Advertise on podcast: Get Real with Jim Weiss

Former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden joins Jim Weiss for a deeply personal conversation about her memoir, View from the East Wing, and life beyond the White House. In this two-part Get Real conversation, she opens up about losing her son Beau, navigating family health challenges, and the unseen demands of caregiving. Drawing on his experience losing his wife, Jim connects with Dr. Biden over grief, resilience, and finding strength through heartbreak. She also shares stories about her marriage, her passion for teaching, and family and friendships that keep her grounded. This is Dr. Jill Biden as you rarely see her: honest, vulnerable, and deeply human. Watch Part 1 of Jim Weiss’s two-part interview on Get Real now! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Samina Bari lost her husband, Doug Neale, unexpectedly in 2023, she was left to navigate grief, raise their twin daughters, and manage the financial and legal responsibilities that follow the loss of a spouse. Jim Weiss knows that experience personally, having lost his wife, Audra. In this episode of Get Real with Jim Weiss, Samina and Jim share a candid conversation about losing a spouse, parenting through grief, and how to support someone who is grieving. They discuss what to say—and what not to say—after a loss, why grief follows no fixed timeline, and the practical decisions families face while trying to move forward. Before becoming an author and founder, Samina spent more than 30 years in biotech and healthcare, advising CEOs and boards on transactions totaling over $40 billion. She wrote Don't Call Me Widow and I Can, I Will & I Did, and founded Farewell, a platform helping families navigate major life transitions and what she calls "Life Administration." Together, Jim and Samina explore how to move forward while honoring the people we continue to love. This conversation is a must watch. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ethan Zohn won Survivor: Africa for $1 million. But at 35, he faced a far bigger fight: surviving cancer. On Get Real with Jim Weiss, Ethan recounts his diagnosis with a rare form of Hodgkin lymphoma, failed chemotherapy, stem cell transplants, and the clinical trial drug that helped save his life. In a remarkable twist, he learns Jim helped launch that very treatment. Ethan also shares the persistent itching that first signaled something was wrong, what it means to outlive his father, who died of cancer at 49, and why his experience completely changed how he defines endurance. Together, they explore early cancer detection, medical cannabis, the power of community, and Ethan’s work helping young people through Grassroot Soccer. From winning Survivor to facing cancer, Ethan reveals what it really means to outwit, outplay, outlast, and keep living. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Menopause is about far more than hot flashes. It can affect sleep, weight, heart health and how women age for decades to come. Dr. Mary Claire Haver returns to Get Real with Jim Weiss to talk  about menopause, HRT, GLP-1s, breast health, prevention and the gaps that still exist in women’s health care. She also opens up about building The Pause Life, becoming an entrepreneur and why, at 58, she says she’s living the best years of her life. This is a conversation about taking control of your health, advocating for yourself and rethinking what aging can look like. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when the crisis expert becomes the crisis? Jim Olson built a career helping some of the world’s biggest organizations navigate the unexpected. Then his own life veered dramatically off course. A trip to the ER for unexplained back pain led to a Stage IV metastatic melanoma diagnosis that had spread to his lung and brain. Months later, he suddenly lost much of his vision. In this deeply personal conversation, Jim shares how he faced cancer, permanent vision loss and his wife’s own cancer diagnosis, and why the lessons he learned managing crises became a roadmap for surviving his own. He and Jim Weiss talk about early detection, knowing when to slow down, asking for help and finding purpose when life changes without warning. It’s a conversation about what happens when the GPS stops working, the path ahead disappears and you have to find a new way forward. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why does healthcare keep getting more expensive, even as technology gets better? Dan Mendelson has spent his career trying to answer that question, from the Clinton White House to founding Avalere Health and now leading Morgan Health at JPMorgan Chase. In this episode of Get Real, Dan joins Jim Weiss to unpack what’s driving costs, why employer-sponsored healthcare needs more attention, and how AI, better primary care and smarter benefits could improve care. They also explore women’s health, access to breakthrough treatments and what it will take to make healthcare work better for more people. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alan Murray has spent decades inside the rooms where leaders make consequential decisions, from The Wall Street Journal and Fortune to today’s WSJ Leadership Institute. In this episode of Get Real, Alan joins Jim Weiss to talk about trust, leadership, AI and how technology is reshaping business and healthcare. They also explore the future of journalism, the changing role of CEOs and whether innovation could transform diseases like cancer. Then Alan gets personal, sharing how his own cancer experience changed the way he thinks about time, family, work and what matters most. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Patrick Dempsey's non-profit, the Dempsey Center, is dedicated to offering wraparound support to cancer patients and the people around them impacted by cancer. On this episode, Jim and Patrick discuss the difference one person can make when they decide to turn a deeply personal experience into something that helps others. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jim sits down with Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice President of AstraZeneca's Oncology Business Unit, to explore the breakthroughs reshaping cancer care and why this may be the most promising moment in oncology history. Dave's journey has taken him from the Pentagon to consulting, Genentech, and ultimately the leadership of one of the world's largest oncology businesses. Along the way, he's helped bring some of the most important cancer innovations to patients around the world. Jim and Dave discuss what came out of ASCO, the rise of AI in healthcare, precision diagnostics, antibody-drug conjugates, cell therapy, and the growing possibility that many cancers may one day become curable. They also tackle the perception problem facing the pharmaceutical industry, why global collaboration matters more than ever, and what it takes to lead through rapid scientific change. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a physician, scientist, entrepreneur, and biotech CEO, Jeremy Levin has spent his career helping bring innovative medicines to patients. In his book, Biotech in the Balance, he argues that the future of healthcare depends on restoring trust in science, strengthening innovation, and keeping patients at the center of decision-making. In this episode of Get Real, Jeremy joins Jim Weiss to discuss the state of biotechnology, the challenges facing drug development, and why the next generation of medical breakthroughs depends on the choices we make today. This is a conversation about science, leadership, and the future of human health. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The rules of leadership are changing. According to Bob Pearson, success in the age of AI won't come from replacing human intelligence. It will come from learning how to amplify it. That's the central idea behind his latest book, The Compass. In this episode of Get Real, Bob joins Jim Weiss to explore how leaders can navigate a world being reshaped by artificial intelligence, why curiosity matters more than ever, and how organizations can adapt without losing their humanity. This is a conversation about leadership, innovation, and finding direction during times of rapid change. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From helping build one of the world's leading oncology businesses to serving as CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Frank Clyburn has spent his career at the intersection of healthcare, leadership, and innovation. His work helped shape the commercialization of breakthrough medicines, including advances that transformed cancer care. In this episode of Get Real, Frank joins Jim Weiss to discuss the lessons that shaped him, the importance of putting patients first, and how leaders can balance innovation, access, and business success. This is a conversation about resilience, opportunity, and creating lasting impact. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For more than two decades, Dr. Richard Pazdur helped shape the future of cancer treatment from inside the FDA, overseeing many of the therapies that transformed care for patients around the world. He played a central role in building the FDA's oncology review programs and accelerating access to groundbreaking medicines. In this episode of Get Real, Dr. Pazdur joins Jim Weiss to discuss the evolution of cancer care, the challenge of balancing speed with safety, and what it takes to bring lifesaving treatments from the lab to patients. They also explore the future of oncology, global innovation, and why there is still reason for optimism in the fight against cancer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Robin Carhart-Harris is one of the world's leading researchers studying psychedelics, consciousness, and mental health. For decades, psychedelics sat on the fringes of medicine. Today, they're at the center of some of the most promising research into depression, well-being, and the human mind. Robin's groundbreaking work has helped uncover how substances like psilocybin and LSD affect the brain and their potential role in treating mental illness. Robin joins Jim to explore the science behind psychedelics, what brain imaging studies reveal about consciousness, and why researchers are rethinking the treatment of depression and other mental health conditions. They discuss the role of set and setting, the differences between clinical and non-clinical use, and what the future may hold for psychedelic medicine. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Robert Croak never set out to create one of the biggest product crazes of the 21st century. But when he spotted an unusual silicone rubber band at a trade show, he saw something others didn't. That insight became Silly Bandz, a global phenomenon that transformed a simple idea into a massive business. In this episode of Get Real, Robert joins Jim Weiss to share the entrepreneurial journey behind his success, from a challenging upbringing and early business ventures to building iconic brands, investing in startups, and teaching financial literacy. This is a conversation about spotting opportunity, trusting your instincts, and the persistence required to turn a simple idea into something extraordinary. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.