If there were such as thing as the Fountain of Youth, Dr. James Hamblin, senior editor at The Atlantic, must have been drinking from it all his life. In the real world, the 35-year old doctor-turned-journalist, shrugs off his youthful appearance as a family trait. When asked about his boyish looks, the host of the video series, If Our Bodies Could Talk, responds without hesitation. He is used to answering questions. After training as a radiologist and dabbling in improv comedy, James realized that he preferred talking for a living than practicing medicine. He is now known as the doctor who offers “off-beat perspectives” on health matters, through his writing and video series. In this interview, James shares his disdain for news cycles and enthusiasm for a plant-based diet. He also discusses his frustration with the medical profession and suggests family doctors would serve their patients better if they had an active Instagram account.

Notes and quotes

• James Hamblin, MD, spoke to LLAMA host Peter Bowes at the 2017 TEDMED conference in La Quinta, near Palm Springs, California.
• His TEDMED talk will be published on the TEDMED site in the next few months.
• James hosts the video series If Our Bodies Could Talk and is the author of a book by the same title.
• He studied medicine at Indiana University and did three years residency at the University of California, Los Angeles.
• Time magazine named James as one of 140 people to follow on Twitter in 2014. He’s on Instagram too. See more bio information here.

James believes doctors should be more active in social media to communicate health information to their patients.