What It's Like to Be a Brain Surgeon, from Dan Heath

What It's Like to Be a Brain Surgeon, from Dan Heath

June 16, 2026 · 42 min

About this episode

Dan Heath interviews a brain surgeon about the challenges and experiences of performing brain surgery.

We’re sharing an episode of What It’s Like to Be… from New York Times bestselling business book author Dan Heath. On the podcast, Dan explores the world of work, one profession at a time, and interviews people who love what they do. He finds out: How does a stand-up comedian come up with new material? Does a cattle rancher ever get attached to certain calves? What are the clues that suggest fraud to a forensic accountant? If you’ve ever met someone whose work you were curious about, and you had 100 nosy questions but were too polite to ask… this is the show for you. In this preview, Dan talks with a brain surgeon about the most harrowing part of a brain surgery, why he operates on people’s brains while they’re awake, and his remarkable path to the operating room. You can find more episodes of “What It’s Like to Be…” at https://link.mgln.ai/snapdanheath Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

People in this episode

Host: Dan Heath

Guest: brain surgeon

Topics covered

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New York Times, Snap Judgment, PRX

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