This Podcast Will Kill You

This Podcast Will Kill You

@tpwky.bsky.social

Disease + podcast = so much good dinner party conversation. Hosted by @erinwelsh.bsky.social and Erin Allmann Updyke. YouTube Premiere of Pregnancy Act One on March 11, 5pm PT: https://youtu.be/Dx0ewmmMjnQ

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This week, we are thrilled to be joined again by our favorite Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris to chat about her latest book, Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes. You may think you know Sherlock, but do you know Dr. Joseph Bell? Tune in to this week's episode for all the details!

It's quarantini time! This week My Stack will get you pumped, swole you up, make you.... idk. It's iced coffee. 8 oz iced coffee 2 oz milk dash of maple syrup and vanilla Froth milk, maple and vanilla and pour over iced coffee

Looking to get swole (do people still say that)? Want to rewind the clock and smooth those bothersome wrinkles? If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, chances are you’ve been inundated with claims of the seemingly unlimited powers of peptides. Is there any evidence to support these claims?

Come one, come all to learn of the miraculous news we’re buzzing to share with you at this limited time, low price offer. If you’ve been troubled by aches and pains, sores and sneezes, look no further than this very special episode - good for whatever ails you. Tune in now, don't miss this!

A diagnosis of dementia of any kind is devastating. The hereditary form of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), could mean an entire family is destined for the same fate. In this week’s book club episode, Robert Kolker paints an intimate portrait of one such family in The Vanishing Family.

In today’s episode, we attempt to convey the full picture of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): from possible causes to early medical descriptions, from the baseball player whose impassioned speech captured the public’s hearts to the promising research on the horizon. Tune in for all this and more

It's quarantini time again! Thicker than Water 2oz pomegranate juice 2 oz orange juice 0.5oz lime juice 2 oz club soda Refreshing, though perhaps less so if you add chia or psyllium husk!

Shortly after birth, many newborns are given vitamin K to help their blood clot properly and reduce the chances of hemorrhage. Increasingly, parents are refusing this, leaving these babies more likely to develop deficiency bleeding which can have catastrophic consequences. Tune in for the full story

Imagine yourself as a 17th century English peasant, merchant, or noble dealing with some ailment. Where do you turn to for help? Listen to this week's book club episode with Dr. Alanna Skuse and her book, The Surgeon, The Midwife, The Quack: How to Stay Alive in Renaissance England to find out!

This week, we pick up where we left off last week starting with examining how ECT is administered, which conditions it’s used for, and what we know about how it works. To help us present an accurate and comprehensive perspective we bring on ECT expert Dr. Leonardo Lopez. Don't miss this one!

For last week and this week's quarantini, we're drinking Shock Talk. Make one now to get prepped for tomorrow's episode! Shock Talk 3 oz grapefruit juice 5 oz ginger ale combine with basil over ice; add club soda for bubbles!

For many, mentioning electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) conjures images of torture or mind control, while few know that ECT is still used today and is an incredibly safe and effective treatment for many psychiatric conditions. This week and next we explore this stigmatized and misunderstood therapy.

The devastating consequences of climate change can be measured any number of ways. In this week’s book club episode, we delve into some of the less explored impacts by chatting with author Clayton Page Aldern about his book, The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes our Brains. Tune in!

The brown recluse, like most spiders with name recognition, is renowned for being a fearsome, dangerous predator. A bite from one can send someone to the hospital with a painful necrotizing wound. But do these spiders actually deserve the hatred they get? Tune in for the low down on this shy spider.

Last week, we set the stage by breaking down the science behind cholesterol. This week, armed with that knowledge, we’re asking the big question: what do we do about high cholesterol? We delve into the story and science of statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs. Listen now!

It's #quarantini time! Just in time for our second cholesterol-focused episode which drops tomorrow, make yourself a Plaque Attack. Full disclosure, it will not have any effect on your cholesterol (for better or worse), but it will be delicious!

So you got your cholesterol results back - what do those numbers mean, and why do we care about them? In this first part of our cholesterol miniseries, we break down the science behind this compound and trace how we made the link between certain types of cholesterol and heart disease. Tune in now!

You’ve seen the headlines: a food-borne parasite is infecting people across the US, leaving them chained to the toilet for weeks as they are ravaged by wave after wave of diarrhea. What the heck is cyclosporiasis and where did it come from? we put together this fact-filled episode for you!

Also! We know how much has changed since we recorded with regards to this current outbreak. At the time of recording only about 1,500 cases had been reported in Michigan and we are now looking at over 6,000 in Michigan alone, and a likely source has been identified (yay! We were overly pessimistic!)

So far there have been recalls of all Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce sourced from Mexico. But - all the details in our episode on this pathogen and the changes to our monitoring systems are still relevant, so hoping you still enjoy this episode!

In her book Cash Cow, Alev Scott explores the blurred line between empowerment and exploitation in the global fertility industry. The morality, legality, and expenses of procedures are a moving target, reflecting the struggle to attach moral judgment when science and circumstances change so rapidly.

This week's episode was a goldmine of earwax facts, so naturally, so is our quarantini! Enjoy The Goldmine! 2 oz pineapple juice 3/4 oz jalapeno simple syrup 1 oz lime juice 1 oz club soda combine over ice and know you've picked a winner!

In keeping with a theme of “bodily excretions that are kinda gross but are actually important”, we’re devoting this episode to earwax. We manage to weave together stories of earwax impaction, misadventures in ear candling, glimpses of earwax in art history, and a whale of a tale of cetacean cerumen.

Listen, you may or may not actually want to *drink* this quarantini, but it sure is fun to make. The Snot Rocket 1 tbsp gelatin powder 1 tbsp hot water 2 tbsp corn syrup food coloring - your choice of color! Mix gelatin in hot water until it dissolves, add food coloring, corn syrup and... enjoy?

Hard and crusty. Green and gloopy. Clear and watery. Boogers come in a veritable rainbow of colors and a full spectrum of textures from liquid to solid. They’re really quite impressive if you think about it. Boogers deserve a lot more credit, and this episode is our attempt at righting that wrong.

Rarely do stories of unethical medical experimentation focus on the people who fought to bring these harms to light: the whistleblower. What does it take to blow the whistle, and what does it cost? This week, Dr. Carl Elliott discusses his latest book The Occasional Human Sacrifice. Don't miss this!

Over the past 80 years, burn care has undergone a profound transformation thanks to advances across diverse areas of medicine. This week, we trace how these were integrated, bringing hope to those with severe burn injuries and we explore research that blurs the lines between science and sci-fi.

Burns have been a part of the human experience since our relatives began controlling fire 1.5 million years ago.This week, we explore how burns are different than other injuries, examine our body's repair process, and tour through humanity’s quest to alleviate the pain and suffering burns can cause.

An accurate diagnosis can give us so much, yet many people wait years to receive an accurate diagnosis, causing a physical and emotional toll. What underlies this and what can we do about it? In this week’s TPWKY book club, Alexandra Sifferlin joins to discuss her book The Elusive Body. Listen now!

This week's #quarantini may or may not help motion sickness induced nausea, but at least it's delicious! The Motion Potion 6 oz ginger ale 1 oz lime juice mix with ice and garnish with candied ginger

It comes on sneakily. You become aware of your stomach. You break out in a cold sweat. Your mouth fills with saliva. And before you know it, you’re leaning over the side of the boat, barfing up your breakfast. Motion sickness. We’ve almost all been there. Why? Find out in this week's episode!

Once thought to be a rare, always fatal disease, histoplasmosis is now recognized as one of the most prevalent fungal infections in North America. In this episode, we dissect the biology of this abundant fungus and walk you through its history, a story that features many surprises. Curious? Tune in!

This week, Dr. Olivia Weisser, associate professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Boston discusses her book The Dreaded Pox: Sex and Disease in Early Modern London. Tune in for a fascinating glimpse into a time and place where morality, sex, and disease were so strongly entangled.

Hantavirus is all over the news lately because of the deadly outbreak ongoing on a cruise ship. We put together this primer with some basic info for all of you, and for even more detail, be sure to check out our episode from 2019 which features WAY more information about this group of viruses!

In part 2 of our episodes on dietary guidelines, we get to the bottom of the latest iteration of these guidelines and investigate which changes are good, bad, and somewhere in between. Then we explore what science has actually shown about what constitutes a “healthy” diet. Tune in now!

We all know the food pyramid , but dietary guidelines and the shapes they're presented in have changed over the decades. This week and next, we're exploring who makes these recommendations, how they've changed over time, and whether or not we should care about them at all.

Why do we believe what we believe? Is what we believe the truth? How can we convince others of our beliefs? If you’ve ever pondered these questions, you know the answers are rarely clear-cut. This week, Adam Kucharski discusses his latest book, Proof. Tune in for a fascinating conversation!

Tear gas is an expected, normalized part of protests today. But its use in war is banned. How can that be? That’s just one of the questions we investigate in this episode. From the history of tear gas to what’s in these chemicals and much more, this is an info-packed episode you won't want to miss.

Oropouche virus may or may not be something you've heard of but it's definitely a headline-generating pathogen worth talking about. This week's episode we dive into what this viral disease is, how it spreads, and the importance of a One Health approach to emerging pathogens like Oropouche. Tune in!