Audible | Ballen Studios

MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries

The human body is a miracle. But when it’s not working, it can be the stuff of nightmares. On this new series from master storyteller MrBallen, we’re sharing medical horror stories and diagnostic mysteries that are surgically calibrated to make your blood run cold. From bizarre, unheard-of diseases and miraculous recoveries to strange medical mishaps and unexplainable deaths — you’ll never hear the phrase “heart-stopping” in the same way again. MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between MrBallen and Wondery, the award-winning company behind Dr. Death. Audible sub...

Author

Audible | Ballen Studios

Category

True Crime

Podcast website

wondery.com

Latest episode

Sep 11, 2025

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Episodes

Fan Favorite | Darkness in Donora 11.09.2025

Following the epic crossover between MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted: Declassified Mysteries, hosted by Luke Lamana, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes where the line between medical mystery and dark conspiracy becomes blurred. In the 1940s, the people of Donora, Pennsylvania fall prey to a deadly epidemic that destroys their lungs. Doctors suspect it has something to do with...

Fan Favorite | Culture Clash 09.09.2025

Following the epic crossover between MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted: Declassified Mysteries, hosted by Luke Lamana, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes where the line between medical mystery and dark conspiracy becomes blurred. When a quiet town in Oregon is beset by a dangerous Salmonella outbreak, health authorities are baffled by where the toxic bacteria came from. What th...

Fan Favorite | The Carancas Curse 04.09.2025

Following the epic crossover between MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted: Declassified Mysteries, hosted by Luke Lamana, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes where the line between medical mystery and dark conspiracy becomes blurred. In September 2007, a meteor strike leaves a massive crater in the high Peruvian desert, drawing curiosity seekers from miles around. Shortly after, pe...

Fan Favorite | Sudden Insanity 02.09.2025

Following the epic crossover between MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted: Declassified Mysteries, hosted by Luke Lamana, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes where the line between medical mystery and dark conspiracy becomes blurred. When an elderly man in New Brunswick, Canada, dies from what seems to be rapid-onset dementia, his doctor believes he had a rare condition called Creu...

Fan Favorite | Needle in a Haystack 28.08.2025

Following the epic crossover between MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted: Declassified Mysteries, hosted by Luke Lamana, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes where the line between medical mystery and dark conspiracy becomes blurred. A little girl falls prey to a disease so deadly and rare, the CDC fears it might be an act of bioterrorism. Investigators scramble to find the source,...

Fan Favorite | It Came From the Basement 26.08.2025

Following the epic crossover between MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted: Declassified Mysteries, hosted by Luke Lamana, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes where the line between medical mystery and dark conspiracy becomes blurred. When a woman’s five-year-old son in Niagara Falls, New York, suddenly develops epilepsy, she becomes determined to figure out what made him sick. What...

Fan Favorite | The Philly Killer 21.08.2025

Following the epic crossover between MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted: Declassified Mysteries, hosted by Luke Lamana, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes where the line between medical mystery and dark conspiracy becomes blurred. Throughout the United States, the summer of 1976 is a celebration of two hundred years as a nation. That is, until attendees of a veterans’ conference...

Fan Favorite | Blood Feast 19.08.2025

Following the epic crossover between MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted: Declassified Mysteries, hosted by Luke Lamana, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes where the line between medical mystery and dark conspiracy becomes blurred. One night in 1944, over 300 patients at a mental hospital in Oregon become violently sick after eating dinner. Many of them die. An investigation is q...

Fan Favorite | Village of Death 14.08.2025

Following the epic crossover between MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted: Declassified Mysteries, hosted by Luke Lamana, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes where the line between medical mystery and dark conspiracy becomes blurred. In September of 1998, people throughout Malaysia start dying of a disease that attacks their brains. The authorities think they know what it is, but o...

Fan Favorite | Death from Above 12.08.2025

Following the epic crossover between MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted: Declassified Mysteries, hosted by Luke Lamana, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes where the line between medical mystery and dark conspiracy becomes blurred. In the town of Oakville, Washington, chaos erupts when mysterious blobs start falling from the sky – and anyone who touches them ends up in the hospit...

Ep. 96 | A Redacted Medical Mystery: Red Menace/Weather Warriors 05.08.2025

In this special MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted crossover episode, MrBallen and Luke Lamana join forces to bring you two shocking stories of the military testing bizarre, deadly weapons of war in secret. In “Red Menace,” a 75-year-old pipe fitter in San Francisco wakes up feeling tired and weak for seemingly no reason. Worst of all, his urine is bright red. And he’s not the only one. Doc...

Ep. 95 | Two Hearts Beat As One 29.07.2025

After sitting down for a nice meal with her husband, a woman becomes violently ill and has to be hospitalized. But the problem isn’t her stomach – it’s her heart. Making things even stranger, her husband ends up in the ER too. And if their doctors can’t find the common denominator between their cases… both husband and wife could end up dead. Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, cu...

Ep. 94 | The Leftovers 22.07.2025

After giving birth, an ambitious lawyer struggles through an avalanche of health issues that won’t go away. As the years go by, she manages to power through it. But eventually, it becomes too much to bear – and if she can’t get the problem fixed, she could miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime. Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now...

Ep. 93 | Gut Check/Sleeping Beauty 15.07.2025

“Gut Check”: When a 16-year-old girl starts experiencing constant and severe stomach pain, her first concern is the effect it’ll have on her social life. But when she discovers how bad the problem really is, she realizes that her social standing is the last thing she needs to worry about. “Sleeping Beauty”: A high-achieving teenager’s grades start to plummet when she becomes inexplicably sleepy an...

Ep. 92 | Trigger Point 08.07.2025

After an uneventful flight, a college professor suddenly experiences severe pain in his cheek. The excruciating spasms come on with no warning, and no explanation. No matter what his doctors suggest, the agony is unyielding – and the only possible solution could end up making the problem even worse.  Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign...

Ep. 91 | The Mad Gasser 01.07.2025

During World War 2, the small town of Mattoon, Illinois erupts into a panic. Some of its residents are falling prey to what seem like random gas attacks from an unidentified assailant. But who is the man known as “the Mad Gasser”? And why is he doing this? Is he a local madman, conducting a twisted experiment? A Nazi saboteur? Or something else entirely? Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest...

Ep. 90 | Walk Like the Birds 24.06.2025

One day at the park, a mother notices her young son is walking strangely – almost like Frankenstein. At first, she writes it off as an oddity. But soon, her son’s legs stop working altogether… and the rest of his body starts shutting down with them. Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletter Follow Mr...

Ep. 89 | Half a Face 17.06.2025

A teenage girl panics when clumps of hair start to fall off the right side of her head. From there, the problem gets even worse - the entire right side of her face starts to crumple in. But the problem isn’t just cosmetic. It’s extremely painful… and her doctors have no idea how to stop it. Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at http...

Ep. 88 | 15,000 Coughs/The Putrid Smell 10.06.2025

“15,000 Coughs”: When an 11-year-old girl develops a worrisome cough, her workaholic mom drops everything to get her help. But nothing seems to work. Soon, her daughter is coughing almost constantly – 15,000 times a day – and doctors have no idea how to stop it. “The Putrid Smell”: A woman spends her life dealing with an embarrassing and infuriating problem: she smells like dead fish. But she can’...

Ep. 87 | 99th Percentile 03.06.2025

After a difficult pregnancy, a woman is delighted to give birth to a baby girl. Her new child is perfect – though she has an unusually large head. Although the problem seems to be benign, the baby soon develops other problems. Desperate to help her child, the mother takes her to every specialist possible – but will anyone be able to find the answer she needs? Be the first to know about Wondery’s n...

Ep. 86 | Out of This World/A Good Scrub Down 27.05.2025

“Out of This World”: In 2003, a treasure hunter in Chile makes a shocking discovery: a tiny, 6-inch skeleton of what appears to be a human. But parts of its anatomy just don’t make sense. It’s too well-formed to be a fetal skeleton, and its skull is strangely elongated – making some people wonder, is this a medical mystery… or an extraterrestrial one?  “A Good Scrub Down”: After thoroughly cl...

Ep. 85 | Maximum Volume 20.05.2025

After a successful overseas tour, an American rock guitarist comes home with a troubling affliction. All of a sudden, his hearing is extremely sensitive – like everything is turned up to 11. When it doesn’t go away, he’s forced to give up everything he loves, including music. Trapped in his own personal hell, he desperately tries to find an answer before it becomes too much to bear. Be the first t...

Ep. 84 | The Sick Snowbird/A Spoonful of Sugar 13.05.2025

“The Sick Snowbird”: After a lovely winter in Southern California, an older woman is excited to enjoy the spring in her native New Jersey. But when she starts experiencing inexplicable nausea and headaches, she ends up in the hospital. With her baffling symptoms appearing and disappearing seemingly without reason, her condition seems inexplicable – but it turns out, her doctors just aren’t asking...

Ep. 83 | The Disappearing Girl 06.05.2025

When a vivacious preteen girl with Down syndrome suddenly becomes shy and withdrawn, her mother worries her precious daughter is getting depressed. But soon, it becomes clear that something else is wrong. With every passing day, the girl withdraws deeper into her shell. Her mother is determined to figure out what’s wrong before she loses her daughter forever. Be the first to know about Wondery’s n...

Ep. 82 | Running on Empty 29.04.2025

A young, active mother is dismayed when she starts feeling weak and exhausted – with small children and a business to run, she can’t afford to get sick. But none of her doctors can offer an explanation. And when she finally does get an answer… it feels like a betrayal of everything she’s worked to accomplish. Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more!...

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