Aaron, Max, Mike, and Alba
Poor Historians: Misadventures in Medical HistoryEpisodes
Episodes of Poor Historians
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From the discovery of this well-known medication, to the science behind its function, and spanning all the way to treatments for the underlying condition of erectile dysfunction as well as a complication of said treatments called priapism, this
The Patrons have spoken! They suggested we lend our medical expertise in a new and unique manner, by watching, reacting, and reviewing a popular medical show. We chose "The Resident" and boy-oh-boy was it bad. Whether you're a fan of that parti
We invited Jerry Landry, host of the exceptional Presidencies of the U.S. Podcast onto the show today to help us discuss the clandestine surgery at sea that was done on President Grover Cleveland in the late 1800's. It was kind of a big deal.Li
Charles Darwin, the famous naturalist of the 19th century, was a big fan of collecting specimens. Some of those specimens would crawl around and feed on one's blood. In this episode we'll talk about the life of Darwin and the medical history of
Botox, the widely popular injectable medication, has been on the market and popular for a while now. What you might not realize is that there's an intricate and fascinating story behind the discovery of Botox, a literal bacterial toxin. This ep
On this episode, Mike leads a discussion of the history of defining narcissistic personality disorder as a psychiatric diagnosis. Starting with Napoleon Bonaparte, and including other historical examples, we'll examine the diagnosis as defined
Behavioral health is certainly within the bounds of medicine and, thereby, medical history. The Stanford Prison Experiment asked the question of whether the environment of prison compelled bad behavior from those within the system. In order to
If you're like me (Dr. Max) and the words "Dropkick Murphy" conjure images of the legendary Boston-based punk rock band, you might be surprised to know the history behind that name. In this interview, Dr. Max sat down to interview Emily Sweeney
He conquered many lands, sailed many seas, and was finally awarded his own Netflix miniseries, but at the age of 32, the ruler of Macedonia known throughout the ages as Alexander the Great, died in the palace of a Babylonian king shortly after
This is a fascinating dive into the world of genetics, set against a backdrop of a curious dermatology finding, and ending with one of the most interesting and convoluted paternity cases you may ever hear about. The Maury show has nothing on t
This episode of the Curious Case Vault has an admittedly grim premise--a patient who suffered two gunshot wounds to the head. In this discussion, Alba leads us through a case of a young Brooklyn, NY man who, in the spring of 1888, sustained wh
Rabies is a fascinating and frightening infectious disease. It has a long history in the natural world and stories involving a case of it rarely end on a happy note. It just so happens there is at least one such story. In this episode we'll
The 1920's was a time in the U.S. when anybody with a clever sales pitch and a willingness to pull a patent could devise a concoction and call it a "medication." Unfortunately, the heyday of the "patent medicine" era coincided with the discove
A 30 year old woman in 1842 comes down with an awful gastrointestinal illness and a physician is called. He recounts the case in this article and asks if this might have been something called "Cholera Morbus." We'll go through the case, talk
This unusual, recurrent epidemic illness has popped its head in and out of the annals of history. It goes by many names: the English Sweats, coma somnolentum, Schlafkrankheit ("sleep sickness"), and the Nona, to name a few. The last time it w
Let's do a neurologic case featuring an American music legend who sought help after developing unusual headaches and a distorted sense of smell. We'll figure out what happened and who it is in this installment! Avoid clicking through the ref
CPR (aka cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is a simple way to save a life. When a heart stops, the modern teaching is to "get on the chest" and start giving compressions. But it may surprise nobody that there were early forms of CPR. There were
We decided to throw out a little bit of a bonus episode. In what we're calling the Curious Case Vault for now, we'll go into the archives of a well-established medical journal and read a real case report from long ago--1841, to be exact.In thi
He was dubbed "The 8th Wonder of the World" in the wrestling universe. The career of Andre the Giant was legendary and interesting on it's own, but on this episode we'll dive into the history of the discovery of gigantism and acromegaly, the c
Who do you picture when someone says the word "surgeon?" There are many common depictions of surgeons in popular media--from TV shows and other avenues of fiction. What makes up the persona of a surgeon? In her book, Cold Hard Steel, author
Halloween may be approaching, but this is no ghost story.This episode's unusual case takes us back in time to Paris, 1882. It is based on a patient known as Mademoiselle X, who was brought in for evaluation by a French neuropsychologist, Dr.
When you hear the story of how syphilis research was carried out in the United States in the 20th century, you'll probably start to understand why there is a history of mistrust of the medical establishment, especially among the African America
You've heard the sayings about how hard life was back in the 18th and 19th centuries, but have you ever considered the life of a chimney sweep in London during those times? Far from the cheery character in Mary Poppins, the actual chimney sweep
In the 1990's a curious thing happened. When a patient arrived very ill to the emergency department, doctors and nurses were astonished to find crystals in her blood with a foul odor. Why were they smelling the blood? Who knows, it was the 9
This is a historic episode. We'd like to welcome the newest addition to the Poor Historians Podcast crew, the exceptionally talented and enthusiastic new medical history intern, Alba! This is her first episode on the show and we're stoked to
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