Dan Weissmann
Creator and Host, An Arm and a Leg
About
Prior to creating An Arm and a Leg, Dan was a staff reporter for Marketplace and Chicago’s WBEZ. His reporting has appeared on outlets including 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. Dan has 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.
Podcasts
Stories
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Revisiting insulin, as relevant (and expensive) as ever
Updating a story we first reported in 2019, about how insulin got to be so horribly expensive—the scientists who discovered it did NOT want price or profits to keep it away from people who need it—and what some people are doing about it.
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A 21st-century Christmas Carol: How one Scrooge became a health-care whistleblower
Former health-care executive Wendell Potter spent part of 2020 publishing high-profile apologies for the lies he says he told the American people in his old job—and trying to debunk the myths he once sold. His story is a modern Christmas Carol.
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Fight! My family tries to pick health insurance for next year. COVID makes it harder.
Keeping the plan we've got means paying $200 a month more. But... would a "cheaper" plan cost us more in the long run? It depends! And COVID makes it a lot more complicated. This stinks.You can hear my wife and me try to puzzle the who...
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How to avoid a big bill for your COVID test: with Sarah Kliff of the New York Times
They're supposed to be free. And usually they are. But sometimes... things happen. Here's how to keep them from happening to YOU.NYT reporter Sarah Kliff has asked readers to send in their COVID-testing bills. She's runs down the snags ...
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How to Keep Cool in a Tough Moment: A self-defense expert breaks it down
Possibly our most-useful episode ever. A listener asked: How do I remain cool when calling insurance companies?We called a self-defense teacher—because self-defense is more than hitting and kicking. It's standing up for yourself, using your words.
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How to handle debt collectors, with the TikTok Mom and a legal expert
There's a reason Shaunna Burns went viral with her videos about dealing with debt collectors: She used to be one, so she knows a few things. (Also she's smart and funny.) We fact-checked her advice with a legal expert.
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She tangled with health insurance every day for 25 years. And loved it. Here's what she can teach us.
Barbara Faubion got up every day psyched to go to work—which she says puzzled her friends. “They’d go, ‘You love your job?!? You spend your whole day talking to an insurance company. Are you kidding me?’” She wasn’t kidding. And she's got lessons ...
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We’re back! Dealing with the cost of health care seems pretty relevant right now.
There's no time like a pandemic to (a) learn to fight back against the awful cost of health care. And (b) have a good time doing it. Yep. Let’s go.
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Mental health ‘ghost networks’ — and a ghost-buster
Trying to find a therapist can be a horror story. It’s also a ghost story.
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“Your Money or Your Life”: Dr. Luke Messac’s book on the history of medical debt
An ER doc and trained historian looks at what ails us.