We are The Nocturnists, a San-Francisco based independent medical storytelling community. Since 2016, we’ve produced over a dozen live storytelling shows in the Bay Area and New York City, three seasons of our podcast, and two special audio diary series.
During our regular podcast season, episodes feature a story recorded from our live shows, followed by a conversation between the storyteller and The Nocturnists’ founder and host Emily Silverman, MD. We’ve also produced several special episodes where Emily interviews medical thought leaders about their new bestselling books.
When COVID-19 hit, we suspended our usual programming and launched an “audio diary” project for healthcare workers contending with the pandemic. Over 200 people signed up to participate. During the spring of 2020, we received hundreds of audio clips from health workers, and aired selected clips on our 10-part audio documentary series, “Stories from a Pandemic,” and our interactive story map, where visitors can access the individual stories by geographic location. One of our stories was featured in Pop Up Magazine’s spring issue. Part 2 of the project is scheduled to air later this year.
After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, we launched a new podcast series called “Black Voices in Healthcare”, hosted by Ashley McMullen, MD, and executive produced by Kimberly Manning, MD. We believe that storytelling is a gateway to empathy, and a vital first step on the path toward racial equity in healthcare. Over 200 Black healthcare workers from across the country have signed up to participate in this project. New episodes will be released every Tuesday from June 30th to September 1st, 2020.