Beyond Ether Dome: The History of Modern Medicine

The British weren’t the deadliest enemy facing George Washington’s army. Disease was. And one controversial medical decision may have helped save the American Revolution. In this special Independence Day episode of Beyond Ether Dome , Dr. Robert Lane and Dr. Bart Patenaude explore the Revolutionary War through the eyes of its soldiers, surgeons, and patients. More American servicemen died from dis...

Episode 2: The Death of President Zachary Taylor — Cholera, Poison, or His Doctors? On July 9, 1850, President Zachary Taylor died after only sixteen months in office. Almost immediately, rumors began to spread. Had the president been poisoned? Did his opposition to the expansion of slavery make him the victim of an assassination? More than a century later, Taylor's body was exhumed and tested for...

Medicine as we know it—the hospitals, the drugs, the science, and the healthcare system—did not appear overnight. Beyond Ether Dome explores the history of modern medicine and healthcare through the discoveries, controversies, personalities, and institutions that transformed medicine from an uncertain art into one of the most powerful forces in modern society. Hosted by Dr. Robert Lane and joined...