#medical-history
11 episodes
#2526: How Peer Review Actually Works (and Fails)
The history of peer review, the Lancet's biggest scandals, and why arXiv is changing everything.
#2277: What Did Doctors Actually Do in 1500?
Sneezing in 1500? You might’ve been bled, dried out, or told to pray. Here’s how medieval medicine worked — and why it lasted so long.
#1798: How Many Organs Can You Lose and Still Live?
You can live without a stomach, a spleen, even a pulse. Here’s what happens when your body’s hardware goes missing.
#1726: 2500 Years of Bad Medicine: The Slow Surrender
Bloodletting dominated medicine for 2500 years. Here’s how science finally admitted it was wrong.
#1514: The Midnight Watch: Is Our 8-Hour Sleep Block a Lie?
Before the industrial age, humans didn't sleep in one block. Discover why "first and second sleep" might be better for your brain.
#1272: The End of Gaslighting: New Breakthroughs in ME/CFS
Millions suffer from invisible illnesses dismissed as "all in the head." Discover the 2026 breakthroughs finally proving the biological reality.
#1051: The Pharmacological Soldier: Engineering the Battlefield
Explore how modern militaries use pharmacology to bypass human biology and redefine the limits of endurance on the battlefield.
#818: From Ice Picks to Ultrasound: The New Psychosurgery
Explore the dark history of the lobotomy and the high-tech, precision neurosurgery used today to treat severe mental health conditions.
#546: Will Today’s Medicine Look Barbaric in 80 Years?
Herman and Corn explore the history of medical errors and ask: what are we doing today that will look like bloodletting in the future?
#489: Tears of the Tree: The Secret History of Frankincense
Explore the biology, economics, and neuroscience of frankincense, from the ancient Incense Route to its psychoactive role in Temple worship.
#451: The Secret History and Scandal of the Pacifier
How did a simple rubber nipple become a "soul-destroying" moral threat? Corn and Herman dive into the pacifier's scandalous past.