Sick Society

Haunted Mouse Productions

Sick Society is a celebrity doctor talk show examining how social, political, and economic forces shape our health beyond the clinic. Featuring leading doctors, journalists, and experts, the series explores misinformation, inequality, climate and health, food systems, and public health crises. The show is produced by Haunted Mouse Productions, an independent podcast network creating journalism-forward and culture-led audio series.

Episodes

  1. 23 FEB

    Exercise, Ageing, and the Politics of Staying Active (with Dr Jon Houghton)

    Most people already know exercise is good for them. The harder question is why so many of us struggle to sustain it, and who actually has the conditions to make it possible. In Episode 5 of Sick Society, Dr Alexis Paton and Sir Andrew “Bod” Goddard are joined by Dr Jon Houghton, a sports and exercise physician whose work spans military rehabilitation, NHS practice, and elite professional sport. His clinical focus is helping people remain active when age, injury, illness, or circumstance intervene. Rather than offering a programme to follow, this episode asks a more durable question: If the goal is to remain capable, not simply alive, decades from now, what does that require today? Together, they explore: Why “just move more” sounds straightforward but often isn’t Whether weight loss has become too narrow a measure of health The rise of longevity culture, and what it clarifies or distorts Why resistance training is having a resurgence, and what the evidence actually supports How wearables and performance data shape behaviour, for better and for worse The reality that access to movement is structured by income, geography, and policy Whether governments can justify investing in prevention when the return may be decades away What it would mean to treat exercise as social infrastructure rather than personal virtue Sick Society is a Haunted Mouse Productions podcast, hosted by Dr Alexis Paton and Sir Andrew Goddard, exploring how medicine and public life shape health.https://linktr.ee/hauntedmouseproductions

    57 min
  2. 9 FEB

    When Facts Lose: Health Misinformation, Identity, and the Algorithm (with Tim Caulfield)

    Health misinformation crops up in everyday decision-making, and it’s reshaping our trust in medicine.  In Episode 3 of Sick Society, Dr. Alexis Paton and Sir Andrew Goddard are joined by Tim Caulfield, a leading researcher on health misinformation and science communication, to examine why today’s misinformation landscape feels harder to challenge than ever before, and why simply “correcting the facts” no longer works. As Tim puts it, we’re moving from fact-speaking to belief-speaking, where shared identity and emotion matter more than evidence alone. In this conversation, you’ll hear: Why modern health misinformation isn’t just louder — it’s more resilientHow medical beliefs become social and political identitiesWhy false balance makes scientific consensus look dividedHow wellness, supplements, and optimisation culture evade scrutinyWhat actually reduces harm: pre-bunking, debunking, and slowing emotional sharingWhere AI accelerates misinformation — and where it might help contain it Sick Society explores how culture, power, technology, and policy shape health long before anyone enters a clinic.  🎧 A podcast by Haunted Mouse Productions About our guestTim Caulfield is a professor of health law and science policy at the University of Alberta and a leading researcher studying how misinformation shapes public trust, behaviour, and policy. Drawing on decades of research, he explains why today’s misinformation environment is fundamentally different — and how social media, political identity, wellness culture, and now AI accelerate the problem.

    1 hr
  3. 16 JAN

    Why Health Misinformation Thrives on Guilt and Uncertainty

    Sick Society is a new celebrity doctor talk show examining how modern life, not just medicine, shapes our health. Hosted by Dr. Alexis Paton, one of the UK’s leading medical ethicists, and Sir Andrew Goddard, former President of the Royal College of Physicians, the series brings together globally recognised doctors, journalists, and public thinkers to unpack the social, political, and economic forces that shape public health — and how misinformation thrives within them. In this 15-minute preview episode, Alexis and Andrew sit down with Professor Tim Caulfield for a candid conversation exploring the rise of health misinformation and why it flourishes in an age of uncertainty, optimisation culture, and moral pressure — particularly around parenting, wellness, food, and vaccines. They discuss: How guilt and fear are used to drive health misinformation How social media echo chambers turn curiosity into conspiracy Why so many people believe experts are “split” — and how false balance erodes public trustThis episode is a preview of Sick Society.The full series launches January 26 — follow now to catch the first episode. 🎧 A podcast by Haunted Mouse ProductionsAbout the Show: Sick Society is a celebrity doctor talk show examining how social, political, and economic forces shape our health beyond the clinic. Featuring leading doctors, journalists, and experts, the series explores misinformation, inequality, climate and health, food systems, and public health crises. The show is produced by Haunted Mouse Productions, an independent podcast network creating journalism-forward and culture-led audio series.

    13 min

Trailer

About

Sick Society is a celebrity doctor talk show examining how social, political, and economic forces shape our health beyond the clinic. Featuring leading doctors, journalists, and experts, the series explores misinformation, inequality, climate and health, food systems, and public health crises. The show is produced by Haunted Mouse Productions, an independent podcast network creating journalism-forward and culture-led audio series.