This Podcast Will Kill You

We’re kicking off our sixth season in the same way we ended our fifth: with another headline-making respiratory virus. But as our listeners know, not all respiratory viruses are the same, and it’s often those differences among them that play the biggest role in their spread or the symptoms they cause. This episode, we’re exploring the virus that everyone has been talking about lately. No, not that one. Or that one. The other one. Yes, we’re talking about respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV...

Only our second episode of the season and we’re already getting in over (and inside) our heads with one of the biggest topics we’ve taken on yet: epilepsy. In this episode, we navigate the constantly changing definitions of epilepsy, make our way through the many different types of seizures, and dig into the inner workings of the brain as we attempt to understand the pathophysiology of this disease...

What do you get when you combine a love of reading with an interest in biology/public health/medical history and a background in podcasting? The TPWKY book club, of course! This season’s miniseries of bonus episodes features interviews with authors of popular science books, covering topics ranging from why sweat matters to the history of food safety, from the menstrual cycle to the persistence of race science and so much more...

There is no shortage of ailments that vitamin D has been claimed to prevent or cure - various types of cancers, heart disease, COVID-19, diabetes, an assortment of autoimmune conditions, just to name a few...

You may be wondering if there’s a typo in this week’s TPWKY book club selection - The Joy of Sweat? Are we supposed to find joy in this secretion? Shouldn’t it be The Inconvenience of Sweat? Some of you sauna-goers or hot yoga enthusiasts may already welcome sweat (at the right time and place, of course), but I’m guessing there are plenty of you out there that do everything you can to prevent perspiration and the odor that frequently accompanies it...

For many of us, our encounters with listeria may not go beyond reading the occasional headline about an outbreak from contaminated hot dogs or listening to our doctor advise us to avoid certain foods while pregnant. But as we explore in this episode, the story of Listeria monocytogenes is more complex, scary, and unexpected than you may have imagined...

Listeners of this podcast are likely no strangers to the horrifying history of eugenics, a topic that has made an appearance in our episodes on epilepsy, Huntington’s disease, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, and many others. We have touched on eugenic policies that prohibited marriage, encouraged and permitted forced sterilization, and restricted immigration in the U.S. in the early 20th century...

In our episode on the bends, you joined us as we explored how low we can go. Now we’re back with a similar invitation: come along to learn how high we can fly (and what happens to our bodies when we get up there). In this very special episode, we examine the short-term effects and potentially deadly consequences of life at great heights and ask how we came to understand the relationship between altitude, oxygen, and health...

Even if you haven’t watched the TV show House MD, you’re probably familiar with the phrase “it’s never lupus”. But have you stopped to consider why it’s never lupus? Or why lupus is so often suspected in the first case? Well, dear listeners, this episode aims to get at the heart of those questions, which is easier said than done. Like many other autoimmune diseases, lupus erythematosus continues to baffle, but we know a lot more now than we used to...

Menstruation...