Lara and Helen explore the wild world of Prions and walk us through the history of the most famous Prion Disease, Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis, better known as Mad Cow disease.
Featured Tea: Our tea this week was a custom blend from The Cat and Kettle called The Reaper Tea because when it comes to Prions, you reap what you sew. https://www.thecatandkettle.com/
#Madcow
#Prions
#medicalhistory
Lara and Helen delve into Guillain Barre. What is it and why is it making antivaxxers so nervous?
In 1726 Mary Toft, a poor Surrey Woman, mysteriously began to gave birth to rabbits. She was branded a fraudstress and reviled country wide and was the ruin of a number of doctors. However, there is always more to the story. Join us as we explore the historical and cultural context that may have motivated England's notorious Mother of Rabbits.
In this final episode in the arc on Malaria Lara and Helen explore the ways in which the disease has impacted art, literature, etc.
This is our second episode diving into Malaria. This week we will explore some the places that malaria crops up in history and what might have been but for the mosquito.
In the first episode of a three episode series on malaria, Helen and Lara discuss what malaria is, the symptoms, how it is diagnosed, how it evolved (spoiler alert: Dinosaurs), and the life cycle of the parasite. Tune in next week for a discussion on the massive influence it has had on human history.
Special guest Tommy O'King, musician, ginger, and all around bad-ass joins Helen in the studio to talk about the time his knee got torn open on a loading dock. Content Warning for the squeemish: This one is pretty rough.
Check out Tommy on instagram @burlknives and check out his band @therequisite.
Lara and Helen explore the impact that 1918 had on culture. Spiritualism, political cartoons, and developments in photography feature heavily.
In this episode Lara and Helen discuss the Flu of 1918 and marvel at how something so important and influential seems to have been relegated to the footnotes of history. They also reminisce about the past year in Covid Lockdown.
Katie Darby Mullins, author, tenured professor, and executive writer for The Underwater Sunshine Festival, joins us in this episode to share how a rare disorder lead to a brain stem stroke in her 30's. If you want to read some of her work, and we promise you do, you can check out
The Underwater Sunshine Festival: https://underwatersunshinefest.com/essays
Dr Phil and I Go to the Batting Cages: https://www.hobartpulp.com/web_features/dr-phil-and-i-go-to-the-batting-cages?fbclid=IwAR2x0pjlgU_H61XYT-y9ffcfNm8g_7UFxu8r0FdInJjWOXGqpTTR3TdKUog
Neuro, Typical: https://www.summercamppublishing.com/shop/p/neuro-typical-chemical-reactions-amp-trauma-bonds-poems-by-katie-darby-mullins
Lara and Helen talk about typhoid and get into the details of Mary Mallon, better known as "Typhoid Mary." Lara's mother makes a guest appearance to talk about her experience with Typhoid. Spoiler: It's a love story.
Chicago based actor, Ty Bonneville, joins us on this episode to tell us about her experience with a mystery illness. Some years back she was struck by what she thought was a flu but when it failed to to resolve itself within a month so knew she needed to seek help.
Lara and Helen can't leave well enough alone. In this episode they wade through art, literature, theatre, and music inspired by Tuberculosis.
In this episode Lara and Helen are in deep lockdown and discussing the hugely influential disease, Tuberculosis. It had been with us since the dawn of civilization and has yet to be eradicated. This week we are setting the stage, next week will be dedicated to TB's portrayal in visual art, literature, theatre, and music.
This episode kicks off the first of our First Hand Account episodes. Andrew Yabroff, an actor who splits his time between LA and the PNW, makes a guest appearance to tell us about his experience with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.
In this episode, Helen and Lara discuss the depiction of Syphilis in art and literature and the effect it had on fashion, food, and daily life.
Helen and Lara dive into the grisly history of syphilis on this wonderfully grim episode.
Helen tells the story of the Ursuline Nuns of New Orleans and the first true pharmacist of America and Lara explores how industrialization and the enlightenment affected the medical world in Europe in the 19th century.
In this inaugural episode, Helen and Lara discuss the medical philosophy that pervaded Europe from the Greeks to the Tudor period. Including, a very useful cure for lovesickness!