About this episode
Three storytellers share their unique and challenging experiences with health and medicine.
Bad Medicine brings together three storytellers whose bodies, doctors, and circumstances all conspire against them in very different ways. Pam Stepansky throws out her back on a spin bike, ends up bedridden at her father's apartment, and asks him to do something she never imagined asking any parent to do. What follows is a five-day hospital stay where she's dosed with narcotics she explicitly refused, and a long recovery that forces her to finally reckon with who she wants to be. Brad Lawrence walks himself to the ER after gaining 25 pounds in five days and charms an entire floor of doctors and nurses into basically hanging out with him. Then his wife shows up to get shit done. Kevin Allison takes his first trip to San Francisco in 1993 with his best friend, buys three doses of surprisingly potent acid from someone who looks a lot like Jesus, and things escalate from there. Full episode details and music credits at risk-show.com/podcast/bad-medicine Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! live in NYC on Tuesday, June 9th, 2026 ✍️ Pitch your story ❤️ Support us on Patreon or make a one-time PayPal donation 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book 🎓 Take storytelling classes with…
People in this episode
Host: RISK!
Guests: Pam Stepansky, Brad Lawrence, Kevin Allison
Topics covered
- health
- storytelling
- personal experiences
- medicine
- addiction
Keywords
- hospital
- narcotics
- recovery
- ER visit
- acid
- San Francisco
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