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The history of medicine
The gruesome, noble, and fascinating evolution of medicine and healthcare.
Veröffentlicht am 12. Juli 2023
Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine
498 Podcast-Folgen
Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine
498 Podcast-FolgenFrom groundbreaking surgeries to life-saving vaccines, modern medicine is a true marvel. How we got here, however, is a different story. This podcast tackles the history of medicine and all the gory mishaps along the way. Dr. Sydnee McElroy co-hosts with her husband Justin McElroy, of the popular comedy podcast “My Brother, My Brother and Me,” which means “Sawbones” is both educational and entertaining.
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything
Lydia KangIf you drink dissolved gold, you’ll become immortal. Taking a large amount of strychnine can cure what ails you. These are just some of the frightening treatments that were seen as normal and, worse, rational in medicine’s not-so-distant past. “Quackery” has a healthy dose of snark to make these cases of medical malpractice go down easy.
Empire of the Scalpel: The History of Surgery
Ira RutkowFrom brain surgery in the Stone Ages to the practice of bloodletting to the marvels of modern-day medical treatments, “Empire of the Scalpel” stitches together all the biggest moments of progress in surgical history. Surgeon Rutkow shows he’s just as skilled at wielding words as he is with a scalpel.
Radiolab: Journey Through The Human Body
RadiolabThe human body is a marvel that we’re only just beginning to figure out. Learn why older scientific paradigms, like the use of X and Y chromosomes to determine a person’s sex, may need to shift in the wake of new discoveries. Everything from guts to butts is covered in this anthology from the eclectic podcast “Radiolab.”
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Mary RoachDead bodies have been crucial in medical research, from car safety tests to plastic surgery practice to organ transplants, that’s led to increased life expectancies for us all. With incisive, off-beat humor, Roach reanimates the deceased with these lively looks into their myriad uses. We now have a lot of quirky, useful ideas for what to do with our corpses instead of just sticking them in a coffin.
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Siddhartha MukherjeeEven as scientists continue to learn more about cancer and how to cure it, more and more people are diagnosed with the disease due to longer lifespans and environmental risks. This is the Pulitzer Prize-winning history of humanity’s most formidable adversary and all the progress and setbacks we’ve endured in our battle with cancer.
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
Harriet A. WashingtonMany medical breakthroughs have unfortunately happened due to unethical and inhumane medical practices. “Medical Apartheid” reveals a slew of cases where African Americans were subject to medical experimentation, often without their knowledge and with deadly consequences. The book provides critical context about why a racial health gap continues to exist today.
The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
Lindsey FitzharrisHistorian Fitzharris has made a name for herself by writing about the more gruesome stories of groundbreaking medical history. Here, she hacks into all the gory details of how Joseph Lister, a kindhearted, mild-mannered surgeon, convinced his skeptical Victorian colleagues to clean up their acts and wash their hands. (While thinking of a hospital today conjures images of a sterile operating room, surgery not long ago was a bloody, unhygienic operation.)
The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I
The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I
Lindsey FitzharrisAfter witnessing the devastating disfigurements soldiers endured during WWI, surgeon Harold Gillies developed groundbreaking techniques for facial reconstruction. His instrumental work evolved into modern-day plastic surgery. Fitzharris’ biography of Gillies balances extensive research with engaging storytelling, offering accounts of Gillies’ surgical advancements along with humanizing stories of the soldiers he saved from a lifetime of pain and shame.
The Ghost Map
Steven JohnsonEpidemiology was anemic before John Snow’s creation of the titular “ghost map” in response to a cholera outbreak in 1850s London. This not only helped identify a public water pump as the source of the outbreak, but led to improved infrastructure and medical understanding that allows us to safely reside in cities. Johnson’s book is a fascinating history on both public health and data storytelling.
Polio: An American Story
David M. OshinskyThe Pulitzer Prize-winning “Polio” is downright eerie to read as the debate over the safety of vaccines rages and media sensationalism runs rampant. The creation of a polio vaccine also involved its share of drama, which Oshinsky meticulously chronicles while arguing that it is one of the greatest success stories of modern medicine. The recent discovery of polioviruses in New York county wastewater samples only adds to the urgent need to address vaccine misinformation.
Good Blood: A Doctor, a Donor, and the Incredible Breakthrough that Saved Millions of Babies
Good Blood: A Doctor, a Donor, and the Incredible Breakthrough that Saved Millions of Babies
Julian GuthrieJames Harrison is an ordinary man whose blood saved over two million babies in Australia from dying of Rh disease. “Good Blood” relays how, in the 1950s and 60s, James’ frequent blood donations and Dr. John Gorman’s research into Rh disease led to a vaccine that has saved countless infants.
The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them
Dr. Euan Angus AshleyMedical treatments have improved exponentially over the past few decades, especially in the wake of the Human Genome Project in the early 2000s. This book, from a Stanford professor of medicine and genetics, focuses on the medical mysteries genome sequencing has already solved, and gives an uplifting glimpse into the technology’s promising future.