So You Wanna Be a Podcast Host?

Vital Times: The CSA Podcast

Vital Times: The CSA Podcast
So You Wanna Be a Podcast Host?
Sep 08, 2026 Season 2 Episode 10 Dr. Ludwig Lin and Dr. Rita Agarwal

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Welcome back to Vital Times, the podcast of the California Society of Anesthesiologists. 

The news: CSA is launching its first Podcast Host Contest. We're looking for new voices for this show — and we're looking for it among you.

Who's eligible: Anesthesiology residents and fellows at California programs. Medical students at California medical schools with a demonstrated interest in the specialty. Any year. All subspecialty tracks.

No podcasting experience required. None. If you've never touched a microphone and you have something to say, we want to hear it.

 How to enter. Send us:

  1. An audio or video file, two to five minutes. Introduce yourself, or talk through a topic you care about. It doesn't need to be polished. We want to hear how you think and how you sound.
  2. A written statement, 250 to 500 words. Why hosting interests you. What you'd cover. Who you'd want in the room.

Who's judging: selected members of the Communications Committee and staff. We're scoring on communication style, content knowledge, professionalism, enthusiasm, creativity, and alignment with CSA values.

Why it matters. This is more than a published episode with your name on it or a line on your CV. It's mentorship — working with us on the craft of interviewing and the discipline of talking well about hard subjects. It's visibility across CSA, and a leadership network most trainees don't see for years. 

The winner is recognized in the CSA Newsletter, on our website, and at the Annual Meeting.

And if you don't win: strong entries may be featured on the CSA website. Either way, you'll have made something that's yours.

The bottom line. Sixty to ninety percent of residents already listen to podcasts monthly. Some of the people making them should be you.

Submissions open September 9th and close November 9th. Send yours to csa@csahq.org.

Episode Artwork So You Wanna Be a Podcast Host? 11:52 Episode Artwork The CSA (and other organizations) NEED You: The Importance of Getting Involved 57:52 Episode Artwork Jobcrafting a New Career Arc: How to Create a Sustainable Job, and Love it Too 51:16 Episode Artwork Federal Health Care Cuts Effects on Rural California Anesthesia Services 44:58 Episode Artwork Jobcrafting a New Life: How Shay Taylor Allen Started Life in a Shelter, Worked as a Janitor at Yale Medical Center, then Matched at Yale Anesthesiology Residency 50:50 Episode Artwork Anesthetic Consideration in Patients of Venezuelan Ancestry 1:05:34 Episode Artwork Examining the Role of Intraoperative EEG Monitoring in Postoperative Delirium 48:32 Episode Artwork Helping Mothers and Babies Thrive: How to Improve Maternal Mortality 46:16 Episode Artwork Who Gets to Be Called ‘Doctor’? Inside California’s Defining Ruling 52:47 Episode Artwork Anesthesiology, Health Care Innovation & Medical Technology with Dr. J.W. Beard 39:11 Episode Artwork Global Health Leadership with Dr. Ana Maria Crawford 37:49 Episode Artwork The Art of Healing: Dr. Adjoa Boateng Evans on Humanities in Medicine 44:05 Episode Artwork Pivoting Within Healthcare: From ER Charge Nurse to Quadruple-Boarded Anesthesiologist 43:09 Episode Artwork Beyond the OR: The Role of Mentoring in Early Career Development 50:49 Episode Artwork Certified Anesthesiologist Assistants: Expanding the Care Team in California 46:49 Episode Artwork Anesthesiology Career Paths: How Drs. Rita Agarwal and Ludwig Lin Became Anesthesiologists 30:00 Episode Artwork Low Back Pain and the Murder of an Insurance Company CEO 44:41 Episode Artwork An Interview with Dr. Marilyn Hill Harper, One of the First Black Woman Anesthesiologists at UCSF 31:02 Episode Artwork Revolutionizing Pain Care: Suzetrigine and Other Innovations in Analgesia 23:54 Episode Artwork Pushing the Limits in the Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) 1:03:23 Episode Artwork Building Collegiality: An Inter-Disciplinary and Institutional Approach 44:32 Episode Artwork IUD Insertion Pain and Techniques to Improve Pain 45:54 Episode Artwork What Anesthesiologists can do about Climate Change 52:58 Episode Artwork Patient Safety: The State of Ketamine Use, a Conversation with Californian Anesthesiologists and Pain Specialists 34:08 Episode Artwork Cryoneurolysis: An Up and Coming Regional Anesthetic Technology. What is it, and What’s Next? 51:54