Where terminal illness and dick jokes peacefully co-exist.
Three best friends — Jeremie, Brian and Taylor — talking about what it's actually like to be sick. New episodes every Wednesday.
Everybody knows someone who's sick. Most people just don't know what to say. Every Wednesday, we practice.
Listen
The 6 newest of 961 episodes. Each one plays right here.
You Don’t Have to Be Good at Grief
Episode 961 · · 69 min · Mental
Laura Jaye Cramer makes print magazines for funeral homes. In 2026. Naturally, the guys suggest adding AI and boobs to help with the investor pitch.
Sex, Trauma & a Vibrator That Learns
Episode 960 · · 68 min · Mental
For Morgan Hewett, faking orgasms was a way to stay in control. After surviving an abusive relationship, the vulnerability of letting go didn’t feel safe.
Sickle Cell, Medical Racism & a Life-Changing Transplant
Episode 959 · · 67 min · Sickboy
Gabriel Badejo has broken bones and been in car accidents, but he says none of it comes close to the pain of a sickle cell crisis.
Second Opinion: Foreskin Panic, Sidewalk Poop & Family Kidney Drama
Episode 958 · · 66 min · GI
A date is going great until someone’s foreskin refuses to cooperate.
Blood Sugar at 200 km/h
Episode 957 · · 43 min · GI
What does managing type 1 diabetes look like at 200 km/h? Chase Pelletier started karting at ten and received his diabetes diagnosis about a month later.
My P**is Tried to Kill Me
Episode 956 · · 73 min · Sickboy
James started waking up with painful erections. Then it happened again and again up to five times a night.
The show is on YouTube as well. On the desktop these play in a media player with a traffic cone on it; here each one is a plain link to the video on YouTube.
Three best friends. One of us is professionally sick.
On the desktop the hosts are a contact list in a 1999 instant messenger called I Sick You. All three are in the middle of recording, so whoever you message types back an apology and an excuse, put together differently every time. The replies are canned and nothing typed there is sent or saved. A few of them are listed here instead; to reach us for real, call the hotline.
Jeremie
Lives with cystic fibrosis and started Sickboy so illness could be talked about without the pity script. Coughed his way to a six pack, then got Trikafta and had to start hitting the gym.
Screen name: SaltyLungz69. Status: recording!! hold my enzymes
Some of what Jeremie types back
Recording, sorry! Leave a message after the cough. *cough* Not that one. *COUGH* That one.
Recording, back later, sorry! Please enjoy the hold music: *wheeze* *wheeze* *jazz wheeze*
Sorry, can't chat, we're recording. I'm the sick boy. The other two are just boys. All three of us are busy.
Away from keyboard, at microphone. Doctors gave me an expiry date and I blew right past it, so a late reply is very on brand. Sorry!
Sorry, we're rolling. I'd say I'll get back to you before I die, but I've been making that joke for ten years and I keep not dying.
Can't reply. Recording. If it's an emergency: same, constantly. Sorry! Talk soon.
Sorry, I'm recording. The fellas say I can check my messages as soon as I stop talking. So, see you never. lol
SORRY. Recording. If this is about my lungs: they're fine. If it's not about my lungs: weird, everything usually is.
Sorry!! Can't reply right now, we're in the middle of recording. I'd step out, but I'm the sick one and it's kind of my show.
Sorry, recording. Typing this with my mic muted. If you hear this in the episode, it wasn't muted.
Sorry! We're recording. I have about one good paragraph in me per breath and you just got it.
Recording!! Sorry!! This message is brought to you by enzymes. Enzymes: I can't eat a sandwich without them.
Sorry, recording! My name is Jeremie and I'm sick. Also busy. Mostly busy.
Can't talk, recording, sorry! If I go quiet it's the mic. If I go REALLY quiet, call someone.
On the desktop he has about 8,846 more excuses where those came from.
Brian
Best friend first, host second. He builds the kind of space where people can say the scariest thing they've got, then keep talking.
Screen name: 4cams1guy. Status: recording. sorry in advance
Some of what Brian types back
sorry sorry sorry. we're rolling. at least i think we're rolling. hang on. ...ok yes, we're rolling. sorry.
so sorry, i'm recording. please know your message matters to me and i will think about it warmly the whole time i'm not answering it.
sorry, we're recording. i apologize for the delay. i also apologize for apologizing. tay says i do that too much. sorry, tay.
recording. sorry. technically this is the website talking, not me. but i built the website, so in a way i AM replying. no? ok. sorry.
so sorry. recording. back as soon as i save the file, back up the file, and back up the backup of the file. so, tomorrow.
sorry, can't reply right now, we're in the middle of recording. i'm running four cameras and at least one of them is not in focus.
away: recording. sorry. jer's coughing, tay's interrogating, i'm riding the faders. the system works.
brian would like to profusely apologize for this message. recording. sorry.
sorry. recording. if this is urgent, it's probably a cable. it's always a cable.
hi sorry recording sorry bye sorry.
sorry, recording. i have a system for answering messages. it's a good system. you're in it now. sorry.
can't reply, recording, sorry. i'd say i'll get back to you but i still owe the last guy an answer from 2019.
On the desktop he has about 8,879 more excuses where those came from.
Taylor
Curious by nature. Asks the question everyone's been circling, then stays with the answer long enough to find something worth taking home. When he's not in the studio he's usually with his family or riding his butt dart.
Screen name: xXButtDartXx. Status: Recording. I ask the questions.
Some of what Taylor types back
Can't reply, we're in the middle of recording. I'm told I'm supposed to say sorry. Sorry.
Sorry, can't reply, we're recording. That's my one apology for the year. Jer and Bri can split it.
Recording right now. I'd say sorry I missed you, but I've been told I don't sound sorry when I say it. Anyway. Sorry.
Can't reply, we're mid-episode. I've never apologised for a question on this show and I'm not starting now. For not replying, though: sorry. Kind of.
Recording. Sorry. That's a whole message from me without a single question in it. Personal best. Don't get used to it.
Can't chat, recording. Sorry. Quick question while you wait, though: what's the worst thing a doctor ever said to you? Don't answer. I can't read it.
Recording. Sorry I can't answer. While I have you: is it rude to ask how much that cost? I'm going to ask how much that cost.
Recording, back in a bit. Sorry. If you see a guy going way too fast through Halifax on a butt dart later, that's me, and I'm late for supper.
Sorry. Recording. Bri typed this apology for me. I approved it. Mostly.
Recording. Sorry. Ask me anything. Later. Actually, I'll ask you.
Recording. Sorry. I was going to ask how you are, but I'd want the real answer and there isn't time.
Can't reply. Recording. Sorry. If it's urgent, tell Bri. He'll feel terrible about it for you.
On the desktop he has about 9,042 more excuses where those came from.
About the show
Jeremie has cystic fibrosis. Doctors said he wouldn't see 25. In 2015 he pulled his two best friends into a conversation about what it's actually like to be sick.
Every Wednesday they sit down with a guest and ask the stuff you're not supposed to ask about. Illness, death, the weird admin of staying alive, and whatever else comes up.
More than 1,000 conversations
More than 11 million downloads
Heard in 125 countries
11 years running, from Halifax, Nova Scotia — a CBC Health & Sport podcast
Get involved
Call the hotline: record a 30-second video message. Some of it makes the show.
Apply to be a guest: got an illness, disability, or health story worth telling? We want to hear it.