The Best Day of My Life: Patch Adams' Journey to the Nobel Peace Prize Nomination

Meet the real Patch Adams, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. In episode 1 Patch’s son, Lars, explains what podcasts are to his 75 year old dad and begins unfolding the true- not-Hollywood story of how a suicidal misfit became a revolutionary clown doctor obsessed with love, mental health & the transformation of despair in all humans.

Patch has his foot amputated & Lars dives into Patch’s earliest memories of growing up in post-atomic-bomb Japan. Weaving conversations with Patch and his older brother, Wildman,

Lars talks to Patch & Wildman about their teen years moving from 1950's Germany to segregated America, the death of their war veteran father & Patch’s 3 suicide attempts before Martin Luther King Jr's impact led to Patch's transformation into Radical Love Clown dedicated to being 6 Qualities all the time: Happy, Funny, Loving, Creative, Thoughtful & Cooperative.

The Monkey-Suited Med Student : Lars chats with Patch’s BFF, Lewis, unfolding the birth of Patch’s public clowning, wearing costumes to work in corporate America. Plus the true story of Patch’s Medical School adventures where he formed his philosophy that laughter is the best medicine & began plans to build a free hospital, enraging the med school administration, who told Patch’s mother her son was unfit to be a doctor

Lars delves into his parent’s Hippie Commune, which doubled as a free hospital, nestled amongst radical hippie parties. Patch & Lars’s mom, Linda, tell us about absurd DIY projects, performance art films, hippie roadtrips, arrests & encounters with motorcycle gangs. Plus, Patch’s patented sensory invention for extreme bliss.

Lars and Patch discuss the making of the Patch Adams movie, Patch’s friendship with Robin Williams & Patch reunites with Mike Farrell (of the TV show MASH), who was instrumental in shepherding Patch’s story to the big screen;

The origin of Patch’s humanitarian clown trips to the most dire places on Earth starts in the former USSR, once America’s number one enemy.

Shortly after 911, Patch & his friend, Ginevra, brought clowns to war-torn Afghanistan, where they infused bombed-out hospitals, orphanages & prisons, with joy & play, bringing relief from suffering to countless Afghanis caught in decades of war. Plus the story of combat war veterans with PTSD transformed by Patch’s Clown Trips.

Does Patch win or lose? Does it matter? Lars and his dad discuss the journey of the podcast, the meaning of the Nobel Peace Prize plus we hear from Patch’s life-partner, Susan and Lars shares what it was like growing up with Patch Adams as his dad.