The Poor Historians: Medical History Misadventures

Dr. Max, Dr. Aaron, Dr. Mike, and Alba
  • 0.0 (0)
  • HISTORY
  • EVERY TWO WEEKS
The Poor Historians: Medical History Misadventures

This is a show for all the nerdy medical history people.Three modern emergency physicians and their show's "medical history intern" take a lighthearted, humorous  quest through various stories in the history of medicine.  Topics from ancient times to recent history, all related to important advancements, people, or discoveries in the history of medicine.  New episodes every two weeks!

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    The Finale - John Hunter, the Founder of Scientific Surgery

    This is the final episode for the Poor Historians Podcast. It's been a wonderful ride and we're happy to end on what we think is a high note, talking about the topic that interested Dr. Max in starting a show about medical history in the first place. The chief source for this episode is "The Knife Man" a book by Wendy Moore talking about the life, times, and accomplishments of the Scottish Surgeon, John Hunter. You may not know it, but so many advances in medicine (and past episodes of our sh...

    1h 29m

  2. 24 OCT

    The Chicago Tylenol Murders and Halloween Sadism

    If you've ever wondered why your over-the-counter pill bottles have that annoying little foil under the cap, you'll be happy to know it's there for good reason. It all stems from this true-crime meets toxicology story. We'll lay it all out here in this episode.Support the show-----PHPod Merch Store (t-shirts and other swag)-----Podcast Linktree (social media links / reviews / ratings)-----#medicine #medicalhistory #history #historypodcast

    55 min

  3. 10 OCT

    Comstock Laws and Women's Health in the Gilded Age with Special Guest, Alicia Gutierrez-Romine, PhD

    We welcome our special guest historian to discuss an overview of issues affecting medical history and it's approaches to women's health during the late 19th century into the early 20th. We'll talk about Anthony Comstock and his silly morality-influenced laws, discuss early forms of contraception, and will examine all of this amidst the cultural milieu of the era. We'll go out on a limb and say the doctors of this age were a bit behind the times and we're happy to laugh at their expense.G...

    1h 6m

  4. 26 SEPT

    The Origins of Placebos and their Effects

    This is a fascinating and complicated dive into the history behind the first placebos and observations of their effects. We'll do our best not to lose our own minds trying to sort out the complexities of the placebo effect as we understood it simply in the past, and try to contrast that with all of the newer science on the topic. This gets weird.Sources:Wikipedia: Placebo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlaceboThe Neuroscience of Placebo Effects, Nature Reviews (paywall), Wager and Atlas https:...

    1h 12m

  5. 12 SEPT

    The Krebiozen Hoax-An Infamous Quack Cancer Treatment

    This episode was brought to you by our main source, the excellent book on the topic by Matthew C. Ehrlich entitled, The Krebiozan Hoax: How a mysterious Cancer Drug Shook Organized Medicine. Check it out via that link and show the author some love. It's a great addition to your medical history library.This is the story of how a 22-year elaborate hoax was delivered to the American public of the 1940's-1960's in the form of a purported cancer cure. Preying on the hope of those suffering from te...

    1h 12m

  6. 29 AUG

    The Multiple Murder Attempts of "Durable" Mike Malloy: A Medical History Perspective

    This episode is a blend of true crime and criminal ineptitude. We'll walk through the story of how a gaggle of NYC barflys in the early 20th century U.S. Prohibition Era conspired (very badly) to murder an Irish immigrant who would later be nicknamed "The Irish Rasputin" for his incredible survival of multiple attempts on his life. How did this all transpire, medically speaking? Let's find out.Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Malloyhttps://medium.com/the-crime-historian/meet-t...

    1h 4m

  7. 15 AUG

    A History of Breast Surgery: Wax, Oil, and Silicone

    This is one of those episodes where we're happy to have Alba's perspective. We'll explore the history of breast surgery, it's various early procedures, and a host of things done to change women's chests for a variety of reasons.References: https://citylights.com/topographies/cleavage-man-made-breasts/ Cleavage book, Nora Jacobson, 2000 (MAIN SOURCE)Squeezing saline bag story, https://www.chron.com/local/history/innovators-inventions/article/Local-invention-made-Houston-international-hub-...

    1h 15m

  8. 1 AUG

    The First U.S. Opiate Crisis: The Civil War and the Opium Eaters

    History does have a way of repeating itself--at least in broad strokes. In this episode we'll discuss the first opiate crisis the U.S. ever suffered and do a bit of comparison to modern times. From opium, to morphine, to heroin, these substances have been a part of civilization for much longer than most realize.If you or someone you know may be struggling with opiates or other addictive substances, SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) has a confidential 24/7, 365...

    1h 1m
See All (105)

About

This is a show for all the nerdy medical history people.Three modern emergency physicians and their show's "medical history intern" take a lighthearted, humorous  quest through various stories in the history of medicine.  Topics from ancient times to recent history, all related to important advancements, people, or discoveries in the history of medicine.  New episodes every two weeks!

Information

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada