Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
As he finished his medical school exam, David Fajgenbaum felt off. He walked down to the ER and checked himself in. Soon he was in the ICU with multiple organ failure. The only drug for his condition didn’t work. He had months to live, if that. If he was going to survive, he was going to have to find his own cure. Miraculously, he pulled it off in the nick of time. From that ordeal, he realized that our system of discovering and approving drugs is far from perfect, and that he might be able to use AI to find dozens, hundreds, even thousands of cures, hidden in plain sight, for as-yet untreatable diseases.
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by Latif Nasser
Produced by Maria Paz Gutiérrez
with mixing help from Jeremy S. Bloom
Fact-checking by Natalie A. Middleton
VISIT:
Everycure.org (https://www.everycure.org)
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Books -
Blair Bigham, Death Interrupted: How Modern Medicine is Complicating the Way We Die
David Fajgenbaum, Chasing My Cure, (davidfajgenbaum.com/)
Radiolab | Lateral Cuts:
Check out Death Interrupted (radiolab.org/podcast/death-interrupted), a conversation with Blair Bigham about a worldview shifting change of heart.
The Dirty Drug and the Ice Cream Tub (radiolab.org/podcast/dirty-drug-and-ice-cream-tub) to hear the crazy story about how Rapamycin was discovered.
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Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.
Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
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Photo illustration by Jared Bartman
Video by W. Harry Fortuna
As he finished his medical school exam, David Fajgenbaum felt off. He walked down to the ER and checked himself in. Soon he was in the ICU with multiple organ failure. The only drug for his condition didn’t work. He had months to live, if that. If he was going to survive, he was going to have to find his own cure. Miraculously, he pulled it off in the nick of time. From that ordeal, he realized that our system of discovering and approving drugs is far from perfect, and that he might be able to use AI to find dozens, hundreds, even thousands of cures, hidden in plain sight, for as-yet untreatable diseases.
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by Latif Nasser
Produced by Maria Paz Gutiérrez
with mixing help from Jeremy S. Bloom
Fact-checking by Natalie A. Middleton
VISIT:
Everycure.org (https://www.everycure.org)
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Books -
Blair Bigham, Death Interrupted: How Modern Medicine is Complicating the Way We Die
David Fajgenbaum, Chasing My Cure, (davidfajgenbaum.com/)
Radiolab | Lateral Cuts:
Check out Death Interrupted (radiolab.org/podcast/death-interrupted), a conversation with Blair Bigham about a worldview shifting change of heart.
The Dirty Drug and the Ice Cream Tub (radiolab.org/podcast/dirty-drug-and-ice-cream-tub) to hear the crazy story about how Rapamycin was discovered.
Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (radiolab.org/newsletter)!
Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (members.radiolab.org/) today.
Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.
Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
🎧 Subscribe to Radiolab wherever you listen to podcasts: lnk.to/radiolab!youtube
🔎 Subscribe to Radiolab on YouTube: bit.ly/3I9KI53
🖋 Subscribe to Radiolab’s Newsletter: radiolab.org/newsletter
🌱 Check out Radiolab's Starter Kit Playlist: bit.ly/3sX8f4P
👍 Like this video ✏️ and leave us a comment!
Follow Radiolab:
Instagram — instagram.com/radiolab
X — https://x.com/Radiolab
Facebook — facebook.com/Radiolab
Threads — threads.net/@radiolab
TikTok — tiktok.com/@radiolab
Our newsletter includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up here: radiolab.org/newsletter
Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab today: radiolab.org/the-lab
Photo illustration by Jared Bartman
Video by W. Harry Fortuna
