Here is an uncomfortable truth: Every one of us is dying. Most of us simply don’t know when. We make plans for next month, next year or even the next decade, assuming we will have all the time we need. But what if someone who knows that his time may be running out is teaching us how to live more fully right now?
That someone is Dr. Bryant Lin, a Stanford physician, researcher, teacher, husband and father of two sons.
In 2024, he learned that he had stage 4 lung cancer. He had never smoked! He had spent years caring for patients with serious illnesses. Now he was the patient confronting a life-threatening disease.
What happened next is the subject of one of the more moving conversations we have had in nearly five decades of broadcasting The People’s Pharmacy on public radio.
We hope you will take the time to watch it. Better yet, share it with someone you love.
Teaching Us How to Live: What Really Matters?
Imagine waking up tomorrow morning knowing that your remaining time might be measured not in decades, but in months or years. Would you change how you spend your days?
Would you worry quite so much about the next deadline, the next bill, the next disagreement or the countless irritations that consume our attention?
Would you spend more time with your children, your partner or your friends? Would you finally say the things you have been meaning to say?
These are not hypothetical questions for Dr. Bryant Lin.
His cancer diagnosis forced him to reconsider the meaning of time, family, work, happiness and hope.
But here is what makes his story so extraordinary. Rather than withdrawing from the world, Dr. Lin invited his Stanford medical students into his experience.
He created a course that allowed future physicians to learn, in real time, what it is like for a doctor to become a cancer patient.
He taught even while dealing with the exhaustion, nausea and uncertainty of cancer treatment. And through it all, he discovered that teaching others helped sustain him.
A Dying Doctor Is Teaching Us How to Live
We have interviewed thousands of physicians, scientists and health professionals over the years. Some have shared groundbreaking discoveries. Others have challenged conventional medical wisdom.
Every so often, though, a guest comes along who makes us look at our own lives differently. Dr. Bryant Lin is one of those guests.
His insights are not abstract theories about resilience or positive thinking. They come from the daily experience of living with a life-threatening illness: stage 4 lung cancer.
He speaks with remarkable candor about fear, hope, family, spirituality and the preciousness of ordinary moments. We asked Dr. Lin what he would say to Pope Leo XIV, who, as you may recall, was also recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Like Dr. Lin, Pope Leo is not known to have smoked. His response was deeply moving.
Although Dr. Lin does not consider himself particularly religious, his experience with cancer has given him a new appreciation for spirituality and the search for meaning when life becomes uncertain. His reflections on what he might share with the pope offer a glimpse into the wisdom he has gained while confronting his own mortality. We hope you will watch the interview to hear his answer in his own words.
What impressed us most was his ability to discuss death without surrendering his enthusiasm for life.
We strongly encourage you to watch the full video interview. There is something especially powerful about seeing the person behind the words, hearing his voice and experiencing the humanity of this conversation.
WATCH THIS EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE’S PHARMACY VIDEO INTERVIEW
This is a conversation worth sharing with your family, your friends and perhaps even your physician.
A Cancer Patient Needs Treatment. His Insurance Company Says NO!
There is another part of Dr. Lin’s experience that left us stunned.
Despite his medical expertise, his connections at Stanford and his access to outstanding cancer specialists, Dr. Lin encountered an obstacle familiar to millions of Americans.
His health insurance company refused to authorize a medication that his medical team considered essential for the next stage of his treatment. Think about that for a moment. Here was a physician battling advanced lung cancer, trying to obtain treatment, and an insurance company was standing in the way.
Dr. Lin was able to draw public attention to his predicament with a LinkedIn post that went viral. But most cancer patients don’t have that kind of platform.
What can an ordinary person do when an insurance company says NO?
We asked Dr. Lin that very question, and his answer is something we believe everyone should hear.
His advice includes making certain that the insurer has received all the relevant medical information and requesting an independent external review when appropriate. Depending on the type of insurance and the circumstances, such a review may allow an independent party to overturn a treatment denial.
We have created a short video highlighting his practical recommendations.
WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO: WHAT TO DO WHEN INSURANCE SAYS NO!
This short video takes just a little time to watch, but the information could prove invaluable if you or someone you love ever confronts a treatment denial.
Please share this video with anyone navigating the frustrating world of prior authorization.
Finding Sunshine: Teaching Us How to Live When Time Is Running Out
Dr. Lin has turned his experiences as a doctor, patient and teacher into a new book, Sunshine: An Exploration of Living When You Are Dying. The official publication date is November 10, 2026.
And even before publication, his audiobook has begun attracting attention. Following our radio broadcast, the Amazon rankings we checked placed it at:
- #1 in Physician & Patient (Audible Books & Originals)
- #6 in Doctor-Patient Relations
- #44 in Grief & Loss (Audible Books & Originals)
Those are impressive early rankings for a book that has not yet officially been released. But what matters far more than a bestseller ranking is the message Dr. Lin wants to share.
Life does not have to be long to be meaningful. Even when the future is uncertain, there can be joy in an ordinary afternoon, a conversation with someone you love or the sunlight streaming through a window.
Dr. Lin is not pretending that cancer is a gift. He is dealing with the very real physical and emotional challenges of a devastating disease. Yet he reminds us that there is a difference between being alive and truly living.
Don’t Wait for a Diagnosis to Start Living!
Perhaps the most important lesson from our conversation with Dr. Lin is one that applies to every single person reading this article:
We do not need a terminal diagnosis to recognize that our time is limited.
None of us knows how many mornings we have left, how many conversations we will share or how many opportunities we will have to tell someone that we love them. We cannot control every illness, every misfortune or every unexpected turn in life. But we can pay attention to the moments we have right now.
That is why Bryant Lin is teaching us how to live, even as he confronts his own mortality.
We hope you will watch our conversation with Dr. Bryant Lin. It is not simply an interview about cancer. It is a conversation about courage, love, family, purpose and what it means to be human.
And if you find it as moving as we did, please share it. Someone in your life may need to hear this message today.
Prefer Listening? The People’s Pharmacy Podcast Is Available Too!
Our conversation with Dr. Bryant Lin aired on more than 200 public radio stations and repeaters on Saturday, November 7, 2026.
You can also enjoy the audio interview by downloading the mp3, or listening to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We would be grateful if you would subscribe to our podcast, write a review and share our broadcasts with friends and family.
Whether you watch the video or listen to the podcast, we hope you will give this remarkable conversation your full attention.
It may change the way you think about the time you have left.
