Show Notes
Matthew Zachary shares his remarkable journey from a concert pianist to a cancer advocate and healthcare reformer, highlighting the power of storytelling, advocacy, and systemic change in the fight against cancer.
Keywords
Cancer advocacy, healthcare reform, patient stories, Stupid Cancer, We the Patients, medical system, survivorship, policy change, patient voice, healthcare history
key Topics
- Matthew Zachary’s journey from musician to cancer advocate
- The origins and evolution of Stupid Cancer and We the Patients
- The role of storytelling and advocacy in healthcare reform
- Systemic issues in the American healthcare system and potential solutions
- The importance of patient voice and community in cancer care
Sound Bites
- “I forgive the system for this.”
- “Survivorship is how you choose to get busy living.”
- “I no longer believe morals and community will affect policy.”
Chapters
00:00Introduction and Guest Background
01:19Matthew’s High School and College Years
02:27Diagnosis of Brain Cancer and Its Impact
03:19Family, Recreation, and Personal Interests
07:10Early Career and Tech Skills Development
09:22Deciding Against Chemotherapy to Preserve Music Ability
11:03The Fork in the Road: Choosing Life and Advocacy
13:11Learning About Cancer Treatments and Side Effects
15:43The Birth of Stupid Cancer and Its Mission
20:35Early Public Performances and Community Engagement
22:53The Evolution of Advocacy and Community Building
27:22The Role of Policy and Systemic Change
33:23The Naming and Branding of Stupid Cancer
40:12Transition to Out of Patience Podcast
42:42The Future of Healthcare and Patient Advocacy
46:34Writing We the Patients and Healthcare System Insights
52:43Key Messages and Call to Action
58:37Matthew’s One Thing and Final Advice
Who Is Matthew Zachary? (In His Own Words)
Thirty years ago, a doctor told me to get my affairs in order.
Brain cancer. Age 21. It was 1996. Dial-up internet. Blockbuster Video. Nobody had a podcast because nobody knew what a podcast was. I had other plans.
I went on to found Stupid Cancer and help build the young adult cancer movement before most of healthcare knew young adults with cancer were even a distinct population. I also launched The Stupid Cancer Show, which became one of healthcare’s earliest and longest-running independent podcasts and eventually evolved into the award-winning Out of Patients.
Along the way, I produced The Cancer Mavericks, a documentary series about the rebel patients who changed modern oncology. And after 30 years of surviving, studying, navigating, and occasionally screaming at the American healthcare system, I wrote the book on it.
Literally.
We the Patients: Understanding, Navigating, and Surviving America’s Healthcare Nightmare, published by Wiley, is my field guide, history lesson, and indictment of a system that somehow manages to be the most expensive in the world while routinely asking sick people to fax things.
Today, I co-lead We the Patients, a national movement transforming patient experience into policy, protections, and civic power. I speak to the rooms that need to hear what they may not particularly want to hear.
My work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, People, Time, and The Atlantic, and I’ve worked with organizations including Merck, GSK, Pfizer, Novartis, Amgen, and Bristol Myers Squibb.
I’m also a concert pianist who has performed for audiences of 30,000, because apparently one career was insufficient.
Thirty years after being told to get my affairs in order, my affairs remain aggressively out of order.
I am… healthcare’s unfiltered voice of reason.