What does it take to truly learn something? To not just know it in theory, but to have it live in your hands? Discipline, repetition, and a touch of obsession might be part of it—but so is heart, motivation, and the magnetic force of curiosity that keeps pulling you forward.

In this conversation with Dr. Henry McCann, we talk about what it means to engage deeply with the practice of medicine. Henry reflects on the phase of his life as a musician, how that shaped his sense of discipline, and how that along with decades of clinical work have taught him that mastery often comes through the basics—done over and over with intention.

Listen into this discussion on cultivating clinical mastery, the hidden risks of over-relying on lineage, how repetition builds intuition, and why stubborn motivation might be one of your most valuable tools.

Sometimes it’s not what we hear, but what emerges in the space just before—where meaning hasn’t formed yet—but something is already calling your attention. It’s that quiet edge of awareness where both healing and mystery tend to show up.

In this conversation with Christoph Wiesendanger, a jazz pianist with an abiding interest in Chinese medicine, we explore how rhythm, resonance, and reflective awareness shape both music and healing. Christoph’s journey from childhood exposure to Daoist classics, to martial arts training, the sonic influence of Milford Graves, and years of study with Z’ev Rosenberg, offers a surprising look at the interweavings of music and medicine.

Listen into this discussion as we explore how the pulse relates to rhythm, the difference between keeping time and making it, the idea of cultivating yourself through sound, and how silence and intention shape both clinical and musical presence.

Part Two

What if the body wasn’t a fixed map, but a living, improvisational landscape?

In this conversation with Lan Li, a historian, filmmaker, and rhythm-savvy thinker at the crossroads of medicine and imagination, we explore how anatomy is more than skin and sinew—it’s a set of metaphors, shaped as much by culture as by scalpels. Lan brings insight from her work in neuroscience, film, and Chinese medicine to help us consider how maps of the body aren’t just drawn—they’re felt, narrated, and revised in real time.

Listen into this discussion as we explore the improvisational nature of clinical work, the metaphoric structure of anatomy, the interplay between nerves and meridians, the persistence of imagination in medical history, and why ancient images might still be some of our most useful tools.

This episode invites a reimagining of what it means to know, feel, and practice medicine. Especially when inquiry is more like music than math.