LeechFest

This month we're talking about malaria! This episode is quite similar to our early ones, in that we take a disease, talk about its pathology/ treatment, the role it has played in history, and then look toward the future. None of this politics crap we've been doing lately, just pure, unadulterated medical history. Although, we do complain about imperialism and also people being racist towards the Chinese a bit, so perhaps just a bit of politics.

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This is the second part of our episode about assassinations! This episode turned out very leftism-centric, with Salem covering Trotsky and Mia going over the assassination of Kim Jong Nam. There is a healthy dose of history in this episode, not just of the assassinations themselves, but also of the important historical events leading up to the murders, so if you feel like you need a refresher on Soviet history, this episode is for you!

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Most often on this podcast we talk about people's attempts to preserve and improve health and wellbeing. This month, however, we are switching gears as we embark on a two parter covering three historical figures whose powerful enemies wanted them dead. In this first part, we introduce the term ''assassin'' and discuss its etymology, and take a look at the life and death of one of Russia's most infamous monks.

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In this month's episode we tackle the concept of Stockholm Syndrome as follows: Mia talks about the original bank heist which led to the coinage of the term, and Salem follows up with another very famous case- that of Patricia 'Patty' Hearst. We briefly give our personal interpretation of both cases, after which we discuss some potential psychiatric explanations of the phenomenon: specifically that it's an inborn (yet conscious) response to particular types of intraspecies threats, and/or that it's an automatic response in the face of threat. Enjoy!

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A short and sweet episode for you this month- no mucking about with this one. We discuss flesh-eating bacteria, every tabloid's favourite germ to fear monger about. Salem covers the medical and biomedical part, specifically what causes flesh-eating disease, how the disorder manifests and what to expect if you end up having it, and Mia talks about how we came to learn more about this condition (and also delivers a long rant about medical doctors half-assing the history section in their papers). Enjoy!

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This month's episode focuses on the history of the use of animals in medical science. We start out with an overview of currently available study models, and a short discussion of why animal models remain irreplaceable at this point in time. Mia goes on into the history of animal use in research, with a special focus on the development of ethical considerations. Trigger warning here! There is some talk about animal torture. To round off the episode, we discuss some very exciting, rapidly developing technologies, specifically organoids (<3) and AI (

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In this year's second Spookysode, we discuss the Dyatlov Pass incident, which refers to the mysterious death of nine experienced hikers in the Ural Mountains in 1959, as well as the phenomenon of alien abductions, focusing on the case of Betty and Barney Hill. Were the deaths of Igor Dyatlov and his schoolmates caused by a weather phenomenon, a freak accident, or perhaps something a lot more disturbing? And is there any stock in alien abduction reports? Listen to find out!

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We are back just in time for Halloween with a spooky, spooky episode. This year, we've got for you the story of Karl Tänzler, who may be our least favourite scientist, and that of King Tut's curse. Enjoy, and happy Halloweeeeen!

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In this episode we discuss typhoid fever and our new favourite scrappy lady: Typhoid Mary. We talk about the bacteria and why it's a lame pathogen, as well as it's mechanism of pathogenicity and infection, and then discuss what caused typhoid plagues and the way we've dealt with it previously. Lastly, we go over the story of Typhoid Mary, and even touch on some of the ethics surrounding her case. Enjoy!

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In this episode we discuss the use of bugs (insects, arthropods, and the like) in medicine and medical research. Specifically, Mia serves us an overview of historical medical treatments using insect pulps and mashes, and Salem covers the modern use of bugs in medicine and research. As you may have heard, maggots are huge in wound treatment, but perhaps more surprisingly, helminths and spiders are also of interest to medical professionals/researchers. We also briefly mention leeches, though we don't spend too much time on them since we've already talked about their properties in the Organ Transplantation episode, so go listen to that! And remember: thank a bug today.

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