Through the podcasts Ask 5 and Narrative Remedies, Monica Molinaro seeks to bridge healthcare research and storytelling, creating platforms that democratize knowledge, evoke empathy, and drive critical conversations about systemic challenges and change.
What happens when a love for storytelling meets healthcare research? For Monica Molinaro, PhD, it creates a platform that not only informs but inspires. As an Assistant Professor at McGill’s Institute of Health Sciences Education, and co-host of the Ask 5 and Narrative Remedies podcasts, Prof. Molinaro aims to amplify voices and foster understanding.
Journey into podcasting
“My interest in podcasts and podcasting started around 2018-ish,” she recalls, “and I remember this specifically because at the time, podcasts were still a little bit more up and coming, they weren’t as big as they are now.” Prof. Molinaro, who has always loved stories, was quickly captivated by the meaningful dialogues and rich narratives she encountered.
While completing her PhD at Western University, Prof. Molinaro tuned into an episode of the Gradcast podcast featuring a friend of hers, and was inspired to join the committee herself. “I remember listening to her episode and thinking it was so cool—I didn’t realize that people can go on a podcast and talk about their research, why it’s important, and what the potential implications are,” she reflects. During her time at Gradcast, she honed skills in audio editing and research interviewing, discovering podcasts’ power for knowledge mobilization and public engagement.
The power of podcasting
While podcasting has become an essential part of Prof. Molinaro’s work, it is not without its challenges. “Podcasts take time and energy and money and resources, and those things are much harder to come by currently for a multitude of reasons,” she explains. These constraints can make it difficult for even the best ideas to reach an audience.
Despite this, Prof. Molinaro has embraced the medium as a powerful tool for academic and healthcare communication. In her view, podcasts excel in transforming complex, jargon-heavy research into relatable narratives that resonate with diverse audiences. “Every human on this planet has seen, heard, or told a story at some point in their life,” she notes, “and turning this work into a story that can be shared with the world is incredibly exciting.”
Podcasting in action
Ask 5
With mentorship becoming an increasingly scarce resource, Ask 5 from McGill’s Institute of Health Sciences Education (IHSE) offers an accessible platform to bridge the gap. The premise is simple yet effective: posing the same five questions to various experts and compiling their responses to showcase diverse perspectives. “The intent was to make research and mentorship more accessible by breaking down barriers,” Prof. Molinaro explains.
Co-created during her postdoctoral fellowship with Meredith Young, PhD, Associate Director (Research) at the IHSE, and Tamara Carver, PhD, Associate Professor at the IHSE and Director of the Office of Education Technology and E-learning Collaboration for Health (Ed-TECH), the podcast has resonated particularly well with educators and prospective students.
Prof. Molinaro lights up when recounting how a colleague shared an episode with a PhD student, knowing it addressed the exact questions the student had. “It was incredibly validating to see the podcast being used in such a meaningful way,” she shares. For the Ask 5 team, this kind of impact is what matters most.
Narrative Remedies
Inspired by her postdoctoral research on moral distress among pediatric oncology nurses, and co-hosted with Danica Facca, a PhD candidate at Western University, Narrative Remedies began by reflecting on the challenges faced by this group.
“Moral distress is not about being resilient enough or mentally strong enough,” Prof. Molinaro explains. “It’s about the fact that people are working in conditions that make it impossible for them to do what they think is right.”
Today, the podcast’s goal is to explore the role of narrative, or storytelling, as a means to unravel the complexities of the personal, social, political, historical and moral dimensions of health, medicine and healthcare. Prof. Molinaro aims to reach a diverse audience: nurses, clinicians, fellow researchers, policymakers, and even the general public.
Prof. Molinaro is particularly passionate about using storytelling to challenge the status quo and inspire systemic transformation. “We can’t continue to move forward with things the way they are, or say, ‘this is just how we’ve always done it,’” she reflects. “We’ve hit a critical breaking point for a lot of people.”
Feedback has been deeply moving. “These stories evoke empathy for the nurses, anger at systemic failures, and urgency for change,” she shares. “Knowing these stories are evoking critical thinking and mobilizing change is the best kind of feedback I could get.”
Looking forward
As Prof. Molinaro looks to the future, she envisions podcasts in research, including her own, continuing to grow as platforms for connection, education, and change. “I think the work we’re doing now is just the beginning,” she says.
Her belief in the power of stories remains at the heart of her vision. Whether through podcasting or encouraging others to share their experiences, Prof. Molinaro sees storytelling as a catalyst for empathy and action—turning conversations into a force for positive transformation.
“Tell more stories, share more stories, listen to more stories,” she urges, “because stories unite all of us, and stories unite us with the goal for change.”
Learn about building successful careers in academia and scholarship through Ask 5 on the McGill University YouTube channel, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Dive deeper into healthcare storytelling with Narrative Remedies, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts
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