‘A Many-Headed Beast’: Telling The Story Of Cancer
Science Friday24 Nov 2025

‘A Many-Headed Beast’: Telling The Story Of Cancer

Twenty years ago, a young oncologist started journaling to process his experience treating cancer patients. That cathartic act became the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.

Fifteen years after the book was published, how has our understanding of preventing and treating cancer changed? Host Flora Lichtman is joined by author Siddhartha Mukherjee to talk about what we now understand about screening, environmental risks, and rising cancer rates in young people.

Read an excerpt of the new chapters added to The Emperor of Maladies on the 15th anniversary of the book’s publication.

This headline has been corrected from "Multi-Headed" to "Many-Headed" to accurately reflect Siddhartha Mukherjee's statement.

Guest: Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer physician and an associate professor of medicine at Columbia University.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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