Team Powdered Donut™ takes Gary’s tradition in memory of his late wife, Maureen, and makes it about all of us. “One Story. One Moment. One Donut at a time.”
Some episodes are more personal than others. Today’s guest is Dr. Leon Platanias, Director, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University. Northwestern happens to be my alma mater, and I first met Leon in early 2014 when he was named interim director of the cancer center. After graduating Northwestern, I met my late...
As one chapter closes, another one has opened. In Emma’s words, “I am honored and overjoyed to have signed with the Indy Ignite Professional Volleyball team for the 2026 season! I am excited to get started and be back home in Indiana!” I am honored to have Emma start the next chapter of the Team...
Welcome to Season Two of the Team Powdered Donut™ podcast. For those that listened to Season One, you may recall the tradition that led to this podcast and my upcoming road trip via Airstream. On the weekend before my wife, Maureen, passed after 11 years with breast cancer, our oncologist prescribed donuts. We dutifully complied...
S1 E17: Living Cross Wise & Divine Appointments | Dr. Gail Bones, Author, Speaker, Singer-Songwriter
There are episodes and there are episodes. I couldn’t think of a better episode as we “wrap” Season One than this one with Dr. Gail Bones. This is an episode that was truly months in the making. I first met Gail on a flight from Austin to Nashville, which we discuss in the podcast. The...
Excited by this latest episode with Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. Jonathan and I ran into each other when the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project came to Austin a few weeks ago. My family’s connection with Habitat for Humanity came when my late wife, Maureen, was getting her Masters at the...
Jane Kristen Marczewski, known as Nightbirde, was an inspiration to the world. Many remember her as the winner of Simon Cowell’s Golden Buzzer on America’s Got Talent in 2021, but most remember her by her wise words and demeanor. Jane represented so many who were going through their own difficult journeys when she walked on...
Super excited to be sharing this episode of the Team Powdered Donut™ podcast with Paula Schneider, now the honorary vice chair of Susan G. Komen as she transitions out of her role these past eight years as CEO. Two things as I drop this episode at the beginning of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium....
From academia to patient centered research and now as the Chief Medical Officer for Blood Cancer United, Gwen Nichols is changing the paradigm of care for hematology patients. When faced by a diagnosis of blood cancer, you must have the right treatment to deal with the specific form of the disease. Gwen has followed her...
This episode of the Team Powdered Donut™ podcast with Dr. Lou DeGenerro, formerly CEO of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, now known as Blood Cancer United. I have a tradition as I record these introductions where I go back and listen to the episode, the day of release, so that it is fresh on my...
This Thanksgiving week, we come to you with two special episodes of the Team Powdered Donut™ podcast. One, a conversation with Rick Dunetz, Founder and Chief Vision Officer of the Side-Out Foundation, who you heard from in an earlier episode. In this episode, we take a different path as we talk about tribes and community...
Where to Listen
Upcoming Episodes
- Season 2 (2026) - Great Guests & More Dates Ahead
- 1/27 - Janelle Keegan, Apple
- TBA - Ruby Dice, American Singer-Songwriter
- TBA - Dennis Slamon, UCLA & Founder of Herceptin
- TBA - Steve McHugh, Chef @ Cured, Author, six-time James Beard Award finalist
- TBA - Henry Bienen, Interim President, Northwestern University
- TBA - Keith Bellizzi, PhD, MPH Professor, Cancer Survivor, Author, Falling Forward
- TBA - Janice Kruger 2-time NCAA Division II AVCA National Coach of the Year, Hall of Fame Player, Side-Out Ambassador
The podcast is now “on the air” ahead of Team Powdered Donut™ heading out on the road via Airstream® to visit all 73 NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers (National Cancer Institute) and other meaningful locations along the way. We are so pleased by the response to our incredible guests.
At every stop on the “love crusade,” powdered donuts will be shared and stories will be collected – echoing the spirit of StoryCorps® – with a mobile podcast studio in the Airstream in which Gary will travel. From patients to those who love them, from oncologists to their healthcare teams, stories will be captured and shared along the way.