Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine

It's Candlenights 2016, and that can only mean one thing: Dr. Sydnee is trying to ruin Christmas again. Join her as she explains to poor, pitiful Justin all of Santa's terrible health risks, recorded live in Huntington, WV.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones167SickSanta.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:06am EDT

Chapped lips are a minor annoyance, but that didn't stop old-timey people from smushing together TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF BRAINS to rub on them. Join Justin and Dr. Sydnee for a history of cheilitis.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones166Chapping.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:13pm EDT

It's the perfect time of year for gingerbread cookies, but what do you do with all that excess ginger? Well, maybe put it in a horse's butt? No, no, don't do that. But some people do. All that and more on this week's history of ginger.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones165Ginger.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:48pm EDT

Cold temperatures mean chapped lips and (for a lot of people) that might also mean Vaseline. But Vaseline is used for SO much more. Like way, way, way, way more. Join Dr. Sydnee and Justin as they talk about one of the most useful things ever invented.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones164Vaseline.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:12pm EDT

To celebrate American Thanksgiving, Dr. Sydnee and Justin example the medical history of that beleaguered holiday treat: The humble cranberry.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones163Cranberries.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:22pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, we celebrate the everyday heroism of The Last Chicken Pox Generation. Also, Dr. Sydnee and Justin share your best chicken pox stories.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones162ChickenPox.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:25pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin help provide you with the answers to all the medical questions you can muster, everything from knocking people out in action movies to tastebud inflamation.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones161QandA.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:58pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin delve into what may just be history's oddest actual medical diagnosis: Frankenberry stool.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones160Frankenberry.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:56pm EDT

A lot of folks like scary movies around Halloween time, but what happens when "spooked out" becomes "legitimate medical condition"? This week, Dr. Sydnee and Justin tell the story of a movie that might have gone too far.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones159Ghostwatch.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:39pm EDT

Dr. Sydnee hands the wheel over to Justin this week as he returns to his medical media series with a history of medical video games. Learn how meteors gave all dinosaurs asthma and so much more! 

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones158GamesB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:31pm EDT

Immigrants get the job done, and that extends to curing a mysterious disease once blamed on everything from bad corn to summertime. This week, Dr. Sydnee and Justin introduce you to the doc who cracked the case.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

 

Direct download: Sawbones157Pellagra.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:42pm EDT

Justin is not the hero Dr. Sydnee needs, but he's the one we all deserve. Because he's finally willing to admit the dark secret he's kept hidden for so long.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones156Hemerrhoids.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:37pm EDT

Is laughter really the best medicine? No! Medicine is. The history of how we arrived at that conclusion is the subject of this week's Sawbones.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones155Laughter.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:24pm EDT

If you've paid even passing attention to the American presidential race, you've probably heard a lot of talk about pneumonia recently. This week, Dr. Sydnee and Justin try to provide some historical perspective.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones154Pneumonia.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:58pm EDT

Do you really need to floss? Have you been taking your chew stick for granted? Dr. Sydnee and Justin explore those and other pressing questions in exploration of the history of dental hygiene.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones153Teeth.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:38pm EDT

How did a journey that began with Prince Albert hunting for jellyfish on a cruise end with one of the biggest calamities in prescription drug history? Join Justin and Sydnee for the story of the EpiPen.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

 

Direct download: Sawbones152Epipen.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:58pm EDT

Celebrities have started some pretty weird fads, but perhaps none are weirder than the one started by King Louis XIV, who made it cool ... to have a fistula. Join Justin and Dr. Sydnee for this very special episode.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones151RoyalFistula.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00pm EDT

We're continuing to celebrate the Summer Olympics by presenting all the weird, terrible, horrid way athletes have tried to cheat their way to winning over the years. From donkey hooves to guinea pig sperm, it's ... it's a weird one.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones150Doping.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:30pm EDT

Olympic athletes swear by it, but what really is the science behind cupping? Dr. Sydnee and Justin are looking into it, and the answer might (but probably won't) surprise you.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones149Cupping.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:36pm EDT

It's poison! It's medicine! It's both! ... OK, so it's mainly poison, but it hasn't always been that way. Join Justin and Dr. Sydnee for a brief tour of medical arsenic.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones148Arsenic.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:41pm EDT

Sure, it may seem like a magical plant, but just how helpful is that big bottle of green goo on your shelf? This week: Dr. Sydnee and Justin present the medical history of aloe.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

 

Direct download: Sawbones147Aloe.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:25pm EDT

We're throwing a Boston Tea Party of our own as we explore the strange history of medical tea live from Boston's historic Wilbur Theater.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones146Tea.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:30pm EDT

Is it really so bad to pop pimples? Can you cut the mold off food and eat it? Is it fatal to hold in a sneeze? These questions and so many more are answered on our latest Q&A episode!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones145QA3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:54pm EDT

Why do doctors wear that? What did they used to wear? Dr. Sydnee and Justin answer the big questions like that, including the big one: What's up with that little head mirror?

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones144Clothes.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:07pm EDT

If you've ever used salt for ANYTHING other than making cold french fries moderately edible, you need to listen to this episode.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones143Salt.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:28pm EDT

You probably think you have narcolepsy all figured out, but did you know that it's also the most horrifying disease of all time? It's true!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones142Narcolepsy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:04pm EDT

 

The presidents have, by and large, all been sick, sick men. We're going to talk about exactly how sick as Dr. Sydnee and Justin explore presidential disease.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones141Presidents.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:26pm EDT

In a way, it's all lead up to this. Live from the PlayStation theater in New York City, we've finally dedicated an entire episode to Pliny the Elder, patron saint of Sawbones. 

Also: A musical number!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones140Pliny.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:24pm EDT

Holy crap you guys, we talked to Mary Roach! Yes, THAT Mary Roach, the author of Gulp, Bonk, Spook and her newest, Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, due out in early June.

We spoke with Roach about a history of wrong thinking on diarrhea, why the military kept weather-related secrets from her and the Medicare code for maggots.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones139MaryRoach.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:17pm EDT

If you, like us, have been seeing kombucha everywhere, you've probably heard about it's many, many health benefits. Like, SO MANY health benefits. You know what ... you've listened to Sawbones for a while, right? You know where this is going.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones138Kombucha.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:38pm EDT

It's time to talk about the ailment so scary that Hippocrates told other doctors they shouldn't mess with it: Kidney stones. 

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones137.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:43pm EDT

If you found a lump of hair in an animal's stomach, would you first thought be "Huh, I bet that will help cure poison!" No? See, that's why you'll never cut it as an old-timey person. Let's talk about bezoars!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones136Bezoars.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:35pm EDT

We continue our exploration of the ear with an examination of one of history's most annoying (and hardest to treat) ailment: Tinnitus, otherwise known as ringing in the ears.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones135Tinnitus.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:24pm EDT

We're back with answers to more of the medical questions so goofy you're afraid to ask your doctor.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones134QA2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:50pm EDT

Last week on Sawbones, we moved into your ear. This week on Sawbones, we're staying put with an episoe about the dizzying number of ways we've profaned mice to fix earaches.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones133Earaches.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:54pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, we make earwax way, way worse before we remove all of it. Well, most of it. You gotta leave some you know, it's good for you. Eh, you should probably just listen.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones132Earwax.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:52pm EDT

In what may be the most shocking episode of Sawbones to date, we reveal the dirty truth about hydrogen peroxide: It's maybe not so useful for anything.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones131H202.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:33pm EDT

 

Dr. Sydnee and Justin try to apologize for their poopie episode with an episode about blood. They are bad at apologizing.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

 

Direct download: Sawbones130Hemophilia.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:01pm EDT

Welp, here's an episode about poop.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones129Poop.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:01pm EDT

It's #MaxFunDrive time and Justin and Sydnee are marking the occasion with a special episode in which all of your goofiest, most embarrassing medical questions will be answered by Dr. Sydnee.

The link to donate? Well, so happy you asked!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: SawbonesQA1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:17pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, Justin and Sydnee harness the power of history's longest lasting, most widespread and (perhaps) least effective home remedy. The good news about vinegar? Still great on fries.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: SawbonesVinegar.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:48pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, Justin and Sydnee have been working in the coal mine, and paying REAL close attention to where they step in the their history of hookworm. 

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: SawbonesHookwormFinal.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:12pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, Justin and Sydnee return to the fertile land of patent medicine quacks to introduce you to Curtis Howe Springer, the King of Quacks.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones125Springer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:27pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, Justin and Sydnee eat some coral in a misguided attempt to cure their heartburn (while upsetting as little of the ecosystem as possible).

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones124Heartburn.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:13pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, Justin and Sydnee really "rock out" with an episode all about the healing power of crystals. Get it? Rock out? Man, that's one great joke. 

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones123Crystals.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:26pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, a new disease is taking the world by storm and Sydnee and Justin are there to explain what everyone is so freaked out about. Well, Sydnee explains. Justin freaks out.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones122Zika.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:55pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, it's The Trial of The Century as Justin tries to prove to Sydnee once and for all that the spleen is useless. Take your seats, here comes the judge.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones121Spleen.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:57pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, Justin and Sydnee have got some wicked nosebleeds, but it's no problem: They've got some Doug to stuff up there.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones120Nosebleed.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:47pm EDT

his week on Sawbones, Justin and Sydnee drop out of school and have some pre-marital sex to cure their pseudo-anemia.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones119SGreenSickness.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:11pm EDT

This week on Sawbones, Justin and Sydnee finally kick the eating habit as they explore the often-disturbing history of fasting.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Direct download: Sawbones118Fasting.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:01pm EDT

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