Constellations and Cancer: A Storytelling Rebellion with Lisa Shufro

Out of Patients with Matthew Zachary

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Lisa Shufro is the storyteller’s storyteller. A musician turned innovation strategist, TEDMed curator, and unapologetic truth-teller, Lisa doesn’t just craft narratives—she engineers constellations out of chaos. We go way back to the early TEDMed days, where she taught doctors, scientists, and technocrats how not to bore an audience to death. In this episode, we talk about how storytelling in healthcare has been weaponized, misunderstood, misused, and still holds the power to change lives—if done right. Lisa challenges the idea that storytelling should be persuasive and instead argues it should be connective. We get into AI, the myth of objectivity, musical scars, Richard Simmons, the Vegas healthcare experiment, and the real reason your startup pitch is still trash. If you’ve ever been told to “just tell your story,” this episode is the permission slip to do it your way. With a bow, not a violin.

RELATED LINKS

Lisa Shufro’s Website

LinkedIn

Super Curious Archive

Eight Principles for Storytelling in Innovation

StoryCorps Interview

Coursera Instructor Profile

WhatMatters Project

FEEDBACK

Like this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship inquiries, email [email protected].

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.