Gabriel León is a 6th year PhD candidate doing his doctoral internship in the Stress, Trauma, and Resilience clinic at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. In this conversation, we talk about his work in Dr. Darby Saxbe's lab studying the unique challenges of families and relationships when they have children. We discuss his work in different clinical and community settings and a whole host of other things (music, changing relationships, deconstructing religious doctrines, etc.).

Here are a couple relevant links:
Go pick up Dad Brain by Dr. Darby Saxbe, read about some of the work here
 https://reprohealth.ucla.edu/2025/05/12/dr-darby-saxbe-neurobiological-changes-in-fathers/

Homeboy Industries YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1qB5vOjXwp2ptuS7wkijxw

Daniel Schaub is a nurse (BSN/RN) who has worked in cancer infusion centers for the better part of 10 years. In that time, he's entered into a unique form of suffering with people during one of the hardest things they will ever have to do. We discuss what cancer infusion looks like, how people often have preconceived notions of it and how they suffer while receving treatment, how he can partner with them to support them, and how he has learned to cope with the suffering he enters into. Dan is a remarkable person with a huge capacity for empathy and care; I'm better because I know him. I hope you'll enjoy this conversation.

Dr. Lia Fiallos is a Family Medicine physician at Colorado Coalition for the Homeless with an undergraduate degree in Anthropology. Using her skills, she has traveled and participated in medical missions yearly to Guatemala, where her family is from. During this conversation, we discuss the lessons she has learned from nearly two decades of medical missions; she tells me about things like her evolving philosophy and feelings on medical missions, what those missions have often looked like for her, and how she deals with the unique challenges they present.

Over the last 20 years, Levi Macallister has used writing as a way to make sense of the world around him. In this conversation, we get a quick history of his spoken word project, Levi the Poet, a window into how creating art has helped him deal with the suffering he has experienced, and how it has evolved to allow him to share his gift of transforming suffering into art with others.

Keep an eye out for his new book: pay attention, you're alive

Below are relevant links:

Preorder the new book here!
https://www.levithepoet.net/store 

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3a5FVPb_IjEDq3ghafswkyaZsnyDG3mn&si=CZ0twnbx9wFnRYeL

I've had the unique and profound pleasure of working closely with Dr. Ed Farrell over the last two years at Colorado Coalition for the Homeless as his medical assistant. We've had innumerable conversations in which I've learned more than I could ever describe about the art and science of medicine. Below are links to the other podcasts he's been featured that I mentioned during this conversation. Thanks for listening!


Changing the Conversation: Motivational Interviewing
https://thinkt3.libsyn.com/podcast/ed-farrell 


Health Equity Club at Rocky Vista College of Osteopathic Medicine
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/af18f54b-199c-4665-8e0f-1e7682532d45/episodes/3407f5a5-40e6-4ffd-bd92-9b4dc94d2820/health-equity-club-interview-series-dr-ed-farrell-healthcare-for-people-experiencing-homelessness

"You and I belong to the ever-defeated never altogether subdued side" - JRR Tolkien

Over the years, I've had many conversations with incredibly inspiring people that have changed me. Many of those conversations had to do with suffering in some form or fashion - it's a reality of the human experience and most traditions (religious, philosophical, or otherwise) deal with it in one way or another.

I'm really excited to bring you along for these conversations! These are some really amazing people with really great insight. Welcome to The Long Defeat.