College Times

Media Credit: Courtesy Stupid Cancer Show

Matthew Zachary was an award-winning pianist and was just six months from graduating college. Then he was diagnosed with cancer.

“I was given six months to live and told I would never play (piano) again,” Zachary said.

A little over 10 years later, Zachary is able to play piano again. And he hosts an online radio show that deals with the struggles of those in generation X who face cancer.

The Stupid Cancer Show is not a typical support show; its intended audience is people under the age of 40.

The 45-minute programming of the show usually involves an opening monologue, a spotlight on someone surviving cancer and two guest segments.

Something that separates the show is its edgier style.

“Stop giving money to the American Cancer Society,” Zachary said. “They’re a waste of time.”

Zachary knows his style might be a little different from the normal support shows and he uses the “Howard Stern disruption model” as a style to create the show.

Zachary said that after he went through some of the physical recovery, he found that there were no support groups for someone that was college aged.

“It was tragically isolating,” Zachary said.

After regaining his ability to play piano and holding some jobs in the marketing field, he got into advocacy.

He started Imtooyoungforthis.org, an organization that helps generation X cancer survivors, and was approached to do the radio show.

The radio show is broadcast on a unique platform, through Nowlive.com. The site is similar to other social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook, but it allows its users to start broadcasting their own radio show almost instantly.

The site allows users the ability to listen live to the show and participate in it by incorporating chat rooms. The shows can be downloaded later via podcasting.

Kevin Bromber, Nowlive CEO and founder, said that the site runs about 7,000 shows a month.

Zachary thinks that the show being interactive and online is part of the reason it attracts the audience easier than a normal support group.

“You’re already online and we’re just gonna meet you there,” Zachary said.

Bromber said he thinks the show is the first of its kind and he could see it inspiring more shows that provide support for other diseases, such as diabetes. He called the show “truly revolutionary.”

Zachary said that he hopes the show’s audience will continue to grow and perhaps down the line turn into an XM radio show. In the meantime, he will continue to broadcast every Monday at 6 p.m. PST and be a voice to those recovering from the disease.

“Forget the cure, survivorship is all the rage,” Zachary said on a recording of his show.

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