A public voice cultivating empathy & critical thinking in health, culture & the arts

The Medical Humanities Review ➔

A public voice cultivating empathy & critical thinking in health, culture & the arts
Michael Pollan Trips over Consciousness 

Michael Pollan Trips over Consciousness 

Inside a Cave,  Coming to Grips with the Mystery of Consciousness  

Hands 

Hands 

During the clinic visit, the patient map unfurls, their hands leaving little clues.

ByColin Killeen 08.11.26
Summer 2026 Biblioscopy 

Summer 2026 Biblioscopy 

New books highlighting illness poetry, the toll on compassion extracted during medical training, and the emotional burden of illness on family members 

ByTony Miksanek 08.03.26
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney 

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney 

Children’s literature offers a lens into public perception and experience of childhood infectious diseases as we face a resurgence of these same illnesses today. 

ByGretl Lam 07.28.26

This month we focus on the nexus of and interface between medicine and the humanities.

The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes 

The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes 

A tense noir thriller where a young doctor becomes the prime suspect in a mysterious desert murder.

BySteven Field 03.17.26
The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker 

The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker 

A gripping exploration of wartime paranoia, identity, and psychological trauma on the British Home Front during World War I.

BySteven Field 07.22.25
A Doctor’s Visit  by Anton Chekhov 

A Doctor’s Visit  by Anton Chekhov 

A young doctor’s visit to a factory owner’s daughter reveals the emotional roots of illness through empathy, confinement, and human connection.

ByJack Coulehan 03.11.25
Enemies by Anton Chekhov

Enemies by Anton Chekhov

A grieving doctor is pulled from his dying child’s side, only to face betrayal, class tension, and moral outrage.

ByJack Coulehan 01.11.25
Three Paintings by Edvard Munch

Three Paintings by Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch transformed personal family tragedies into haunting paintings that reveal illness, grief, isolation, and enduring emotional suffering.

ByFelice Aull 07.23.26
We Want So Much to Be Ourselves by Stephen O’Connor 

We Want So Much to Be Ourselves by Stephen O’Connor 

Love, Duty and Psychoanalysis in Third Reich Berlin

BySteven Field 07.21.26
Isles-Second Fragment

Isles-Second Fragment

A watchful partner, a curse, a part of everything all at once, in sickness and in health.

Two Long-Hidden Stories about Barriers to Health Care Surface and Still Relate

Two Long-Hidden Stories about Barriers to Health Care Surface and Still Relate

Two unknown stories from the past forewarn of problems in health care ahead.

Rethinking Mental Illness: Interview with Dr. Gavin Francis

Rethinking Mental Illness: Interview with Dr. Gavin Francis

In his chair at the clinic, Dr. Gavin Francis sees the mind as much less fragile than the…

ByRudy Malcom 07.14.26
Meet the Medhum Team: Dr. Tony Miksanek

Meet the Medhum Team: Dr. Tony Miksanek

Writer, runner, and medical humanities advocate explores storytelling, trust, vulnerability, and the human side of care.

ByDave Hsu 06.26.26
Factors Underlying Mental Orders Depicted in Pink Floyd’s The Wall

Factors Underlying Mental Orders Depicted in Pink Floyd’s The Wall

Using Pink Floyd’s The Wall, this episode explores psychiatric diagnosis through music, film, trauma, and medical education.

Consumptive Heroines: Opera and TB with Drs Linda and Michael Hutcheon

Consumptive Heroines: Opera and TB with Drs Linda and Michael Hutcheon

This podcast explores tuberculosis’ impact on opera, focusing on La Traviata and La Bohème, examining medical and cultural…

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The Medical Humanities Review

Cultivating empathy & critical thinking in health, culture & the arts


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