

 

Fagell joins Dr. McBride on this episode of Beyond the Prescription with practical advice and personal anecdotes on tolerating distress and approaching the school year with optimism. 

 

Join Dr. Lucy McBride every Tuesday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts. Find her at lucymcbride.com/podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Susan Landers is living proof that caring for others starts with caring for ourselves.
After 20 years as a neonatologist (pediatric intensive care doctor), she began to feel unmotivated and exhausted. She was burned out. Raising children and caring for sick babies became unmanageable. So she rethought it all. Her memoir, “So Many Babies: My Life Balancing a Busy Medical Career & Motherhood” reminds us that behind the scenes of many professional women lies self-doubt and struggle—and that vulnerability is the birthplace of health.
In this episode, Dr. McBride and Dr. Landers discuss their shared experiences of juggling motherhood with their medical careers and their insights on preventing burnout.
Join Dr. Lucy McBride every Tuesday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts. Find her at lucymcbride.com/podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe

In college, Larissa, “Larz,” May was dangerously addicted to social media. She’s now trying to change the world. As a trailblazing mental health advocate and entrepreneur, the 28-year-old founded #HalfTheStory in order to help young people navigate our brave new world of potentially harmful social media inputs. Through her advocacy work and educational initiatives, she is living proof that a healthy mind requires a healthy relationship with technology.

On this episode of Beyond the Prescription, Dr. McBride and Larz discuss how to better regulate our social media “diet” and the importance of digital detoxification.

Join Dr. Lucy McBride every Tuesday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts. Find her at lucymcbride.com/podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe

Hamilton, “Ham” Leithauser is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-talented instrumentalist. He is also Dr. McBride’s first cousin.
Ham’s career took off as the lead singer of the now-retired Indie band, The Walkmen (founded by Dr. McBride’s brother Walter Martin). He has since gone solo, producing a number of critically acclaimed albums. Most recently he wrote the original score for his friend Ethan Hawke’s HBO Max series, The Last Hollywood Stars.
In this episode of Beyond the Prescription, the first cousins reminisce about growing up across the street from each other, their strong family bonds, and their grief over losing Ham’s mom (Dr. McBrides’ aunt). Ham opens up about the pressures of performing, the ever-changing music
industry, and being human on stage.
Join Dr. Lucy McBride every Tuesday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts. Find her at lucymcbride.com/podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe

As a child, Keri Blakinger competed on the regional and national levels, with the hopes of one day becoming an Olympian. But behind the scenes, the star figure skater was struggling with an eating disorder, suicidality, and, ultimately, a life-threatening heroin addiction.
In her last year at Cornell, she was sent to prison for heroin possession. It was at what was perhaps her lowest point that Keri found a new mission in life: Writing and advocating for the human rights of the incarcerated. What began as journal entries to get through her 2-year prison term turned into her book, Corrections in Ink, published in June of 2022.
As an author and investigative journalist for the Marshall Project, Keri is focused on her recovery and helping reform the fractured American prison system.
On Episode 14 of Beyond the Prescription, Keri and Dr. Lucy McBride have a candid conversation about overcoming addiction, life in prison, and addressing mental illness through rehabilitation over punishment.
Join Dr. Lucy McBride every Tuesday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts. Find her at lucymcbride.com/podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe

Most of us would do anything to avoid the intensive care unit (ICU). Dr. Kyeremanteng wants to help. Caring for the sickest patients during the coronavirus pandemic opened this ICU doctor’s eyes. He quickly recognized that many of the underlying conditions that caused severe COVID outcomes were treatable—if not reversible.
In addition, patients who leave the ICU not only have to recover from whatever illness brought them there, they have to cope with associated PTSD, anxiety, depression, and significant suffering for their caregivers and their families.
So during the pandemic, Dr. K poured his energy into helping people prevent the chances of them landing in the ICU in the first place.
In this episode, Dr. K and Dr. McBride discuss their shared passion for “prevention over prescription”; patient education and empowerment; and their advocacy work together on kids’ mental health during COVID.
In short, they talk about ways to help individuals avoid the enormous medical, social and emotional costs of chronic illness—while redefining what it means to be healthy.
Dr. K wants to “Change the Boogey”—to start a “contagion” of healthy living. It starts here.
Join Dr. Lucy McBride every Tuesday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts. Find her at lucymcbride.com/podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe

  Trigger Warning: Sexual Trauma
Actor Katherine Kendall was only 23 years old when Harvey Weinstein lured her into his apartment, and then cornered and sexually traumatized her. For years she felt silenced and powerless, fearing backlash if she reported the then influential producer.

Years later in 2017, Katherine bravely spoke out. She was one of the first women to publicly speak out against Weinstein in a New York Times article, sending a ripple effect that would ignite the #MeToo movement. In this episode of Beyond the Prescription, the actress details her journey of overcoming the shame of being sexually traumatized; grappling with the physical manifestations of emotional pain; and finding the courage to advocate for other survivors.

Join Dr. Lucy McBride every Tuesday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts. Find her at lucymcbride.com/podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe