Speaker
Jackie Tohn
Appearances over time
1 episodes
Episodes
1
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Jackie's genetic counselor determined she had an 85% chance of developing breast cancer due to her BRCA1 mutation.
Jackie's BRCA1 mutation also gave her a 65% chance of developing ovarian cancer, prompting planned ovary removal.
The BRCA mutation rate among Ashkenazi Jews is roughly 1 in 40, compared to 0.2–0.3% of the general population — about 10 times higher.
BRCA guidelines recommend removing ovaries and breasts before age 40; Jackie underwent her mastectomy at 45.
Jackie cited roughly 20,000 breast cancer cases per state per year in the US, illustrating the scale of the epidemic.
When Jackie's removed breast tissue was examined, pathology found pre-carcinogenic cell groupings, confirming the surgery was not precautionary but necessary.
Fewer than 0.3% of the general population carries a BRCA mutation, making it extremely rare outside high-risk groups.
Jackie spent roughly two decades auditioning, touring as a musician, doing stand-up, and clawing for acting work before landing Nobody Wants This.
Jackie's mastectomy at the Bedford Breast Center included nerve-sparing reconnection, adding an extra hour and a half to the operation.
As of 2026, there is no reliable advanced screening test for ovarian cancer comparable to breast MRI, leaving BRCA-positive women with only a limited pelvic ultrasound option.
Myriad Genetics' test at learnmyrisk.com requires only a saliva sample and returns a full genetic mutation and cancer-risk profile.
Insurance covers BRCA genetic testing when a family member had young-onset cancer, rare cancer, or multiple cancers — plus an informal fourth criterion for Ashkenazi Jews.
Jackie's father found lumps under his arm that turned out to be metastatic carcinomas of unknown origin. Genetic testing revealed he was BRCA1 positive. When Jackie got tested, she came back positive too — and a genetic counselor put her risk of breast cancer at 85% and ovarian cancer at 65%. The number wasn't paralyzing; it was clarifying.
Getting a BRCA positive result doesn't come with a roadmap. Jackie had to assemble five different specialists — oncologist, gynecological oncologist, breast surgeon, plastic surgeon, genetic counselor — and then navigate hundreds of daily decisions about timing, surgery type, and reconstruction. It's like being handed a nail and told to build a house.
Jackie made it to her mid-40s without anyone mentioning BRCA testing to her — despite being an Ashkenazi Jew who saw doctors regularly. She partnered with Myriad Genetics, the company that discovered the BRCA gene, to push for wider testing. The test is a simple saliva kit at learnmyrisk.com, and insurance covers it if you have a young, rare, or multiple-cancer family history.
Jackie's pre-surgery workup involved three MRIs and a biopsy. After the biopsy, she was sitting in the waiting room when she realized she was soaking through her shirt with blood. She ran into the hallway screaming for a nurse — and the first woman she found turned out to be a nurse carrying soiled linens. The stitch had to be redone in a random office.
When a woman gets a preventative double mastectomy, she chooses between two surgical paths: straight-to-implant (done while still under anesthesia) or expanders first (two separate procedures). Jackie went straight-to-implant with Dr. Kasliff and Dr. Richardson at the Bedford Breast Center, waking up with the final result. Her surgeons even propped her up mid-surgery to assess the size.
When Jackie's removed breast tissue was examined, pathology found pre-carcinogenic cellular groupings. Her surgeon Dr. Kasliff called almost jubilant — because sometimes the tissue comes back totally clean and you never know if it would have become cancer. Jackie's tissue was already on its way. The surgery caught it.
Breast cancer surveillance has MRIs, biopsies, and the ability to detect stage 0 disease. Ovarian cancer has a pelvic ultrasound and not much else. Jackie's ovaries — grape-sized organs — remain difficult to screen effectively, which is exactly why BRCA-positive women are advised to remove them before 40.
Jackie spent roughly 20 years doing whatever form of creative work was working slightly better than the others — touring as a musician, stand-up comedy, bit parts, development deals that never went. No one was high-fiving her at 37 in a one-bedroom apartment with a 15-year-old RAV4. Then came GLOW, then Nobody Wants This, and the industry suddenly called it 'persistence.'
Insurance covers BRCA genetic testing under three official criteria: a family member with rare cancer, young-onset cancer, or multiple cancers. The unofficial fourth criterion that Jackie advocates for loudly: being Ashkenazi Jewish. The test is a saliva kit at learnmyrisk.com. There is no excuse not to spit in a tube.
Jackie went to a Korean-Russian mother-daughter acupuncture team in Silver Lake and immediately started joking through her medical history to make it easier for the acupuncturist to handle. The acupuncturist saw exactly what was happening and said six words: 'You don't have to entertain anybody.' It's the kind of thing Jackie had heard before, but this time it landed.
Jackie admits she spent decades performing for every room — rising to the occasion, being 'bitty,' proving she was funny to people who didn't know her yet. Nobody Wants This gave her permission to stop. She watches younger actors doing the same thing now on set and feels only recognition, not judgment.
Jackie is a self-described hypochondriac and neurotic — yet when her BRCA results arrived, she became a machine. She and Monica Padman connected this to Monica's own epilepsy diagnosis: the catastrophizing is almost always worse than confronting the actual thing. The anxiety has nowhere to land once the feared event becomes real.
Travis Kelce went to a Taylor Swift concert hoping to give her a bracelet with his number. He couldn't reach her, said so on his podcast, she heard it and reached out. Dax and Monica debate whether the same story would work if a woman did it — and conclude the charm was the unexpected pairing of a huge NFL player being a Swiftie, not the gender dynamics.
Analysis
What they talk about
- Health & Fitness 55%
- Society & Culture 36%
- Arts 9%
Connections
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