The Present Illness

Is Mitch McConnell dead or alive? Let's talk about out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and critical illness in older folks. Graham Platner drops out of Maine race in wake of credible sexual assault allegations. There were plenty of red flags.  Trump at NATO Mitch McConnell - proof of life? McConnell’s cardiac arrest at home McConnell supposedly speaks with GOP leaders Ileana’s McConnell highlights...

The Supreme Court let America keep birthright citizenship for it’s birthday. Trump’s 250th Independence Day celebration is a flop. Surprise! Pew: Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology Gallup: Data on pride in being American What’s happening with the Great American State Fair ? Yellow substance oozing from arch at the Great American State Fair Mt. Olive Pickles withdraws from the Great Americ...

Dem Establishment hell bent to learn nothing from Mamdani and NY Primaries; Trump Admin’s dirty propaganda comparing immigrants to alien creatures; Join Team Algae in the Reflecting Pool drama; Hegseth can’t even lift; Alyssa makes a mixtape Note: the memo labeling many people “terrorists” is NSPM-7 , not NPSM-7 Four years after the fall of Roe The Reflecting Pool Some background on the Reflecting...

It’s the second Pride Month of this Trump administration, and things are rough. San Francisco Giants’ pitchers anti-Pride stunt; gender as a weapon; Rainbow washing and corporate backstabbing. Note: Dana White is the president and CEO of UFC Summary of MOU with Iran Pride Under Trump + Juneteenth: What happened at the Giants’ Pride Night JD Vance says “Trump won we don’t have to do this anymore” J...

The Birth Book with OB-GYN Dr Jennifer Lincoln. Pro-autonomy! Pro-Consent! Pro- vitamin K for babies! Anti-shame and coercion! She hopes folks name their babies "OG" Anunoby. The Birth Book Get your copy of The Birth Book Resources for The Birth Book Follow Dr. Lincoln on YouTube , TikTok and Instagram 💊 Take Two and Call Me in the Morning 💊 Jen’s book recommendation: Roll of Thunder,...

Flesh eating flies (disgusting!); Project 2025 budget cuts (despicable!); sterile flies; non-standard healing crystals from a crystal scientist; Hunter Biden is a natural poster Note: New data from ASCO regarding melanoma indicate those with Stage 3b to 4 melanoma had longer time to recurrence and longer time to metastasis Alyssa accidentally called the screwworm fly as a “screw-tape.” Oops! New W...

Pope Leo takes on AI in first encyclical; Ashley St. Clair spills hot MAGA tea; UFC fight at the White House; Ronnie Chieng commencement speech RFK Jr and snakes Preparations for the UFC fight at the White House Ebola updates from the WHO US sends exposed citizens to Kenya Democrats respond to Stephen Miller Fact check: The study Arghavan referenced regarding students learning with AI vs without d...

Replay: Academic freedom under attack; viral case of an Oklahoma pre-med student's targets her transgender professor; Erika Kirk's terrible NYT interview;  Our hosts investigate the alarming trend of politically-motivated complaints against university professors. From Indiana University to Texas A&M, faculty are experiencing acute cases of administrative panic when confronted with st...

Seattle’s Laurelhurst community vs. Seattle Children’s Hospital; Shingles Vaccine may reduce dementia; Hantavirus scare; American dialects; Zaffron Bloom restaurant NEJM article on hantavirus (no paywall) Rich Folks Complain About Seattle Children’s Helicopters Seattle Children’s-Laurelhurst helicopter situation explained Laurelhurst “old money” Seattle neighborhood 1992 Complaint about “noisy nei...

5th Circuit Mifepristone chaos heads to Supreme Court; Canadian judge let’s off doctor for SA; Clit art; Golden Tempo; and bee huts! Hunter Peterson tries to launch Spirit 2.0 Passengers stranded after Spirit Airlines shut down Mifepristone Fifth Circuit Decision Directs FDA to Restrict Mifepristone Access Supreme Court puts decision on hold, for now “Nuclear option” used to normalize requiring on...

Surgeons need to know anatomy; Voting is good; SCOTUS conflicts of interest; pediatric society hosts unscientific panel on trans kids SCOTUS decision on the Voting Rights Act (Arghavan reacts ) Lawsuit against John Roberts due to conflict of interest Slow Burn on Clarence Thomas Death during surgery: Summary of “accidental” liver removal State medical board order suspending Shaknovsky’s license In...

Where’s the bathroom?; digital sexual violence; Buck v. Bell turns 99 ; RFK Jr’s hearings; Bhattacharya is actually fine with censorship ; RFK Jr: Trump Math , glyphosate , “ re-parenting ,” wants to eliminate chronically ill people Everyone Just Needs to Pee Trans Legislation Tracker Trans bathroom bills Nex Benedict (he/him/they/them) CA requires gender neutral bathrooms (Note: schools must have...

Pediatrician Dr. Lara Jones discusses advocating to free children from ICE detention facilities. Follow her @AskLaDoctora . Kids in ICE Detention The 19th: These pediatrician moms have a shared message: Release all children in immigration detention Letter to DHS The Marshall Project April 2026: Data on child detention Families describe conditions at Dilley More on Drs. Jones, Patel and Cozzo Core...

Crossing our fingers to avoid nuclear war; Pentagon goes after the pope; Artemis sends back dope pictures of the moon and earth Iran Trump violates international law, says unhinged stuff Iranian government offers citizen sacrifice 23% Americans support Trump on Iran US bombs Pasteur Institute , Sharif University Israel bombs Lebanon Sampler of Bad Things Nazi Kanye West Grocery , fuel prices Insid...

IOC resumes harmful sex gene testing; forced c-sections with zoom court rooms; The Lancet profiles our host!; A woman goes to the moon; Alyssa recommends bioethics books The Lancet profiles Arghavan! Sally Ride, 100 tampons ( song ) IOC sex testing International Olympic Committee’s new policy   Andrew Sinclair’s essay   Tested podcast  Caster Semenya Imane Khelif Eero Mäntyranta Steven van de Veld...

Mayo medical student’s videos go viral in the bad way; medical misogyny; Match Day memories; ICE at the airports; husbands learn about pelvic exams Mayo Medical Student: Dr. Chloe Nazra Lee on Nick Baumel and medical misogyny Gynogirl on DSM5 Dr. Shannon Clark Dr. Jenn Lincoln Feminist Midwife on pelvic care Dr. Milhouse’s video Lindsey Shelton’s video Alyssa’s Ethics Consult Men trying to underst...

RFK loses ACIP lawsuit; Pediatricians fight ICE; Boy Boss Documentary disappoints us (Review of Inside the Manosphere); WNBA players get a raise March madness: Women’s tournament , men’s tournament Fire celebration: Chaharshanbe suri gatherings in Iran Persian New Year Fact check: Arghavan misspoke when she said the name of one of the manfluencer/boy bosses. His name is Justin, not Jeremy.  Peds v...

Stryker cyber attack by Handala Hackers; Iran’s new supreme leader - is he even alive?; DOGE dummy Justin Fox can’t explain DEI; Timmy Chalamet messes with the wrong opera house DOGE & DEI: Arghavan’s video about the DOGE bro who can’t even define DEI Stryker Attack: Ransomware Attacks and Data Breaches in US Health Care Systems Al Jazeera reporting How ‘Handala’ Became the Face of Iran’s Hack...

Our first guest is Dr. Kaveh Hoda of The House of Pod! Persian Tarof culture; a new supreme leader in Iran; the US can't decide on its war messaging; a disagreement over favorite Persian foods. Iran episode on The House of Pod Israeli oil strikes in Tehran All the Shah's Men : An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror Iranian women's soccer players labeled traitors Church...

Overnight war with Iran; Casey Means’ confirmation hearings; Newsom sucks Hillary & Bill Clinton Newsom diminishes trans people Kansas revokes trans people’s driver’s licenses War in Iran Iranians celebrate S chool bombing ; graves Golestan Palace damaged IRGC threat s L atest tally of deaths US sinks unarmed Iranian ship WH's video game B reaking Veteran's arm Casey Means Senate con...

State of the Union bingo card; US Mens Hockey squanders the good vibes; RFK Jr’s HHS gets sued yet again for illegally messing with vaccination; Punch updates; Angry Quilters; Gen Z slang Men’s Hockey Squanders Good Will Some of the US men’s hockey team reactions to the response to their “locker room talk” Ellen Hughes’s comments Hilary Knight’s reaction to the US men’s hockey team Arghavan’s post...

Go Team USA! Weird Workout with RFK Jr; ICE harming kids in detention; Gisele Pelicot speaks out about her husband's abuse Hilary Knight is the greatest US women’s hockey scorer ever RFK Jr and Kid Rock working out Dystopian Daycare in Dilley Hundreds of kids detained > 20 day Flores rule limit. Two measles cases confirmed at the Dilley family detention center 2-month-old Juan Nicolás deve...

Epstein dirty money in Medical Education; Should we make babies in outer space?; Olympian’s relationship fumble; Knitting the resistance; Possum cake (yeah you read that right) Epstein’s Ties to Medical Education Fact check! The representative Arghavan referred to who brought up the email from survivors is Thomas Massie , not Anthony Massie. Arghavan’s video summarizing Les Wexner’s relationship w...

“Longevity” Doctor Peter Attia in Epstein Files 2,000 times; How to Leave Open Comments on Fed Regs Banning Gender Affirming Care; Bad Bunny’s Big Week; Trump wants women to smile more. Dr. Peter Attia and the Epstein Files What the president said to Kaitlan Collins Arghavan’s summary with screenshots of Attia’s emails Attia hangs out with Epstein while his baby is critically ill Peter Attia’s sta...

The doctors thrive on spite; Nurse Alex Pretti; Iran Update; How cheap bots/trolls drive disinformation Note: we had an audio issue for the first few minutes of the episode (4:55).  Iran Update: Per Iran International, internal documents from Iran suggest the regime killed at least 36,500 protesters between January 8th and January 9th, 2026 Arghavan’s carousel about Iran that got a lot of trolls/b...