All of us have experienced physical pain at some point in our lives. Yet many of us are unaware of how essential context is to the pain experience. Even today, there is much about pain that remains poorly understood. How is it that something so core to being human can remain such a mystery?

Joining me to unravel some of these complexities is Dr. Abdul-Ghaaliq Lalkhen, an anesthesiologist and author of An Anatomy of Pain: How the Body and the Mind Experience and Endure Physical Suffering.

Hosted by Emily Silverman.

Produced by Emily Silverman and Adelaide Papazoglou.

Edited and mixed by Jon Oliver.

Original theme by Yosef Munro. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

The Nocturnists is made possible by the California Medical Association, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, and people like you who have donated through our website and Patreon page.