Knock Knock, Hi! with the Glaucomfleckens

Knock Knock, Hi! with the Glaucomfleckens

"Knock Knock, Hi! with the Glaucomfleckens" dives into the highs, lows, and WTFs of healthcare. Whether you're in the medical field, live with a healthcare worker, or broke your arm once and are still paying off your medical bills, this is a must-listen. Join Will and Kristin Flanary (aka the Glaucomfleckens) for candid chats with leading healthcare voices like Dr. Mike and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. Discover fun facts about eyeballs, hear relatable stories from medical training, and sneak a peek into the U.S. health insurance industry (spoiler alert: it's not great!). We'll share our own perspectives of being a patient or family member experiencing the healthcare system. And, of course, we explore the question on everyone's minds: "Why has Dr. Glaucomflecken never had his eyes dilated?" Combining science with humor and a dash of snark, we unpack the human side of healthcare.

Episodes

November 18, 2025 46 mins
Kristin and I start off by talking about puzzles, rainy vacations, and why Scotland might be the best place on earth, mostly because they have giant defibrillator kiosks just sitting out in public. Then, somehow, that conversation spirals into an in-depth analysis of Kristin’s many fears (spiders, the ocean, nouns too close to her face: you name it). We also dive back into our favorite recurring segment: “Pick a Random Page From t...
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I’m trying something new: differentials. Each episode, I’ll pick one ocular sign and one ocular symptom, and walk you through everything that could cause them. This week: the mysterious “abnormal red reflex” and the all-too-common “my eyes are burning.” From cataracts and retinoblastoma to blepharitis and bad makeup glue, I’m breaking down the real possibilities, one red, irritated eyeball at a time. It’s part med school, part come...
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This week, Kristin and I sit down with Wendy Bryan Lazar, the founder of I Heart Guts, the company making plush organs so lovable you almost forget they’re based on, you know, actual human guts. We dive into how she turned her background in design and a deep love of anatomy into a wildly successful brand that celebrates the weird, wonderful world inside us. We talk about the real challenges of bringing humor to healthcare, the jo...
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From ophthalmology to testicle jokes, this episode covers a lot. I’m talking about why physicians should be allowed to own hospitals, the internet debate over vision therapy, and the truth about whether your eyes can actually pop out if you sneeze too hard. Plus, I share the one time an ophthalmologist asked a patient to drop his pants and why professional athletes might be missing out by skipping regular eye exams. Takeaways: ...
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So… I turned 40. And like any doctor staring down middle age, I celebrated by talking about colonoscopy prep. This week, Kristin and I unpack everything that happens to your body when you hit your forties, from dry eyes and presbyopia to statins and perimenopause. (Don’t worry, it’s still funny.) We talk about getting old, staying healthy, and why I’m way too excited to film my own colonoscopy. Then things take a turn for the sci...
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I went to Disney World and ended up diagnosing cartoon characters. From Mike Wazowski’s lack of depth perception to Goofy’s questionable eye anatomy and Winnie the Pooh’s all pupil, no iris situation, I’m breaking down which Disney characters would absolutely fail a vision test. Plus, a quick dive into a real breakthrough from Stanford that might help restore sight lost to macular degeneration. It’s ophthalmology meets Disney meets...
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This week, Kristin and I dive into two real-world CPR stories. One that’ll make your blood boil (looking at you, Hofstra bar exam), and another that’ll make you want to hug a comedian in Spokane. We talk about what happens when bystanders freeze, how quick thinking saves lives, and why everyone should know at least something about CPR. Then I drag Kristin into a round of “Doctor Strange or Just Strange” where she has to guess if b...
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Can you really “train” your eyes to work better or is vision therapy mostly hype? In this episode, I’m breaking down the three main types of vision therapy, what the science says about each, and how to tell when it’s actually helpful versus when it’s just expensive pseudoscience. We’ll talk convergence insufficiency (the one real winner), why eye exercises don’t fix dyslexia or myopia, and how to ask the right questions before spen...
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What happens when your med school doesn’t like your TikToks? This week, we talk to Dr. Kumail Hussain, a physician who went viral for his medical content… and got in serious trouble for it. We dig into the story that followed: professionalism hearings, probation, and the ripple effects that followed him into residency. But this isn’t just about one doctor’s social media misstep, it’s about what medicine still fears. Free express...
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I’m back with part two of my “life lessons at 40” and yes, it’s even more random than part one. From safety glasses and social media boundaries to testicle self-exams (yes, really), I’m sharing the wisdom I’ve collected over four decades. Plus, a neuro-ophthalmology curveball: a patient with mismatched pupils and a mystery diagnosis that turns out to be a Horner syndrome. Takeaways: Why you should always wear safety glasse...
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We’re back with a follow-up to the “no inner monologue” chaos, but this time, we’re going deeper. Kristin and I unpack what it actually feels like when your brain disconnects, how trauma can flip your reality switch, and why dissociation might just be your mind’s weirdest defense mechanism. Then we shift gears into something truly wild: the microscopic villains that can give you cancer. Yep, your high school biology class never wa...
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I just turned 40 and I’ve learned a few things along the way. Some about eyeballs, some about life, and a few the hard way (looking at you, hot tub corneal ulcer). In this special two-part birthday series, I’m sharing the lessons, advice, and random pearls I’ve picked up over four decades from why you should never argue with trolls online to how flossing can save your sanity. It’s a mix of serious, silly, and surprisingly heartfelt...
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Some episodes wander. This one sprints from childhood trauma (aka the Presidential Fitness Test pull-up requirement) to the ethics of free speech on social media, to guts literally spilling outside the body in a crash course on gastroschisis and omphalocele. Kristin and I also talk about why doctors get in trouble online, how to avoid losing your job with one bad post, and the weird dynamic of being expected to comment on every ne...
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What happens when the president tells pregnant patients to “tough it out” instead of taking Tylenol? And why are accomplished physicians standing on stage making claims that don’t hold up to the evidence? This week I’m diving into the mess of misinformation, the dangers it creates, and the patients who end up paying the price. Then, to balance the outrage with some ophthalmology, I’m taking you deep into two of the rarest optic ner...
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Some things in healthcare are forgivable mistakes. This wasn’t one of them. Kristin and I dive into the shocking story of a group of healthcare workers who thought it was a good idea to post exam-room paper from pelvic exams online. Spoiler: they’re not working in medicine anymore. But the fallout reveals something bigger, the fragile state of public trust in doctors and what happens when we keep shooting ourselves in the foot on ...
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What if the only thing that could truly unite this country was our collective rage at health insurance companies? This week, I’m handing out my best social media survival advice (step one: don’t get fired), sharing the rare thrill of bringing vision back from the brink, and digging into why bloody tears are a real thing. Plus, we’ll talk colorblindness, cataracts, and maybe even which of your five senses deserves the top spot. T...
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I’ve been to a lot of medical conferences, but veterinary medicine conferences are different. Picture me, a human ophthalmologist, standing in front of a thousand vets, showing them photos of my dog Milo’s eyes (because why not?). Turns out, they loved it and then immediately called me out for doing the exact thing they can’t stand about human doctors. Oops. Kristin and I also get into the strange overlap between vet medicine and ...
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In honor of Pain Awareness Month, we’re excited to share an episode from one of our favorite healthcare podcasts, “Bendy Bodies with Dr. Linda Bluestein.” In this recent interview, Dr. Bluestein sat down with Dr. Zach Spiritos, a neurogastroenterologist, to explore why gastrointestinal problems in hypermobile patients can be so difficult to detect with standard testing (and what patients and providers can do to find better answers ...
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What happens when your immune system suddenly decides your eye is the enemy? This week I’m diving into one of ophthalmology’s rarest (and frankly scariest) condition, sympathetic ophthalmia. Plus, I’m talking GLP-1 miracle drugs, why residency feels like a soul-draining black hole, and whether med school should really be shorter. And yes, we’re also testing which of your eyeballs is the boss. Takeaways: The strange and unsett...
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I’ve worn a lot of hats. Physician, patient, Domino’s delivery guy, even walk-in freezer napper. But in this episode, Kristin and I dive into a conversation that’s bigger (and scarier) than my teenage pizza-ball experiments: what happens if we cut health insurance out of healthcare altogether? We start with rabies bats in Wyoming (because of course we do), wander into my old nap habits, and then head straight into a serious discus...
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