Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine

This week on Sawbones, it's the story of how Yellow Fever killed 10 percent of Philadelphia, destroyed the government and made everyone rethink their collection of decorative standing water. Music : "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

For reasons we assume you can guess, we're discussing the history of quarantine, and how its historical misuse should make you particularly alert in the days and weeks to come as the world continues to combat COVID-19.  Music : "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

We love grave robbers on Sawbones and ... well, that came out wrong. We don't have a particular affinity for today's grave robbers, but they've played an important role in medical research and ... we're still defending grave robbers, aren't we? OK, listen. Let's start over. This is an episode about a really bad grave robber. Music : "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bo...

This week on Sawbones, it's the truly embarrassing story of why we spent several centuries thinking it was important for us to make wounds as pus-filled as possible. There's no nice way of saying it folks: This is a gross one.  Music : "Medicines" by  The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

This week on Sawbones, things are getting hot! Well, no, come to think of it, they’re doing the opposite. They’re getting colder. And by “they” we mean “we.” We’re getting colder, all of us. Probably. What should you do about it? Nothing. For now, you’ll just have to -- wait for it -- chill. Music : "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at ht...

This week on Sawbones, we've got a no-panic-allowed history of coronavirus along with a guide to the current strain that has held the headlines in a stranglehold in the past weeks. Even if you don't listen to the episode, take heart: If you're outside of China, it's likely you're more scared than you need to be at the moment. Music : "Medicines" by  The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock...

Would it surprise you to learn that people with too much money are flocking to "IV bars" and paying hundreds of dollars for intravenous cocktails of vitamins that are supposed to treat every malady under the sun but do absolutely nothing except risk serious infection? ... It probably doesn't surprise you, does it? Yeah, us neither. God, that's depressing. Anyway, here's a podcast. Music: "Medicine...

This week on Sawbones, we celebrate a trip to Minnesota with an exploration of Viking's Disease. You'll meet the people it isn't really named for and the guy who beat out a long line of researchers to get it named after himself. It's a whole thing. You'll see. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

We bidets have been all the rage for years around the globe, they never really caught on in the U.S. What part of their seedy history kept them out of American homes? And what (if any) are their health benefits? We've got all that and more on the new Sawbones! Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

This week on Sawbones, the incredible true story of how Chicago changed the direction of a river to battle typhoid and cholera. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

Just in time for Christmas, we've got another extremely special holiday film created by Justin and Sydnee McElroy. Gather the family and prepare for A Medicine Called Christmas 2: A Royal Pain. NARRATOR: Rachel McElroy PHIL: Griffin McElroy TAB: Sydnee McElroy JESUS: Dwight Slappe SORIANO: Travis McElroy CHRIS: Justin McElroy WAITER: Michael Meadows MR. BIG CITY: Tommy Smirl BETH: Teylor Smirl MAN...

You may have seen a Facebook meme claiming that a combination of elderberry and Oscillococcinum can prevent the flu. The truth of the matter may surprise you! (unless you've ever in your life ever listened to even a single episode of our show) Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

Listen, we're not gonna sit here all fancy and act like we didn't just record an entire episode about people sunning their buttholes. That's what happened, nothing can change that. If you don't listen, it was for nothing. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

We're marking our 300th episode (OK, it's our 301st) by answering all of your pressing medical questions. Can you really poke your brain through your nose? Where do boob crumbs come from? Listen for that and so much more! Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

This week on the 300th (!) episode of Sawbones, meet William Halstead, the father of American surgery, the man who inspired Cinemax's The Knick and ... a great advocate for cocaine. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

The market is flooded with at-home tests that let you "take medical care into your own hands" but is that something you even want in your hands? Are they reliable? Also, is Justin really going to give up cereal? Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

On Sawbones, we take pride in our ability to detangle medical myth from fact and give you the truth about the human body. This week on Sawbones ... things aren't so clear. You may need a stiff drink for this one ... unless your body is making them already? Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

William Goldman wrote in The Princess Bride "True love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops." This week on Sawbones, we ruin them. We're really sorry, Bill. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

Ben Franklin may not have have been a doctor, but he still had a massive impact on the medical field in his time. What were his contributions? And was he ever actually president? You'll have to listen to find out! Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

We've all heard about the oath new doctors have to take before they get their first scalpel and weird head mirror thing. But has it always been the same? Did Hippocrates really make it up? Is "First, do no harm" part of it? We'll answer all that and more on this week's Sawbones. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumf...

This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin check in with National Hotel Disease, the diarrhea so bad it almost brought down a U.S. presidency. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

This week on Sawbones, we talk about the many, many things essential oils can't do for you and the dueling Utah-based companies that insist we're wrong. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

For thousands of years, throughout an unprecedented number of cultures, garlic has been touted for its ability to improve our health. How? Well, by warding off vampires, silly. ... OK, there's some other stuff too. You should probably just listen. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

On Sawbones, we like to take a lot of hard lines and make grand proclamations: Vaccines good, viruses bad, that sort of thing. But when it comes to vaping, things get a little ... cloudier? Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones

Water: There's plenty of it, it's not obviously poisonous and it's cheap as all get out. Maybe THAT'S the answer to all our species' medical woes? ... It's not, but if you've ever listened to Sawbones before you see where this episode (recorded live in beautiful Atlanta) is going. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximu...