Brain Friends
Brain Friends: The Podcast is a global space for stroke, science, and equity. Hosted by Angie Cauthorn — two-time stroke survivor and unapologetic aphasia advocate — this show unpacks the cognitive, behavioral and communication disorders that follow stroke, and the systems that shape recovery.
This podcast began with my friend and co-host, Dr. D. Seles Gadson — a brilliant neuroscientist, speech-language pathologist, and fearless champion for equity in healthcare. Her work focused on health disparities in aphasia care, particularly within the Black community, and she believed deeply in making science accessible for all. I carry her legacy forward in every conversation.
There are no survivor interviews here. Instead, we focus on the research, the roadblocks, and the real work of making neurorehabilitation more equitable, inclusive, and understood — especially for people with aphasia.
Our listeners span over 80 countries and include speech-language pathology professionals, researchers, and people with aphasia who want more than inspiration — they want information that matters.
If you're here to rethink recovery, reimagine access, and stay grounded in the science — you're in the right place.
Welcome to Brain Friends.
Brain Friends
Latest Episodes
The Blueprint: Dr. Davetrina Seles Gadson on Black Stroke Survivors Health Equity and Aphasia
Two world-class researchers walked into this conversation because of one woman. They did not have to. They chose to. Dr. Peter Turkeltaub is a neurologist at Georgetown University Medical Center. MD. PhD. He directs the Cogni...
New ASA 2026 Stroke Ischemic Guidelines with Chair Dr. Shyam Prabhakaran
A stroke can feel like a lightning strike on the brain’s power grid—which is why the new 2026 AHA/ASA acute ischemic stroke guidelines focus on speed, clarity, and better systems at every step. We sit down with the chair of the writing group, D...
Memories of Seles 5/24/82 - 1/11/25 raise a glass.
A friendship became a movement when a survivor searching for culturally competent therapy met a clinician who refused to treat equity like an optional add-on. What started as a phone call turned into Brain Friends—a space where lived experience...
Understanding Aphasia: Tools, Consent, And Real-World Communication
Words don’t just disappear; sometimes the path to them does. We explore what aphasia really is—evidence of brain injury—and why that framing changes everything for survivors, caregivers, and clinicians. Instead of waiting at a broken bridge, we...
Aphasia, Dementia, and Stroke with Dr Roy Hamilton
A face that slips, a word that won’t come, an arm that won’t lift—tiny moments that point to massive truths about how the brain works, heals, and sometimes declines. I invited Dr. Roy Hamilton, neurologist, neuroplasticity researcher, and one o...
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