Episodes

After years of drowning in headlines, outrage, and “breaking news” pings, I finally unplugged—and discovered that peace, calm, and mental clarity are a lot more satisfying than doomscrolling. Here’s how quitting the news impr...

Send A Text To Tate Support the show This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. To respond to this episode, use the text link in the episode notes, or send longer mess...

A chef living with chronic illness discovers that sometimes life’s soggy disappointments lead to unexpected beauty—like when a canceled dog walk turns into a rainbow moment that slaps you with perspective. A story about resil...

As a child, I dove into a jellyfish-filled cove off the Atlantic coast, defying fear and instinct. In this personal mini memoir, I explore the unforgettable day the ocean chose not to sting me—blending themes of childhood cou...

Some of the most painful moments don’t come from cruelty, but from “kindness” said out loud without a second thought. Living with sarcoidosis has taught me that certain compliments land more like paper cuts than comfort—and o...

Living with sarcoidosis has a way of changing how you hear the world. When your body is already loud with symptoms, appointments, and internal negotiations, silence stops feeling empty and starts feeling necessary. This refle...

Herbal and homeopathic medicine can absolutely help chronic illness like sarcoidosis and heart failure—but TikTok wellness hacks and unverified “miracle cures” are another story. In a world where influencers push detoxes, con...

Some days, while easing into the morning and pretending the world makes sense, I stumble across online advice so astonishing it makes sarcoidosis feel like the most logical part of my life. And recently, “Dear Prudence” deliv...

There was a version of me in 2002—forty years old, a working chef, exhausted in ways that made no logical sense, and listening to doctors insist that every alarming symptom was “stress.” Now that sarcoidosis is a familiar par...

Living with sarcoidosis can feel like starring in a long-running medical sitcom where the plot twists pop up at the most inconvenient times, including when you’re on vacation trying to rest. Without giving too much away, let’...

Living with sarcoidosis is like starring in a medical drama no one else can see—one where you look perfectly fine on the outside while your organs do the cha-cha backstage. Back in 2011, when all of this felt new and terrifyi...

Between the dishes, the meds, and the chaos of chronic illness, it’s easy to wonder if you were meant for something bigger. But what if your true purpose isn’t grand at all—just one quiet, human act that changes everything? T...

Living with chronic illness and heart failure has taught me one thing—complaining doesn’t fix a damn thing. As a chef juggling sarcoidosis, a leaky heart, and life’s general nonsense, I’ve learned that silence isn’t denial—it...

Living with sarcoidosis is already its own exhausting full-time job, so the idea of a support group sounded…promising. Or at least not disastrous. But back in the early 2010s, when my lungs and heart were misbehaving like reb...

Before my MRI next week, a simple online check-in turned into a bizarre quiz about my private life, sprinkled with the usual sarcoidosis-related precautions—but what came next left me blinking at the screen and wondering who ...

Sarcoidosis may steal your breath, your energy, and—if you’re lucky—your voice, but it can’t take your sense of humor. As a chef living with chronic illness and heart failure, I’ve learned to navigate breathing tests, inhaler...

Send A Text To Tate Support the show This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. To respond to this episode, use the text link in the episode notes, or send longer mess...

At sixteen, a quiet walk home turned into the scariest night of my life — and the moment I found the fighter hiding inside me. What began as terror became transformation, proving that courage doesn’t wait for permission. This...

When your doctors of twenty years suddenly drop your insurance, sarcoidosis and heart failure become the least of your problems. Here’s what happens when loyalty meets bureaucracy, and why choosing between good doctors and gr...

On Veterans Day, I find myself thinking about the soldiers who fought in wars they never chose—especially the Vietnam vets who came home to rejection instead of honor. As someone living with sarcoidosis and heart failure, I u...

Living with sarcoidosis and heart failure has taught me many things—chief among them? Asking for help often leads to more stress than it’s worth. If you’re chronically ill, fiercely independent, or just tired of being disappo...

Coffee snobs may insist that “real coffee lovers” drink it black, but I’m here to say flavor and joy matter more than bitterness and bravado. Whether it’s a caramel macchiato, a hazelnut oat milk latte, or a straight-up espre...

As a chef battling sarcoidosis and heart failure, debris from a life that refuses to behave, I’m here to tell you why Halloween — creepy skeletons, gore-fest lawns, serial-killer mannequin dioramas and all — feels wrong in a ...

Tired of rude medical staff and customer service that feels more like combat? As a private chef living with sarcoidosis and heart failure, I’ve learned that silence and self-control—not clapbacks—are my best defense against e...