Season 2 is coming!

April 17, 2019

This is our latest newsletter.
You can sign up to get these every couple of weeks.

YEP!  That’s right: Season 2 starts in June!  Whitney, Daisy and I agreed on the dates just last Friday. I am having a great time working on this batch of stories-in-progress.

And it’s going a LOT more smoothly than last season, thanks in part to a group of librarians, archivists, and other beautiful nerds who helped me last summer and fall.

They’ve got a project called Preserve This Podcast, which starts with an unnerving (to me) premise: Stuff online does not stick around forever. Not all by itself.

They’re teaching podcasters like me how to archive our own stuff, and they’re doing itvia a podcast.

In the latest episode, Getting Organized, you can hear host Molly Schwartz teaching me how to keep my digital files orderly.

It’s pretty funny. As Molly says , and my mom can confirm ,  I am “not the most organized person.”

BUT I LEARNED. Just in time, because this season’s first story involved an EPIC interview. I’m going to show you the folder structure I created for all the audio, because I’m so darn proud. And because I am a nerd.

Meanwhile, listen to the episode. Hearing me bumble my way through this , it’s hilarious.

Meanwhile, in the news…  maybe a little less funny… 


Paying an arm and a leg to lose a foot , and re-learn a big lesson: Picking insurance is awful.

Actually, it’s worse than we knew...

A big theme in Season 2 is the incredible amount of adulting , vigilance, persistence, organization , that this system requires of us.

If you ever feel like that’s too much ,

… well, here’s an example of how you’re not alone:

A professor in Philadelphia found out she needed her foot amputated to stop an infection from spreading. But, she thought, at least she had insurance.

Except, it turned out her insurance was junk , a short-term plan with a ton of exclusions ,and it wasn’t going to cover the operation. Or anything related to her problem.

Sarah Gantz reported the story for the Philadelphia Inquirer (which has such a strong paywall you may not be able to read anything. With apologies to the Inquirerhere’s a summary published elsewhere.)

Gantz found herself having to defend her source. And she followed up with a new story.

Remember our episode on why most of us will choose the wrong health plan?

Turns out, most of us are even worse at it than we thought. Sarah cites a study by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners:

The crazy part to me: These folks in the study spent an hour with the pamphlet. They did the reading. And still.

These were short-term plans , like the one the professor in Philadelphia had , which don’t comply with Affordable Care Act requirements to, you know, cover essential services.

People skipped it.

OK!

Instead of ending on that note, I’ll just report how pleased I am to see that somebody else’s household is just excited for Avengers Endgame as ours:

Back in a couple weeks. Till then, take care of yourself.

Looking for an answer?

For topic-specific deep dives and recommended reading, start here or use the search bar below to explore our site.

Follow the Podcast

More News



Logo for Arm & A Leg

First Aid Kit

A show about why health care costs so freaking much, and what we can (maybe) do about it.
February 5, 2026

New episode — NYT’s Ron Lieber: “These people are not going to win”

Hey there— What’s scarier than major surgery? How about getting a letter from your insurance company less than two days before surgery, saying they’re not paying the bill? Oh, and the letter arrives on Saturday. You’ve been out all day, so you get it Saturday night. Surgery’s scheduled for first thing Monday. You can try making calls on a Sunday
January 29, 2026

Beware medical credit cards and loans

The situation: You need a mole removed. Or a root canal. Or a hearing test. Or something lifesaving, like cancer treatment. A big scary bill is looming on the horizon, and you don’t think your insurance is going to protect you. But your provider has a solution: signing you up for a medical credit card, like CareCredit or HealthiPlan, or
January 22, 2026

Preventive care: what does (and very likely doesn’t) count

Hey there, A couple weeks ago, we made the case for getting your annual checkups early this year. Most of us think of these checkups as “preventive care” — the kinds of services that the Affordable Care Act says your insurance company needs to cover 100%, even if you haven’t met your deductible. But we get lots of emails from pissed-off listeners wondering why
January 15, 2026

Sh**’s wild’: Scaling up, doubling down, and buckling in

Hey there— Our plan for today’s new podcast episode was simple: Check in with the founder of a scrappy organization that’s been inspiring us for five years to hear about their 2025 triumphs and their plans for 2026. That organization would be Dollar For, a nonprofit that helps people crush medical bills by connecting them with charity care — financial assistance that hospitals are
January 9, 2026

Knock out your check-ups early in the year — seriously

Hey there, and happy New Year! We’re kicking off the year with a story and some advice from the early days of An Arm and a Leg that (unfortunately) remains relevant year after year. Back when the show was just getting started, Dan got an email from a listener named Rebecca in New York City. The subject line: “Don’t get sick in

See the Episode Archive

One of the most enraging, terrifying, depressing parts of American life made entertaining, empowering, and useful.
Explore All