An Arm and a Leg is a show about why health care costs so freaking much, and what we can (maybe) do about it.
I’m Dan Weissmann. I’m a reporter, and I like a challenge. So the job I’ve chosen is: take one of the most enraging, terrifying, depressing parts of American life, and bring you a show that’s entertaining, empowering, and useful.
At An Arm and a Leg, we do that with journalistic rigor, an ear for a great story, and a strong sense of community.
You are not alone. We may be screwed, but we’re together. And if we want to get even a little bit less-screwed, we need to learn what we’re up against, and we need each other.
I’ve met folks through my reporting who can show us tools most of us don’t know about, and others who have been fighting for new rights — and sometimes winning.
I’m not gonna lie: We don’t have enough rights, or enough tools. We won’t win them all.
But it turns out: We don’t have to lose them all either.
I can promise you solid information, good company, and memorable stories. I hope you’ll join us, and listen in.
Or you can read us too: In late 2021, we launched a newsletter, First Aid Kit, to pull together practical lessons about how to survive the hellscape of the U.S. health care system.
How this show comes together:
An Arm and a Leg started as scribblings in my notebook in 2018, but I don’t make this show by myself, not by a long shot. A crack team of journalists and producers makes this show great.
And since 2019, we’ve had one of the nation’s best newsrooms as a production partner: Kaiser Health News provides editorial consultation, distributes and promotes the show on their website and newsletters, and gives us modest financial support.
(KHN isn’t affiliated with the health-care giant Kaiser Permanente. You can read more about them and our partnership here.)
Most of all, community support powers our work. Tips from listeners are behind many of our episodes — we’d love to hear from you— and many hundreds of listeners support us with donations. That’s our single biggest source of income, and we’d love for you to support us too.
Dan Weissmann@armandalegshow
Dan WeissmannCreator & Host
Dan is a public-radio guy (in a good way). He was a staff reporter for Marketplace and Chicago’s WBEZ, and has done stories for outlets like 99 Percent Invisible, Planet Money, Reveal, Code Switch, and NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Before working in audio, he spent many years as a print reporter, frequently musing, “Audio seems like where the real fun is. How do I break into that?” His work reflects sophisticated reporting, an engaging narrative voice, and a knack for snappy, accurate breakdowns of complex subjects—from urban segregation to the economics of America’s largest crop to the engineering miracles that turned the Chicago River into a sewer. Dan lives in the beautiful village of Skokie, Illinois, with his beautiful family.
Daisy RosarioConsulting Managing Producer
Daisy Rosario is an executive producer at Stitcher focused on original podcasts. She was previously managing producer for podcasts at WAMU 88.5 in Washington, DC. She came to WAMU from the startup 60dB.
Before 60dB, Daisy was a producer on the first season of the podcast Sooo Many White Guys, hosted by Phoebe Robinson for WNYC Studios. She is also a former senior producer for the weekly NPR-distributed show and podcast, Latino USA.
In her spare time, Daisy is co-host and co-creator of the podcast Serially Obsessed, where she and a former prosecutor and a media critic break down each episode of the podcast Serial.
Before audio journalism, Daisy had a lot of strange, but useful jobs. Among other things, she was a comedian and live event producer who began piloting podcast ideas in 2005. She still performs monthly in CPT: Comedy People’s Time, an improv and stand-up show in New York City.
Editor
Marian is a journalist based in New York City. Nothing gets her going like stories of people being caught in the gears of complex, unwieldy systems — and she’s made a career out of telling those stories in a variety of formats. She’s currently a producer at HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, where she has helped shape the show’s signature long-form segments since 2015. She was previously an investigative reporter at ProPublica.
Managing Editor, Audience
Gabrielle is an editor who works with text and audio. She’s now at New Hampshire Public Radio after working as the digital editor for the NPR show 1A. She likes eating french fries and reading.
Associate Producer
Emily is a journalist, writer, and audio producer based in New York City. In 2020, she graduated from Columbia Journalism School where she focused on health care reporting and radio and podcast production. Before turning to journalism, Emily wrote and edited web and social media content for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In addition to interning at An Arm and a Leg, she writes an independent newsletter about insulin.
Beatrice BoscoConsulting Director of Operations
Bea most recently worked as Director of Special Projects and Initiatives at Chicago Public Media/WBEZ, as Consulting Producer for the podcast This Is My Family, and as a producer on Amber Hawk Swanson’s The Harmony Show. She also produces work with the Popup Producers and consults for the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.
She was previously the Program Director and Theatre Faculty at the Associated Colleges of the Midwest Chicago Arts Program, Associate Director of Education at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and directed a number of plays at Chicago’s off-loop theatres.
Adam RaymondaAudio Wizard
Adam is an audio engineer, composer, sound designer, based in upstate New York. He’s worked with outlets like The Ringer, Audible, Uncover Studios, VICE, and Breadcrumbs.
Adam is the CEO of Rogue Dialogue Productions which is currently producing its first podcast Windfall which is like a big budget Sci-Fi HBO show, but for your ears. He also produces music under the name Garbage Person. RIYL: The Dear Hunter / Sigur Ros / Kimbra / Sufjan Stevens. Find out more at www.adamraymonda.com
David WinerComposer
Composer and Multi-instrumentalist David Winer has been writing and playing music for most of his life. His agility with countless musical styles has won him 2 AICP awards, 3 Clios, 1 Addy. He has been shortlisted at Cannes and nominated for 4 Grammys as a musician and producer. David is Creative Director at Fancy Mountain Music and Sound, and leads the Chicago band Ponds & Fleshman, whose music is dope as hell.
David lives with his wife and two children in Evanston, Illinois. His marinated jerk chicken is delicious!
Sean O’NeillDesigner, Visual Identity
Sean is an illustrator and writer living in Chicago. His colorful, vibrant illustrations have appeared in publications from Pearson, Harcourt, McGraw-Hill, Capstone Press, and many others. He is the creator of the Rocket Robinson series of graphic novels for young readers, published by Dark Horse Comics. Sean is also known for his series of live-drawing “whiteboard” videos on language and other topics, produced by mentalfloss.com.
Ann HeppermannEditor, Season 3 and SEASON-19
Ann Heppermann has been working in audio for nearly 20 years. She’s reported, produced and edited for everywhere under the sun, including: This American Life, Radiolab, 99% Invisible, and many others. She has received numerous awards, including a Peabody, and in 2011 was named a United States Artists Rockefeller Fellow. She has also edited a number of narrative podcasts like Heaven’s Gate, the feminist women’s history podcast No Man’s Land and an upcoming series with Complex Magazine. Bitch Magazine called her a “sort of Goddess of podcasting,” which makes her extremely proud.
Whitney Henry-LesterEditor, Seasons 1 and 2
Whitney is a versatile audio producer/editor/sound designer, production manager, and aspiring placemaker.
A collaborator at heart, she has worked with audio organizations such as PRX, StoryCorps, The Third Coast International Audio Festival, Heritage Radio Network, and CHIRP radio.
Whitney edits under the nickname The Darling Killer, she’s a founding member of The Recollective, a scrappy multimedia collective, and she currently runs a radio residency in Lima, Peru.
Mucca PazzaContributing Musicians, Inspiration
A Chicago treasure since 2004, Mucca Pazza‘s self-description — “the marching band that thinks it’s a rock’n’roll band” — doesn’t begin to do the group justice. We’re honored to have Mucca’s War of Amusements grace the end of Episode 4, season 1.