#medical-history
21 episodes
#3523: The Truth About Epilepsy: Seizures, Depression & IQ Myths
Epilepsy isn't binary. One seizure doesn't always mean epilepsy, and the link to depression is stronger than the link to genius.
#3489: How Battlefield Medicine Transformed Civilian ERs
From Larrey's flying ambulances to TCCC — how combat medicine evolved and reshaped civilian trauma care.
#3474: How to Actually Use a Tourniquet
Most people own a tourniquet but couldn't use one effectively under pressure. Here's what you need to know.
#3359: Can We Build a Bionic Gallbladder?
Engineers have tried for decades to replace the gallbladder. Here's what they've built so far.
#3254: When a Single Patient Changes Medicine: Case Reports That Matter
Why do doctors write case reports for free? And how have single-patient observations sparked drug approvals?
#3113: Baby Vital Signs: What Actually Works for Home Monitoring
Pulse oximeters, thermometers, and stethoscopes for infants — what's accurate and what's dangerously misleading.
#2919: How CPR Guidelines Actually Get Updated
The surprising data loop that turns a single study into what millions learn to do with their hands.
#2906: How Much Bone Do You Actually Get From Palatal Expansion?
A landmark RCT reveals that only 23-32% of screw activation actually separates bone — the rest is dental tipping.
#2739: When Hoofbeats Are Zebras: How Doctors Learn to Think
How family doctors develop clinical judgment—pattern recognition, Bayesian reasoning, and the cognitive traps that lead to diagnostic errors.
#2732: Why Contact Lenses Still Hurt 10 Years Later
A contact lens infection can permanently rewire your corneal nerves, making lens wear impossible forever.
#2526: How Peer Review Actually Works (and Fails)
The history of peer review, the Lancet's biggest scandals, and why arXiv is changing everything.
#2277: The Unfalsifiable System of Medieval Medicine
Sneezing in 1500? You might’ve been bled, dried out, or told to pray. Here’s how medieval medicine worked — and why it lasted so long.
#1798: How Many Organs Can You Lose and Still Live?
You can live without a stomach, a spleen, even a pulse. Here’s what happens when your body’s hardware goes missing.
#1726: 2500 Years of Bad Medicine: The Slow Surrender
Bloodletting dominated medicine for 2500 years. Here’s how science finally admitted it was wrong.
#1514: The Midnight Watch: Is Our 8-Hour Sleep Block a Lie?
Before the industrial age, humans didn't sleep in one block. Discover why "first and second sleep" might be better for your brain.
#1272: The End of Gaslighting: New Breakthroughs in ME/CFS
Millions suffer from invisible illnesses dismissed as "all in the head." Discover the 2026 breakthroughs finally proving the biological reality.
#1051: The Pharmacological Soldier: Engineering the Battlefield
Explore how modern militaries use pharmacology to bypass human biology and redefine the limits of endurance on the battlefield.
#818: From Ice Picks to Ultrasound: The New Psychosurgery
Explore the dark history of the lobotomy and the high-tech, precision neurosurgery used today to treat severe mental health conditions.
#546: Will Today’s Medicine Look Barbaric in 80 Years?
Herman and Corn explore the history of medical errors and ask: what are we doing today that will look like bloodletting in the future?
#489: Tears of the Tree: The Secret History of Frankincense
Explore the biology, economics, and neuroscience of frankincense, from the ancient Incense Route to its psychoactive role in Temple worship.
#451: The Secret History and Scandal of the Pacifier
How did a simple rubber nipple become a "soul-destroying" moral threat? Corn and Herman dive into the pacifier's scandalous past.