Before survivorship was a word, it was a fight. In this special preview, host Matthew Zachary lays the groundwork for The Cancer Mavericks—a documentary series about the people who refused to be statistics and built a movement instead. If you think you know the story of cancer, think again.

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Back when doctors didn’t even say the word “cancer” out loud, let alone tell patients they had it, survivorship wasn’t a movement. It wasn’t even an idea. It was shame, silence, and stigma.

In this premiere episode, host Matthew Zachary kicks off The Cancer Mavericks with a gut-punch history of how cancer was once portrayed in media—if it was portrayed at all. From 1940s radio dramas and Bette Davis deathbed scenes to 1990s network TV and Hollywood’s “clean cancer” obsession, this episode unpacks how pop culture shaped what people thought cancer looked like, who was allowed to survive, and how little patients were told about their own disease.

We meet the pioneers who broke the silence. People like Sidney Farber, the “father of chemotherapy,” and Mary Lasker, the ad-world power broker who dragged Congress kicking and screaming into the War on Cancer. These aren’t textbook characters. They’re real people who changed the future—while the present was still in the dark.

And we hear directly from Matthew himself, who was diagnosed with brain cancer at 21 while studying to be a film composer. His life and his advocacy began not in a lab, but in a college dorm room with a numb hand, a blinking answering machine, and an appointment with a neurosurgeon who canceled Shabbos to deliver the news.

This episode sets the tone for the entire series: honest, human, angry, smart, and necessary. Whether you’re a survivor, caregiver, researcher, student, or just someone who’s tired of sugarcoated stories—this is the podcast that tells it like it was, and why it still matters.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Cancer was once so feared and misunderstood that doctors routinely hid diagnoses from patients
• Hollywood sanitized cancer stories with “clean” illnesses like brain tumors, avoiding the visual reality of chemo, surgeries, and suffering
• Sidney Farber’s leukemia trials with chemical warfare agents sparked the first real breakthroughs in treatment
• Mary Lasker leveraged her advertising savvy to turn cancer into a political priority, helping launch the National Cancer Act of 1971
• Matthew Zachary’s own diagnosis in 1995 shows how survivorship is deeply personal, and deeply influenced by who tells your story—and how

FEEDBACK

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By the 1980s, cancer was no longer a death sentence. But the question of what surviving actually meant was unanswered. Cancer survivors had to navigate issues around employment, relationships, and the emotional and physical side effects of treatment in a world that largely didn’t know what to do with them. (and they were still called “victims.”) In 1985, a young doctor named Fitzhugh Mullan wrote an essay called “Seasons of Survival” about his own experience with cancer. His piece helped popularize the term “cancer survivor” and resonated with a growing number of survivors, who were starting to form support groups around the country. Among them was Catherine Logan Carrillo, the founder of People Living Through Cancer in New Mexico, who asked Fitzhugh to help her convene an “alumni association” for cancer survivors. And they did, during one monumental weekend in Albuquerque. For more information about this series, visit https://CancerMavericks.com

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Advocacy can take many forms in the cancer community — from advocating for yourself or a loved one to receive the best possible treatment to calling your Congressperson or testifying on Capitol Hill to demand increased access to care. This episode explores different ways cancer mavericks have elevated survivors’ needs and improved their lives, including the pioneering patient navigation model created by Dr. Harold Freeman at Harlem Hospital, the story of Ellen Stovall’s fearless and collaborative approach to policy, shaped around a shared agenda to represent the needs of all cancer survivors, and the landmark 1998 March on Washington called Coming Together To Conquer Cancer. For more information about this series, visit https://CancerMavericks.com

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What if surviving cancer was just the beginning of the real fight?

In this episode, we dig into the dirty little secret of cancer care: post-treatment survivorship is often a medical no-man’s-land. Once the last scan is clean and the bell is rung, patients are left to figure out what “getting back to normal” even means—if that’s possible at all.

We hear from patients and pioneers who pulled back the curtain on life after cancer, exposing the physical, emotional, and financial wreckage that doesn’t make it into the brochure. From debilitating fatigue, chemo brain, and fertility loss to job discrimination and bankruptcy—survivors found themselves told they should be grateful... while falling apart.

Leading the charge is Dr. Patricia Ganz, one of the first physicians to say out loud that survivorship is a medical specialty—and a broken one at that. We follow her 40-year journey advocating for quality of life research, survivor rehab, and the creation of actual survivorship clinics, not just exit paperwork and “good luck” wishes.

Matthew Zachary brings it home with his own brutal reality check after treatment: no support, no rehab, no roadmap. Just the question: now what?

This episode is a wake-up call. It’s not about beating cancer. It’s about what comes after—and why most of us weren’t ready for it.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Survivorship doesn’t end with the last round of chemo—it often starts there
• Dr. Patricia Ganz pioneered survivorship as a field, pushing for real research into long-term effects and quality of life
• Survivors face lasting trauma, cognitive issues, sexual dysfunction, and financial devastation—with little clinical recognition
• "Chemo brain" is real, and many patients had to convince their own doctors it wasn’t “just aging”
• Survivorship clinics, where they exist, are rare—but vital
• Society celebrates survival but often ignores the cost of staying alive

FEEDBACK

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For decades, cancer care had a massive blind spot: young adults.

If you were diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 39, you were basically invisible—too old for pediatrics, too young for geriatrics, and completely off the radar of clinical trials, support systems, and survivorship planning.

In this episode, Matthew Zachary introduces the origin story of the AYA (Adolescent and Young Adult) cancer movement—and how a pissed-off generation of young survivors said enough is enough.

We hear from advocates like Tamika Felder and Lindsay Norbeck, who survived cancer in their 20s and were left to deal with infertility, dating trauma, career detours, and the brutal realities of trying to “just be normal” when your body, future, and finances were blown apart.

We dive into fertility preservation battles, post-cancer sex lives that no one talked about, and the social isolation of being a survivor with no peers—because, until the mid-2000s, there wasn’t even a name for this group.

Also featured: the rise of Planet Cancer and Stupid Cancer, online hubs that became lifelines. Communities forged in dark humor, rage, resilience, and inside jokes only survivors could understand. And of course, the brief but meteoric LIVESTRONG era—when yellow wristbands made survivorship cool, if only for a moment.

This episode captures a time when young adults with cancer stopped asking to be noticed and started demanding change.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• AYA (Adolescent and Young Adult) cancer patients were ignored by the medical system for decades
• Survivors like Tamika Felder and Lindsay Norbeck spotlight the lasting toll: infertility, mental health, sex, and financial ruin
• No fertility coverage? Survivors had to fight insurers just to freeze eggs before chemo
• 1 in 3 AYA survivors experience sexual dysfunction; most never get told it might happen
• Planet Cancer and Stupid Cancer built the first digital communities for young adult patients
• The LIVESTRONG boom gave AYA cancer visibility, but the movement was built long before the wristbands

FEEDBACK

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What happens when Hollywood gets cancer—and decides to do something about it?

In this episode, we explore the power and pitfalls of celebrity advocacy in the cancer world. When Katie Couric got a colonoscopy on live TV, it wasn’t just a media stunt—it led to a 20% spike in screenings. That moment became known as the Katie Couric Effect, and it proved something: when a household name says, “get screened,” people actually listen.

But it didn’t stop there. Katie co-founded Stand Up To Cancer alongside producer Laura Ziskin and others in the entertainment world who had lost friends and family. It became one of the most successful nonprofit disruptors in the field, funding research that directly led to multiple FDA-approved treatments—and permanently shifting how cancer fundraising looked and sounded.

We also hear from Dr. Larissa Nekhlyudov on the high-stakes fallout of survivorship: financial toxicity, mental health breakdowns, and long-term effects that aren’t covered by a red carpet or a PSA. From Christina Applegate and Michael J. Fox to Patrick Dempsey’s grief-fueled Dempsey Center, this episode pulls back the curtain on how fame, storytelling, and real emotion collided to drive awareness—and sometimes distort reality.

And of course, Matthew Zachary reflects on what it means when the public learns about cancer through celebrities—while millions of regular people fight the same battles in silence.

This episode asks hard questions: Does star power save lives? Does it distract from structural failures? And how do we strike the balance between influence and honesty in a media-saturated world?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Katie Couric’s live colonoscopy led to a measurable national increase in screenings—aka the Katie Couric Effect
• Stand Up To Cancer raised hundreds of millions and backed research that resulted in 9 FDA-approved cancer therapies
• Laura Ziskin used her Hollywood clout to drive collaborative science—and make research accountability sexy
• Celebrity activism can raise awareness, but may oversimplify the realities of treatment and survivorship
• Survivors still face long-term fallout like PTSD, financial ruin, and isolation—even if the spotlight moves on
• Real stories, told honestly (famous or not), are still the most powerful tool we have

FEEDBACK

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Cancer hits hard. But it hits some communities harder. Not because of biology—but because of broken systems, baked-in bias, and willful neglect.

In this episode, The Cancer Mavericks zooms in on cancer disparities—how race, income, geography, and history shape who gets diagnosed early, who gets treated properly, and who gets left behind. This isn’t a new problem. It’s a crisis that's been ignored for decades.

We meet Mary Lovato, a Native American woman from the Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico who was diagnosed with leukemia and forced to travel 800 miles for care. Her experience sparked a movement for Native-led support systems and culturally competent survivorship programs—despite resistance, stigma, and underfunded Indian Health Services.

We also hear from Maimah Karmo, the unstoppable force behind the Tigerlily Foundation, who survived breast cancer in her 20s and now fights for Black women to be seen, heard, and included in every part of the cancer conversation—from clinical trials to policy panels.

Dr. Carmen Guerra breaks down why only 4% of clinical trial participants are Black—and what’s being done (and still not being done) to fix that. Spoiler: it’s not just about recruitment. It’s about trust, access, and making sure the front door is even open.

This episode is a rallying cry. It’s about who’s left out of the system, who’s pushing back, and why equity isn’t a feel-good word—it’s the difference between life and death.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Native American and Alaska Native cancer patients often lack access to local oncology services due to underfunded IHS programs
• Mary Lovato’s advocacy led to the creation of Survivorship in Indian Country—support circles rooted in cultural tradition
• Cancer stigma still silences too many in Indigenous communities; survivors like Mary had to build trust from scratch
• Maimah Karmo founded Tigerlily Foundation to ensure Black women are included in research, policy, and survivorship care
• Only 4% of U.S. clinical trial participants are Black—due to barriers like transportation, insurance, and systemic mistrust
• The Inclusion Pledge pushes organizations to make equity real, not performative

FEEDBACK

Like this episode? Rate and review The Cancer Mavericks on your favorite podcast platform. Explore more at https://cancermavericks.com

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