The Cadaver's Lessons

Bernadette & Samantha Smith
  • 5.0 (12)
  • True Crime

The Cadaver's Lessons is a podcast that explores the strange, fascinating, and sometimes unsettling history of medicine. Each episode traces the origins of medical practices and rare or unusual diagnoses, examining why people believed in them, how they were used, and what they reveal about the people and societies behind them. From early anatomy and experimental treatments to cases where medicine and crime collide, this show examines what lessons the past has left behind. Some ideas evolved into the foundations of modern healthcare. Others? Definitely should have stayed buried. Episodes range in tone and focus: some lean heavily into medical history and science, others drift into true crime, and many sit right at the intersection of both. If you’re curious about the darker side of medicine, the origins of what doctors do today, and the stories written into human bodies, well class is in session—and the cadaver is already on the table.

  1. 1d ago ·  Bonus

    Case File: Planned Parenthood: Progress, Politics, and Eugenics

    🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials:https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons What do birth control, abortion access, and one of the most controversial figures in reproductive history have in common? Planned Parenthood. For more than a century, Planned Parenthood has stood at the center of America's fight over reproductive autonomy. From Margaret Sanger's first birth control clinic in Brooklyn to the landmark Supreme Court cases that reshaped contraception and abortion access, the organization's history is deeply intertwined with the evolution of reproductive healthcare in the United States. But the story is far more complicated than you might think. In this episode of The Cadaver's Lessons, we're opening the case file on Planned Parenthood to explore its origins in the early birth control movement, Margaret Sanger's complicated legacy and ties to the eugenics movement, and the controversies surrounding the organization's efforts to expand access to contraception and family planning. We'll trace the legal battles that changed reproductive healthcare, from the Comstock Act and landmark contraception cases to Roe v. Wade and the eventual overturning of federal abortion protections in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. We'll also examine the organization's evolving role in sexual health, HIV prevention, cancer screening, sex education, and gender-affirming care. 📚 References  Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Our history. Planned Parenthood.Planned Parenthood Action Fund. End the global gag rule. Planned Parenthood Action Fund.Indiana University Bloomington, ScholarWorks. Research repository resource on Planned Parenthood and reproductive history. Indiana University.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notice to readers: FDA approval of Plan B emergency contraceptive pills. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1999.Office of Population Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Title X program funding history. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Office of Population Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. About Title X service grants. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.History.com Editors. Planned Parenthood v. Casey. HISTORY.Supreme Court of the United States. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392. Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute.Reuters Fact Check. Fact check: Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger’s 1939 quote on “exterminating” Black people. Reuters.

  2. 5d ago

    The IUD: Copper, Coils, and Contraception

    🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons This episode of The Cadaver’s Lessons dives into the fascinating, disturbing, and downright bizarre history of intrauterine devices (IUDs). From ancient contraceptive remedies and early experiments with silkworm gut to the development of modern copper and hormonal IUDs. Then, we’re bringing the conversation into the present: How exactly does an IUD prevent pregnancy? We’ll break down the differences between copper and hormonal IUDs, their benefits and risks, and the latest research shaping contraceptive care. 📚 References  Margulies L. History of intrauterine devices. Bull N Y Acad Med. 1975;51(5):662-667.Hubacher D. The checkered history and bright future of intrauterine contraception in the United States. Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2002;34(2):98-103.History of long-acting reversible contraception. George Washington University, Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. PDF.Davidson ER. Historical contraception: Birth control before “the pill”. Hektoen International. 2015.Intrauterine device. In: StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.Intrauterine devices (IUDs). Merck Manual Consumer Version.Intrauterine device (IUD). Cleveland Clinic.Corbett M, Bautista B. A history: The IUD. Reproductive Health Access Project. Updated March 20, 2024.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Intrauterine contraception. U.S. Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use.Pain management during intrauterine device insertion in nulliparous women: A scoping review. Cureus. 2024.Contraception in ancient history. Europeana.Douching and spermicides. Dittrick Medical History Center, Case Western Reserve University.U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Fifty years of the Medical Device Amendments: Building a strong foundation to advance safe, effective, and high-quality medical devices.Plastic IUD developed for birth control. EBSCO Research Starters.

  3. Oct 16 ·  Bonus

    Case File: The Price of the Pill: Puerto Rico’s Forgotten Clinical Trials

    🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials:https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons In the 1950s, researchers traveled to Puerto Rico to test Enovid, the first birth control pill. Their work would help revolutionize reproductive healthcare, but the women who made this medical breakthrough possible were never fully informed of the risks they were taking. In this episode of The Cadaver’s Lessons, we investigate the controversial Puerto Rico trials, where women experienced severe side effects, dozens dropped out, and three deaths went uninvestigated. Researchers dismissed many of their complaints as psychological, raising troubling questions about medical ethics, informed consent, and whose suffering gets taken seriously in the name of scientific progress. We explore the island’s history of population control and sterilization, the circumstances that made Puerto Rico a testing ground, and the women who participated in hopes of gaining greater control over their reproductive lives. We also examine how the trials contributed to a medical revolution—and how later tragedies helped reshape the rules governing human experimentation. 📚 References  American Experience. The Puerto Rico Pill Trials. PBS.American Experience. The Pill and Informed Consent. PBS.History.com Editors. The birth control pill’s controversial history in Puerto Rico. HISTORY.The Harvard Crimson. The Bitter Pill. September 28, 2017.The Scientist. Birth of the Pill: 1956–1960.Wikipedia contributors. Edris Rice-Wray Carson. Wikipedia.Wikipedia contributors. Contraceptive trials in Puerto Rico. Wikipedia.The Embryo Project Encyclopedia. Enovid: First Hormonal Birth Control Pill, 1957–1988. Arizona State University.Facts and ideas from anywhere.. National Library of Medicine.

  4. Oct 12

    The Pill: Sex, Science and Scandal

    🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons What if one tiny pill could change the course of history—but the story behind it was far from a miracle? Before the birth control pill, preventing pregnancy was often unreliable, dangerous, or inaccessible. Then came a groundbreaking scientific discovery, a women’s rights movement, millions of dollars, and a medication that transformed reproductive freedom forever. 📚 References  Mayo Clinic. Choosing a birth control pill. Reproductive Health Access Project. Contraceptive pearl: Understanding the differences between combined and progestin-only oral contraceptives. The Royal Women's Hospital. Contraceptive pills. StatPearls Publishing. Oral contraceptive pills. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. Rosenberg M. Weight change with oral contraceptive use and during the menstrual cycle: results of daily measurements. Contraception. 1998;58(6):345-349. doi:10.1016/S0010-7824(98)00127-9.Hormonal contraception and mood disorders. Aust Prescr. 2022;45(3):75-79. doi:10.18773/austprescr.2022.025.American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. What you should know about breakthrough bleeding with birth control. Article in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. National Cancer Institute. Oral contraceptives and cancer risk. UCSF Center for Reproductive Health. The normal menstrual cycle. PBS. The Pill: A timeline. American Experience. Half a century of the oral contraceptive pill: Historical review and view to the future. Gandhi AB, Supe PA. Evolution of oral contraceptive pills. J Obstet Gynaecol India. 2024;74(2):109-112. doi:10.1007/s13224-024-01988-4. Full text.EBSCO Research Starters. The first American birth control clinic opens. PBS. Gregory Pincus (1903–1967). American Experience. The Harvard Crimson. The bitter pill. September 28, 2017.

  5. Oct 9 ·  Bonus

    Case File: The Evil Eye: When Envy Could Kill

    🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons For thousands of years, cultures across the world have shared some version of a terrifying idea: a person's gaze could cause harm. The evil eye is traditionally associated with envy, jealousy, admiration, resentment, beauty, wealth, fertility, healthy children, livestock, crops, and good fortune. But the evil eye isn't simply an ancient version of a curse. In this episode of The Cadaver's Files, we explore the history of the evil eye and the much bigger question behind it: why have humans been so afraid of being seen? 📚 References  Allison DC Jr. The eye is the lamp of the body (Matthew 6.22–23=Luke 11.34–36). New Testament Studies. 1987;33(1):61-83. Cambridge University PressGomes FB. Iron Age glass eye beads in southern Portugal (7th–2nd centuries BCE). Trabajos de Prehistoria. 2023;80(2):e17. Trabajos de PrehistoriaBible Gateway. Evil Eye. Encyclopedia of the Bible. Bible Gateway: Evil EyeBible Gateway. Matthew 6:23; Deuteronomy 15:9; Proverbs 23:6. Holy Bible. English Standard Version; New International Version; King James Version. Bible Gateway: Biblical PassagesSefaria. Bava Metzia 84a:11. The William Davidson Talmud. Sefaria: Bava Metzia 84a:11Kohler K, Blau L. Evil Eye. In: Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906. Jewish Encyclopedia: Evil EyeElliott JH. Beware the Evil Eye. Volume 3, The Bible and Related Sources: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books; 2016. National Library of Israel catalog recordBlaisdell A, Vindal Ødegaard C. Losing fat, gaining treatments: the use of biomedicine as a cure for folk illnesses in the Andes. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2014;10:52. PubMed Central full textTilford N. Evil Eye. Oxford Bibliographies in Biblical Studies. Oxford University Press; 2014. Oxford AcademicParker A. The phallus and the evil eye: phallic amulets in the Roman world. Ancient World Magazine. December 7, 2021. Ancient World MagazineIsrael National News. Israel National News articleTurkish Textbook. Nazar: the evil eye in Turkish culture. Turkish Textbook: NazarThe Minds Journal. Egg cleanse ritual to release the evil eye. The Minds Journal

  6. Oct 5

    Cataracts: From Ancient Needles to Artificial Lenses

    🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons What happens when the treatment for cloudy vision involves stabbing a needle into the eye and pushing the lens out of the way? Cataracts may be common today, but treating them has a wild history. In this episode, we’re tracing cataract surgery from ancient couching—where surgeons displaced the cloudy lens into the back of the eye—to the development of actual lens extraction, artificial intraocular lenses, and modern phacoemulsification. We’ll break down what a cataract actually is, why the lens becomes cloudy, and how the eye turns light into the visual experience we know as “seeing.” Then we’ll get into the medical innovations that transformed cataract surgery. 📚 References MedCrave — The Pathophysiology of Cataract and Major Interventions to Retard Its Progression: A Mini Review Read articleEntoKey — Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Causes, Morphology, and Visual Effects of Cataract Read articleWaterloo Eye Institute — Cataract Surgery Steps Read articleUniversity of Iowa EyeRounds — Cataract for Medical Students Read tutorialPubMed Central — Cataract surgery research Read articlePubMed Central — Jacques Daviel Performed the First Documented Planned Primary Cataract Extraction on Sep. 18, 1750 Read articleNational Eye Institute — NEI Charts a Clearer Future for Cataract Prevention and Treatment Read articleAmerican Academy of Ophthalmology — Choosing the Best Artificial Lens Implant (IOL) for Cataract Surgery Read articlePubMed Central — Cataract research Read articlePubMed Central — Cataract research Read articleNational Institutes of Health — NIH-Led Studies Point to Potential Development of Cataract Drug Read articleInternational Journal of Health and Health Sciences — Cataract research Read articleLondon Cataract Centre — History of Cataract Surgery Read article

  7. Oct 2 ·  Bonus

    Case File: Quanah Parker: Between Two Worlds

    🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials:https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons What happens when an Indigenous leader is forced to navigate a world that is actively dismantling his people’s land, culture, religion, and way of life? Meet Quanah Parker, one of the most influential Comanche leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Before reservation life, the Comanche were highly mobile horsemen and buffalo hunters whose territory—Comancheria—stretched across much of the Southern Plains. But disease, declining buffalo herds, military campaigns, settlement, and the loss of territory fundamentally disrupted Comanche life. After the Red River War, Quanah and the remaining Quahadi Comanche surrendered in 1875 and were relocated to the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache reservation surrounding Fort Sill. And Quanah made a choice that surprised many: instead of continuing armed resistance, he became an intermediary between the Comanche and the federal government. Quanah Parker's story doesn't fit neatly into a simple narrative of resistance versus assimilation. He operated within a system that was actively attempting to reshape Comanche society, while also using that system to protect his people, maintain economic influence, and preserve elements of Comanche identity. And that makes his relationship with peyote particularly interesting. For Quanah, peyote wasn't simply a drug. It was connected to healing, spirituality, cultural identity, and religious practice at a time when Indigenous traditions were being actively suppressed. 📚 References  U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs. Court of Indian Offenses. Indian Affairs.National Park Service. The Dawes Act. National Park Service; 2021.Library of Congress. Reservations and Allotments. Native American Spaces.Wishart DJ, ed. Parker, Quanah (ca. 1852–1911). Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska–Lincoln.National Park Service. Comanche. Fort Davis National Historic Site.National Park Service. Quanah Parker. National Park Service.Texas State Historical Association. Parker, Quanah. Handbook of Texas.Comanche Nation. History. Comanche Nation, Oklahoma.History.com Editors. Indian Reservations: Map, US & Definition. HISTORY.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Disparities and Resilience Among American Indian and Alaska Native Women Who Are Pregnant or Postpartum. HEAR HER Campaign.March of Dimes. Infant Mortality Rates by Race/Ethnicity: United States, 2021–2023 Average. PeriStats.

  8. Sep 28

    Peyote: From Sacrament to Schedule I

    🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons A tiny, spineless cactus with a history thousands of years in the making. In this episode of The Cadaver’s Lessons, we’re diving into peyote—a plant that has been used by Indigenous communities as a sacrament, medicine, and part of deeply meaningful spiritual traditions long before Western science ever studied it. We’ll trace peyote from its Indigenous origins through colonization, the rise of the Native American Church, and the moment Western scientists isolated mescaline, the psychedelic compound responsible for many of peyote’s effects. Then we’re getting into the science: How does mescaline actually alter perception? Why can the experience last 10–12 hours? What happens when it interacts with serotonin receptors? And what does mescaline poisoning look like in the ED? We’ll also explore the complicated history of psychedelics in psychiatry, including the early use of mescaline as a model for psychosis and its role in studying consciousness and hallucinations. And finally, we’re asking what happens when an ancient Indigenous sacrament becomes the subject of modern pharmaceutical research. Because peyote isn't simply a drug. It is sacred, culturally significant, and ecologically vulnerable—and its slow growth creates an uncomfortable question: What happens if medical interest in mescaline becomes so successful that it threatens the plant itself? 📚 References  Doesburg-van Kleffens M, et al. Molecules. 2023;28(24):7942. [PMC10746114]Dinis-Oliveira RJ, et al. Curr Mol Pharmacol. 2019;12(3):184-194. [PMC6864602]J Ethnopharmacol. 2005. [ScienceDirect article]QPS. “From Cultural Rite to Clinical Trial: Examining the Therapeutic Potential of Mescaline.” 2022.Vamvakopoulou IA, et al. Neuropharmacology. 2023;222:109294.US Dept of Justice. Peyote Exemption for Native American Church. 1981.Uthaug MV, et al. J Psychopharmacol. 2022;36(3):309-320.American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994. Pub L No. 103-344. 1994.Jay M. “The Encounter That Introduced Peyote to Western Science.” Chacruna. 2019.Bush L. “Louis Lewin and Peyote.” Jewish Currents. 2016.Der Meskalinrausch. Wikipedia.MindMed. “MindMed Announces the Approval of Mescaline Study.” BioSpace. 2021.Journey Colab. Journey Colab.Biomind Labs. “Biomind Labs to Commence Commercial Clinical Trial on Its Proprietary Mescaline Candidate BMND06.” Business Wire. 2022.XPhyto Therapeutics. “XPhyto Adds Mescaline Production to Psychedelic Medicine Programs.” 2021.

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About

The Cadaver's Lessons is a podcast that explores the strange, fascinating, and sometimes unsettling history of medicine. Each episode traces the origins of medical practices and rare or unusual diagnoses, examining why people believed in them, how they were used, and what they reveal about the people and societies behind them. From early anatomy and experimental treatments to cases where medicine and crime collide, this show examines what lessons the past has left behind. Some ideas evolved into the foundations of modern healthcare. Others? Definitely should have stayed buried. Episodes range in tone and focus: some lean heavily into medical history and science, others drift into true crime, and many sit right at the intersection of both. If you’re curious about the darker side of medicine, the origins of what doctors do today, and the stories written into human bodies, well class is in session—and the cadaver is already on the table.

Information

  • Creator
    Bernadette & Samantha Smith
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    85
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Bernadette & Samantha Smith
  • Show Website
    The Cadaver's Lessons

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