STAT Debuts New Season of First Opinion Podcast

Tune in weekly for conversations with notable experts exploring issues and ideas that influence the life sciences across the U.S.

BOSTON, Oct. 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The STAT First Opinion Podcast returns with a new season. From social media to the exam room to research ethics, this season of the First Opinion Podcast brings together renowned contributors and newsmakers reimagining the rules of medicine. The first episode, featuring science influencer Morgan McSweeney, aka Doctor Noc, was released on Wednesday, Oct. 1.

"Our First Opinion platform has become the most sought-after forum for persuasive and personal essays, ranging from patients to global health leaders to members of Congress,'' said Rick Berke, STAT's co-founder and executive editor. "Through the the provocative First Opinion Podcast, we bring those voices to life.''

This season, the podcast will feature exclusive conversations with esteemed guests including:

• Scientist and social media influencer Morgan McSweeney on how he approaches "edutainment" and delivers facts to his 4 million followers
   
• Oncologist Samyukta Mullangi and Joy Lisi Rankin explore what it means when cancer patients decline treatment and how providers can support their choices
   
• Professor Jill Fisher and nonprofit director Jake Eberts discuss how research participants should be paid more — and Jake's experience as a participant that willingly contracted dysentery for science.

"On the First Opinion Podcast, the people who shape medicine in ways big and small share what they really think with an audience ranging from biotech executives to health care providers to patients and caretakers," said Torie Bosch, STAT's First Opinion editor. "I get to serve as the listener's voice, trying to get to the nuances of ideas that are often flattened into a simple pro or con, left or right, good or bad. In a moment of polarization, I think conversation is one of the best tools we have."

Subscribe to the "First Opinion Podcast," available weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other major podcast platforms.

Sign up for the "First Opinion" newsletter, delivered every Sunday, which features first-person essays from patients, biotech executives, social media influencers, and more.

Contact: Carla Kath, Director of Communications, [email protected]

About STAT:

Founded in 2015, STAT is a digital media company that focuses on delivering fast, deep, and tough-minded journalism about the life sciences to over 8 million monthly site visitors and an additional 20 million readers on the Apple News app. STAT takes you inside academic labs, biotech boardrooms, and political backrooms, casting a critical eye on scientific discoveries, scrutinizing corporate strategies, and chronicling the roiling battles for talent, money, and market share. With an award-winning newsroom, STAT provides indispensable insights and exclusive stories on the technologies, personalities, power brokers, and political forces driving massive changes in the life sciences industry — and a revolution in human health.

STAT has twice been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist and has won a number of prestigious journalism prizes, including the George Polk Awards, Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting, Edward R. Murrow Awards, and SABEW "Best in Business" Awards.

STAT's main newsroom is located in Boston, and it also has reporters in Washington, D.C., New York City, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

About Boston Globe Media:
Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC is a locally owned, award-winning media company serving Boston and New England for over 153 years. Its cornerstone is The Boston Globe, a 27-time Pulitzer Prize-winning news source and one of the most successful metro news organizations in the United States. The Globe is headquartered in Boston with regional bureaus in Washington, D.C., Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. The Globe has been successfully growing its direct subscriber base, today boasting the highest total number of subscribers the organization has had since 2008. The Globe hosts events that connect community members to its journalism and provides a range of digital and home-delivered advertising solutions that reach more consumers than any other New England media brand. Boston Globe Media's portfolio includes The Boston Globe, Globe Opinion, Boston.com, STAT, The B-Side, Globe Publishing Services, Globe Events, Studio/B, and Boston magazine.

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SOURCE STAT