Mark Cuban and Dr. Fumiko Chino Try to F-Up Healthcare | from Before We Go
TED Health
TED
4.2 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 11 November 2025
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today’s episode features two people who are shaking up the U.S. healthcare system in very different but deeply humane ways. Dr. Fumiko Chino knows firsthand how devastating medical debt can be. After losing her husband to cancer and being left with overwhelming bills, she went to medical school to become a radiation oncologist and made it her mission to make care more affordable.
Mark Cuban, best known as one of the “sharks” on Shark Tank, is tackling the same problem from another angle. Through his Cost Plus Drug Company, he’s disrupting the industry with a transparent, direct-to-consumer model that’s already changing — and saving — lives.
Together, Fumiko and Mark offer a hopeful glimpse of what’s possible when empathy meets innovation.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, TED Health listeners, it's Shoshana. And today I want to share an episode from another |
| 0:07.8 | podcast that I think you'll like. It's called Before We Go. And if you listen to season one |
| 0:13.4 | before we go, you might remember that it told the story of my own father's cancer, the surprising |
| 0:19.3 | diagnosis that threatened my own health, and the unexpected |
| 0:22.9 | paths that I took to find meaning and purpose in it all. But season two is a little different. |
| 0:29.5 | This season, we're in conversation with people from all walks of life, exploring how we live |
| 0:34.7 | alongside mortality. And I got to talk with all sorts of interesting people, |
| 0:39.1 | including actress Alexandra Breckenridge, comedian Pat and Oswald, talk show host Ricky Lake, |
| 0:45.4 | as well as fabulous TED speakers, Alua Arthur, and Dr. B.J. Miller. The episode I'm sharing |
| 0:51.5 | with you today is one of my favorites. It features my friend, radiation oncologist Dr. Fumiko Chino, and entrepreneur Mark Cuban. |
| 1:01.0 | Both are shaking up the healthcare system in very different but deeply human ways. |
| 1:08.0 | Fumiko's story as both a doctor and a former caregiver brings compassion and lived |
| 1:13.4 | experience to her work, while Mark's mission to make prescription drugs affordable for |
| 1:18.4 | everyone shows how business can actually drive equity and change. And together, they offer a |
| 1:24.6 | hopeful glimpse of what's possible when empathy meets innovation. |
| 1:28.9 | And if you like this episode, and I really think you will, please follow before we go on your favorite podcast app. |
| 1:36.5 | And please tell your friends about it. Believe it or not, that's actually the best way to make sure this podcast reaches the people who need to hear it. |
| 1:44.8 | But before we dive in, a quick break to hear from our sponsors. |
| 2:07.6 | When this story began, Fumiko Chino was in her late 20s. I was an art director of an entertainment company, and I was dating a very delightful man. |
| 2:15.6 | We were engaged to be married. The delightful man was named Andrew. He was a PhD grad student in computer science. |
| 2:22.3 | And he started getting thickly-yclically ill, is what I would put it. |
| 2:29.3 | So every couple of weeks he would have nausea and vomiting. And I just, I blamed it on the graduate |
... |
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