Tales of a Pediatric Airway Surgeon with Dr. Tali Lando

About this episode

Dr. Tali Lando discusses her experiences as a pediatric airway surgeon and the challenges faced in the medical field, including her personal battle with cancer.

This week, we are talking about the busiest "real estate" in the human body, the neck. Dr. Tali Lando, a pediatric otolaryngologist who spends her days (and many terrifying nights) operating on the tiny, fragile airways of babies and children, joins us to talk about being chased by police while rushing to an emergency to the precision required to remove a peanut from a toddler's lung, Dr. Lando shares what it's really like to live on the brink of medical catastrophe. The conversation dives into the "turf wars" of emergency intubation and why Dr. Lando has zero hubris about telling everyone else to get out of the way when a child can't breathe. She also reveals the inspiration behind her new book, Breathless, including the bizarre Saturday night case of the "cocaine condom" and the structural parallels between a surgery "timeout" and the life lessons learned in the OR. Beyond the high-stakes surgeries, we discuss the heavy toll of the "surgeon's psyche". Dr. Lando opens up about her personal battle with stage 3C breast cancer and why the medical system’s tendency to prioritize risk management over physician mental health is a systemic failure. Takeaways: The specific reason Dr…

People in this episode

Guest: Dr. Tali Lando

Topics covered

• pediatric surgery
• airway management
• medical emergencies
• surgeon's mental health
• breast cancer
• medical ethics

Keywords

• pediatric otolaryngologist
• emergency intubation
• surgeon's psyche
• medical catastrophe
• cocaine condom
• surgical timeout

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Breathless

More episodes of Knock Knock, Hi! with the Glaucomfleckens

• Breaking News: A Game-Changing Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer with Dr. Mark Lewis · June 11, 2026 · 37 min
• Glauc Talk: The Mystery of My Unknown Genetic Mutation · June 9, 2026 · 47 min
• Knock Knock Eye: Victor Wembanyama Has the Strictest Bedtime and a Pair of Blue Light Glasses · June 4, 2026 · 37 min
• A Survival Guide for Journalists and Protesters with Adam Rose · June 2, 2026 · 1h 9m
• Knock Knock Eye: I Ran A Cow Eyeball Dissection Station · May 28, 2026 · 35 min
• Glauc Talk: Why Are Med Students Saying They "Wasted Their Twenties"? · May 26, 2026 · 46 min