
Episode #1
Humanitarienne with Dr Kirsten Johnson
Humanitarienne with Dr. Kirsten Johnson What happens when the girl who once lived in a punk rock house, survived on odd jobs and soup kitchens, and didn't even finish high school goes on to become a physician, scholar and humanitarian? That is just the beginning of Kirsten Johnson's extraordinary story. In Humanitarienne, Kirsten takes us from a difficult childhood and a teenage search for somewhere to belong, through a life of risk, adventure and service across the globe. From a kibbutz in Israel to refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border, the killing fields of Darfur, earthquake-ravaged Haiti, the Canadian Arctic and the front lines of global health, she keeps following the same instinct: go where the need is greatest and figure out how to help. But this isn't just a book about the places Kirsten has been or the things she's survived. It's about the woman those experiences created. We talk about the young woman who was desperate to escape, the experiences that taught her she could navigate the world, and the many places where she found pieces of belonging along the way. We talk about near-death experiences, absorbing fragments of other people's pain, motherhood and guilt, and the complicated reality of working inside systems designed to help people that don't always get it right. And eventually, Kirsten stops asking how she can keep responding to broken systems and starts asking how she can change them. The impact she made on the world and the lives she touched will forever define her legacy This is a story about courage, purpose, belonging, worth and what it means to build a life that actually feels like your own. Kirsten thoughtfully asks; What does it mean to live a meaningful life? Join us for this first episode of the Author Series, to find out. Humanitarienne is published by Douglas & McIntyre. https://douglas-mcintyre.com/products/9781771624862?srsltid=AfmBOoo5rkmCjbLng9oidmq0yyKi5gBc81WHtpzwyfIMVjuT79slwMAD Kirsten's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirstenjohnsonexplorer/ Kirsten's clinic: https://medalma.com/






