Out of Patients EP441: Defender Energy: Drew Flugstad-Clarke
Drew Flugstad Clarke played Division I soccer at Georgetown, survived 4 a.m. investment banking emails, and built a life around oil paint and portraiture. Then in June 2022 her father Jim received a glioblastoma diagnosis at 57. He died 1 day shy of 7 months later. Brain cancer does not ease you in. It drops you through the floor.
I wanted Drew on the show because she refuses to let grief sit idle. She found the American Brain Tumor Association on a subway poster while riding uptown to try on wedding dresses. That detail tells you everything about how absurd and indifferent life can feel. She now serves as Community Manager for the Eastern region, guiding families through the same chaos that split her own.
We talk anticipatory grief, milestones that feel 99 percent full, a 6 foot 3 father leaning on a 5 foot 4 wife for strength, and the quiet anger that lingers long after the casseroles stop. I survived brain cancer at 21. I recognize the discipline it takes to turn loss into purpose.
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Producer
Matthew Zachary invented healthcare podcasting before podcasting was a thing. In 2007, fresh off building Stupid Cancer, he grabbed a mic, launched The Stupid Cancer Show and started broadcasting patient stories on internet talk radio when everyone else was still writing blogs.
17 years and 400+ episodes later, Out of Patients is still the most unfiltered healthcare show anywhere.
Matthew doesn't do softball interviews. Brain cancer at 21 taught him that time is finite and bullshit is expensive. He gets guests to say things they'd never tell Congress. CEOs admit what's broken. Patients name what actually hurts. Scientists explain what industry doesn't want you to know. The conversations other shows won't touch because of sponsor concerns or political correctness.
What makes him different: He's been on both sides of the mic. Featured in documentaries, testified before Congress, keynoted hundreds of conferences.
But he's also been the guy puking from radiation, fighting insurance denials, and watching friends die from paperwork.
That dual perspective creates interviews you won't hear anywhere else. He knows which questions make power squirm because he's asked them from hospital beds and boardrooms both.
No pre-approved questions. No PR handlers. No seven-minute segments. Just real conversations with people brave enough to tell the truth about healthcare. After 17 years, Matthew's still the guy Mark Cuban reposts when he wants to understand what patients actually think. Read More
Out of Patients EP440:Not Today, Jesus: Janine Durso
