This Podcast Will Kill You

Stiff person syndrome, like many rare diseases, does not get nearly the same amount of screen time or name recognition that other, more common diseases do. For many people, Celine Dion’s announcement ...

Five years ago, we asked you all to ask us anything, and you delivered. We answered dozens of listener questions, like how we first met, our favorite quarantinis, where we were in our career journeys,...

How is it that we can’t remember where we put our keys or the name of the person we just met, but we can recall in excruciating detail the embarrassing interaction we had at the grocery store ten year...

One day, you’re enjoying a beautiful hike through the tall grass. A few months later, you find yourself in anaphylaxis from a post-hike hamburger. The culprit: a tick bite. In this much-requested epis...

For life on this planet, iron is not optional. It is essential. When our iron levels are low, we can get sick, and when they get really really low, we can even die. But you know what they say, too muc...

Phosphorus is an element that wears many faces. Its overuse as a fertilizer has polluted freshwater ecosystems, transforming rivers and lakes from thriving communities to lethal zones devoid of life. ...

The stethoscope. It’s iconic. You’re playing Pictionary and you pull the “doctor” card? Easy - sketch a stethoscope. Need a last-minute Halloween costume? Easy - throw a stethoscope around your should...

“Is it gonna be poop or is it gonna be barf?” It’s the question we all fear during a bout of food poisoning when time is of the essence and a decision has to be made before it’s made for us. Often, th...

In the pre-antibiotic era, tuberculosis was one of the biggest killers humanity ever faced. The specter of the ‘great white plague’ hung over towns and cities across the world, cities like New York wh...

In last week’s episode/love song to poison control centers, we journeyed through the history of these centers, from idea to institution. This week, we pick up where we left off by taking stock of the ...