The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation (PMCF) podcast,
Carry The Fire, has returned for a second season.
Hosted by Lisa LaFlamme, one of Canada’s most celebrated journalists,
Carry The Fire features ten episodes that spotlight the groundbreaking advances at UHN’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the extraordinary patients, researchers and doctors behind them.
"Carry The Fire is more than a podcast," says LaFlamme. "It is an intimate portrait of cancer patients, their loved ones and the medical professionals who are helping to create a world free from the fear of cancer at The Princess Margaret."
Each episode offers a powerful look into the human experience of cancer care, highlighting the courage and determination of patients alongside the dedication of the medical professionals pushing innovation forward.
The new season launched April 7, marking Cancer Awareness Month, with an episode featuring Ryan Gullen of rock band The Sheepdogs, whose father participated in a clinical trial at Princess Margaret.
Ultimately losing his father to esophageal cancer, Gullen talks about how grief showed up in unexpected and complicated ways.
"I really, really struggled with that. It happens to me still now, like looking at getting a new car. The first thing I would do would be to call my dad," says Gullen. "Part of the grief was really coming to terms with being OK that I'm being human and I'm having a natural reaction to something that's obviously very, very overwhelming."
In that episode, Dr. Madeline Li, a clinician-scientist in the Department of Supportive Care at Princess Margaret, joins LaFlamme to unpack what grief really looks like, why it rarely follows a tidy path and how we learn to live with it.
"It's not that you get over grief. You never get over missing somebody. Your life is changed after," said Dr. Li. "I think it's important to recognize that there's a whole range of emotions you can have. They're all normal. You accept them all."
The season will feature a number of well-known Canadians sharing their experiences with cancer.
Piper Gilles, an Olympic bronze medallist in ice dance, shares how her experience as a cancer survivor shaped her inspiring performance at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games.
And following a diagnosis of testicular cancer — his biggest test yet — Toronto Maple Leafs forward Dakota Joshua discusses his return to the game he loves.
In the recently dropped second episode, Claire Cameron, the best-selling Canadian author and winner of the 2025 Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction writing, speaks with LaFlamme about facing the same cancer diagnosis that claimed the life of her father.
To learn more, visit
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation website or follow
Carry The Fire wherever you get your podcasts.
