Ira’s Everything Bagel | US Arts and Culture Podcasts

In this eye-opening episode of "Ira’s Everything Bagel," Ira sits down with Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, author of "The Pain Brokers: How Con Men, Call Centers, and Rogue Doctors Fuel America’s Lawsuit Factory," to expose a hidden industry operating in plain sight.

Elizabeth takes listeners inside the shadowy world of mass tort litigation—where legal cases are bought and sold like baseball cards, kickback provisions are quietly skirted, and enforcement of existing laws often falls through the cracks. Her investigation began with what she thought was routine research, but everything changed after attending a conference in Las Vegas—followed by a chilling call from a whistleblower who had been there too.

At the center of The Pain Brokers are three women whose lives were upended by the system, including patients harmed by pelvic mesh surgeries. Elizabeth explains how failures in regulation—by both the legal and medical professions—allow abuses to continue, and why so much of the problem isn’t the absence of laws, but the lack of enforcement.
This conversation is also a call to action. From educating yourself before consenting to surgery, to becoming your own best advocate, to understanding how loopholes could be closed, this episode arms listeners with the knowledge they need to protect themselves—and demand accountability.

If you care about patient safety, justice, and how profit can quietly distort both, this is an episode you won’t forget.
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Noshing With Dr. Laura Hambley Lovett – January 29, 2026

What if the biggest career mistake isn’t staying too long in a bad job—but staying too long under a toxic boss?

This week on “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Ira sits down with Dr. Laura Hambley Lovett, organizational psychologist and author of "I Wish I’d Quit Sooner: Practical Strategies for Navigating and Escaping a Toxic Boss."

Drawing from her own painful experience in a toxic workplace, years of academic research, and hundreds of real-world stories, Dr. Laura breaks down what actually makes a boss toxic—and why the damage often escalates over time.

She explains the critical difference between a difficult boss and a truly toxic one, why toxic bosses are not real lead-ers, and how overt and covert behaviors quietly erode confidence, health, and identity.
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n this episode, you’ll hear why so many people say “I wish I’d quit sooner,” the eight toxic boss personas (including the dishonest manipulator), and how childhood trauma of-ten shows up in leadership in destructive ways. Dr. Laura also offers clear-eyed options—the pros and cons of staying, confronting, taking medical leave, or exiting—and why fear keeps so many people stuck.

Most importantly, this conversation is practical, not academic. Dr. Laura shares actionable strategies: how to document toxic behavior safely, why exit interviews matter more than you think, how to build a network before you need it, and how to prepare an exit plan that protects both your career and your well-being.
Because work isn’t just what we do—it’s who we are. And staying too long in a toxic environment comes at a cost.
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Noshing With Dr. Craig Yorke – January 22, 2026

From a struggling Boston neighborhood to the operating rooms of Middle America, Dr. Craig Yorke has lived a life that’s as inspiring as it is revealing.

This week on “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Ira sits down with the author of "Steep: A Black Neurosurgeon’s Journey," for a deeply personal and thought-provoking conversation about ambition, identity, and the hidden emotional cost of success.

Craig opens up about what first compelled him to write his book — a moment of “reme-dy” while browsing a bookstore shelf — and how his story reaches far beyond race. He reflects on growing up in the lower rungs of the Black middle class, shaped by parents wounded by racism in 1920s and ’30s Boston, and raised with the belief that rebellion was never an option.

We hear about “the fork in the road” that took him to Topeka, Kansas, a choice rooted as much in ethics as in opportunity, and how success in the world’s eyes came with armor he carried for decades. After writing this book, Craig says, “the armor is finally off.”
This isn’t simply a story about breaking barriers. It’s a moving exploration of resilience, healing, legacy, and what it truly means to chase — and redefine — the American Dream.
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Noshing With Mark Malkoff – January 15, 2026

Johnny Carson wasn’t just the King of Late Night — he was one of the greatest talent-spotters, risk-takers, and quiet humanitarians in entertainment history. And no one has explored that truth more deeply than Mark Malkoff.

This week on “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Ira sits down with Mark Malkoff, author (along with David Ritz) of "Love Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan’s Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend," to uncover the real Carson behind the curtain. What started as a podcast grew into a full-scale investigation as more and more stories poured in — from Jay Leno to Joan Rivers to people who knew Carson far from the spotlight.

Mark shares how he fell in love with Carson as a kid, watched him leave the airwaves as a teenager, and spent years digging into every corner of Carson’s life — from his mysterious New York years to his life after the historic show run. Along the way, Mark reveals why Carson was anything but cold and aloof, how he helped launch Jimmy Buffett’s career, why he kept bringing Don Rickles back even when it was risky, and how he always made his guests look brilliant.

This isn’t just a biography — it’s a celebration of a man who believed in talent, generosity, and taking chances. With stories that have never been told this way before, this episode is a must-listen for anyone who ever stayed up late to watch Johnny Carson make magic.
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