Necrotizing fasciitis earned its nickname “flesh eating bacteria” from how quickly it progresses from what looks like a skin irritation to a deadly infection. This week, we get up close and personal with necrotizing fasciitis and its causative agents.

The New World Screwworm, is a nightmare of a fly and it seems to be making a comeback in the places it was previously eradicated - Central and North America. What exactly this fly does, why it’s such a problem, and how we came to defeat it (temporarily) all feature in this week’s episode.

Ohio! We are coming to you! We are so honored to be presenting one of the keynote addresses at this year's Infectious Diseases Institute Annual Meeting! Registration closes this Friday... we can't wait to see you there!

This week, we (both!) chat with two of our all-time favorite science communicators, @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social and @tealcartoons.bsky.social to discuss their newest book Dead Ends! There’s learning, there’s laughter, there’s a lesson: failure is okay. Not just okay but a necessary part of science

Famine is much more than a food shortage and starvation on a population-level scale. This week, we’re picking up where we left off last episode to explore the definitions, drivers, and many dimensions of famine. Tune in for a broad overview of this heavy but incredibly important topic.

This is the first of two episodes centered around malnutrition, starvation, and famine. Today, we explore the profound consequences that arise when our bodies are not given the energy stores they need and we tell the story of how we came to learn about these outcomes through a WWII-era study.

The roots of the inequities we see in our modern mental health system can be traced back decades, to the earliest psychiatric hospitals founded on racist notions of mental illness. This week's book club features @ahylton26.bsky.social and her book Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum.

Today's episode is all about newborn screening - from its serendipitous origins, to what the process looks like from a parent’s perspective, and how cutting-edge technology could revolutionize these programs. We even brought on an expert guest to walk us through the future of newborn screening!

Yeast infections! We've all had them (er, around 75% of us probably have), but what really are they, where do they come from, and why are they so hard to get rid of? All this and then some on today's episode featuring Candida!

On this week's book club Erin chats with the one and only @maryroach.bsky.social about book Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy, available TODAY! As with any Mary Roach production, this is the perfect combination of informative, fascinating, and fun. Tune in today!

Last ep, we took you through all the ways that cold can harm us. Ending the story there would be skipping over the parts where cold is the hero, rather than the villain. In the second of this frosty miniseries, we explore situations in which we might use cold to protect us and how it actually works.

We humans are not well-equipped to deal with the cold. Take us out of our insulated dwellings, take away our winter clothes, and things can get dicey fast. In this episode: the long and grim history of hypothermia in war, what exactly happens inside your body when your temperature drops, and more!

On this week's TPWKY Book Club episode, Erin interviews author Lina Zeldovich about her book The Living Medicine, which takes readers through the incredible and long-forgotten story of phage therapy and the doctors who developed it. You don't want to miss this one!

In December of 1952, a thick, noxious smog surrounded the entire city of London for days on end. What led to such conditions? What was in the smog to make it so toxic? And how did this pollution event lead to massive changes in air quality regulations around the world? Tune in for all this and more.

YOUR GALLBLADDER! What is it? Do you still have yours? How can you live without it? Also - what the heck is bile? And what does it have to do with the humoral theory of medicine? All this and literally so much more on this week's episode!

In this week’s TPWKY book club episode, renowned science writer and journalist Carl Zimmer discusses his latest book Airborne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe, which uncovers the long-forgotten story of an entire field of study - aerobiology. Tune in for a fascinating conversation!

😍 This is one of the best compliments we could ever receive! Radiolab is one of the podcasts that got us into podcasting!!

Last week, we took you on a journey of discovery, and today we’re gonna tell you how the heck it all works. The discourse surrounding SSRIs is complicated and contradictory, and this episode provides lots of answers and some terrible baseball metaphors to help you make sense of SSRIs.

This week and next, we tell the story of SSRIs in two parts. In part 1 we explore the origins antidepressants, a surprising journey that takes us back millions of years and across the animal kingdom, and one that proves that John Green was right - everything truly is tuberculosis. Tune in now!

Our first ever fiction book, Wendy Chin-Tanner's King of the Armadillos tells the story of a young man sent to a federal treatment facility after a diagnosis of Hansen’s disease (aka leprosy). Listen now to hear about about the writing process, and how her father’s life provided the story's basis.

PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome is, frankly, a poorly named disorder. So what is PCOS, really, and what can it teach us about our understanding of health and disease and our assumptions about sex and gender? Tune in to this week's episode to find out!

Do you miss purple ketchup? Or do you shiver when you remember that pink and blue "butter" was once a thing? Today we regale you with the story of food dyes! What the heck are they, why do we use them, are they really a problem and why?! All this and literally so much more on this week's episode!

In this week's Book Club episode, Erin Welsh sat down with Dr Steven Mithen to talk about how the heck we can even talk to each other! In his latest book, The Language Puzzle, he details the evolution of language, from the earliest sounds and gestures to the multitude of languages we use today.

Last week we took you through the history of fluoridation (and the anti-fluoridation movement). This week we get deep into dental caries and how fluoride works to protect our teeth, as well as what potential health risks may exist with fluoride exposure.

Fluoride continues to make headlines, but as always with controversial topics in science and medicine, this is nothing new. On today's episode, we take you through the history of fluoride and its introduction into community water sources - 80 years ago. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss part 2!

For this week's book club, Erin Welsh sat down with historian of medicine, professor, and author Dr. Wendy Kline to chat about her book, Exposed: the hidden history of the pelvic exam. From its dark origins to its current reclamation, this episode has it all!

Toxic Shock Syndrome - a name that likely lives in infamy in so many of our heads because of its association with tampons. But what really is it? What's making us sick and why are tampons so much to blame - or are they? Image from Science History Institute Museum and Library Digital Collections.

This week we've got a little detour from all the debunking to bring you what feels like a classic topic... strychnine! Now used as a rat poison, this toxic plant-based compound was once a ubiquitous part of Victorian medicine, and a particularly horrific choice of murder weapon. Tune in now!

Measles is still making headlines as outbreaks in the US continue to grow. Erin sat down with Dr. Adam Ratner about his new book, Booster Shots. This book lays out the history of measles, its vaccine, why measles is so terrifying, and provides a roadmap for where to go from here. Tune in now!

Part 2 of raw milk! Today we get into the alleged health claims we've all seen circulating our social media feeds and contrast the (lack of) data to support these claims with the very real data on the risks of raw milk. If you've been searching for a deep dive, oh wow, you are going to love this.

Seriously though, what's the deal with raw milk? Why is everyone talking about it? Join us for part 1 of our two part series where we, too, talk about it. This week we dive into what the world looked like before pasteurization, how it came to be, and the growth of the anti-pasteurization movement.

It's time for the first #BOOKCLUB of the season! Erin Welsh sat down with the one and only @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social to talk about his latest book, Everything is Tuberculosis. Tune in for a tour through the history of tuberculosis and a reminder that investing in public health saves lives

So now you know what the childhood vaccine schedule protects us from, but you’ve still got questions - we’ve got answers. Tune in to learn who makes the schedule, how they make their decision, and why the US schedule looks different than other countries! Image : Science Museum of London

We're back with season 8! Already! We've got a big season planned but first up is a two-parter on childhood vaccines. What's included in the schedule and what diseases are we protecting against? Tune in now for all the details! Image from Science Museum of London.

It's no April Fools joke... the final episode of our pregnancy series AND seventh season is HERE! Today we talk all about the Fourth Trimester - what is it, how has it changed as we've moved from home to hospital, and how can we improve our current reality? Tune in now all this and so much more!

Part 3 of our pregnancy series is here! This week is Labor and Delivery, including a deep dive on the history of the Caesarean section. There's a lot of ground to cover (and a lot of props over on @YouTube!) so check out the full episode now on @iheartradio or wherever you like to listen!

Episode 2 of our pregnancy series is here! You'll leave this episode with a far deeper appreciation of your placenta and all the incredible changes in our physiology and anatomy during pregnancy. This episode has it all! Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video on YouTube!

Our YouTube premiere starts in just a few minutes! youtu.be/Dx0ewmmMjnQ

Join us for our YouTube premiere tonight at 5pm PT!

Our first episode in our pregnancy series is here! From how we came up with the pregnancy test and through embryonic development, this episode covers the first trimester. AND! The video version of the full episode is premiering TONIGHT LIVE ON YOUTUBE at 5pm PT/ 8pm ET! Get the link in our bio!

We're back with our final TPWKY #bookclub episode of the season! Erin Welsh sat down with the one and only Rachel Gross to discuss her incredible book, Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage. It's an episode you don't want to miss!

Sildenafil, AKA Viagra, is the most famous "little blue pill" out there. But how does it work? And how did it gain notoriety as quickly as it did? This week we cover what erectile dysfunction is, how the drugs we use to treat it came about, and how Viagra changed the game in medical advertising.

Less conspicuous than its red-and-white speckled cousins, Amanita phalloides, aka the Death Cap mushroom is the culprit behind the vast majority of mushroom-related deaths worldwide each year. Tune this week to find out what makes this mushroom so deadly - and what we can do about it!

This week's episode ... it's... well, it's about the isopod parasites that eat away and then functionally replace a fish's tongue. So. You're going to love it! Photo Christian Gloor cc-2.0 via Flickr

What’s a disease with a tangled web of transmission cycles that’s also a perfect example of the importance of a One Health approach to disease control? Why it’s Rift Valley Fever of course! Tune in to today’s episode for all the details! Image CC-2.0 by Annabel Slater for ILRI

How do we know when it's #quarantini and #placeborita time? Tune in to our live episode on #circadianrhythms to find out! Featuring Tick Tock Ya Don't Stop ⏰

It's our first ever LIVE EPISODE all the way from Perth, WA! We talk all about circadian rhythms - what are they, how do they get disrupted, and what can we do about it? Joined by special guests Dr Ian Dunican, expert in fatigue management and by Dr. John Iliff, emergency physician. Tune in now!

What's your favorite movie about disease? On this week's book club episode, Erin chats with the authors of Diseased Cinema: Plagues, Pandemics and Zombies in American Movies all about the genre and how it's changed over time. And check out the Infectious Historians podcast if you haven't already!

Presenting: The Allergy Shot. What else could we possibly have called our #quarantini and #placeborita for our allergies episode? Cheers everyone!

Last week, in part one of our two parter on allergies we talked all about what is going on inside our bodies when allergies attack. Today: what can we do about them? What's an allergy shot and why how does it work, who came up with the epi pen, what's on the horizon for treatment options, and more!