The Present Illness

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 Pool renovation
• Arghavan’s first and second carousel about the Reflecting Pool saga

Lessons From NY Primary

• Mamdani’s candidates win
• Jaime Harrison’s tweet about Democratic politics
• New York AG’s comments about Mamdani

Dehumanization via Government Propaganda

• "Dept of War" UAP website: https://www.war.gov/UFO/
• Racist, xenophobic Aliens.gov site
• SCOTUS’s decision on Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians
• Hegseth works out with the military
• Longer video of Hegeth’s workout shows he does almost everything half-heartedly. What a warrior!
• Summary of Prairieland case
• Prairieland sentences

💊Take Two and Call Me in the Morning💊

• Pentagon reinstates flu vaccine mandate
• Reactions to JD Vance patting Usha’s knee
• Alan Opts Out Mixtape
• June 26 - Come see Alyssa and Courtney Maum at Book Passage in Corte Madera

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Credits

• Production by Arghavan Salles & Alyssa Burgart
• Editing by Alyssa Burgart
• Music by Joseph Uphoff
• Social Media by Arghavan Salles

Don’t take medical advice from random people on a podcast. This show is for informational purposes, is meant to be fun, and is certainly not medical advice. Please, take your medical questions to a qualified professional. Nothing we say represents our employers or anyone else. 

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”
• Josh Hokit calls Michelle Obama a man
• Reactions to Josh Hokit’s comment
• Dad takes daughters to the bathroom, police are called
• 1 year-old Kohen Wiley killed by police in Mississippi
• Cyrus Carmack-Belton killed by Rick Chow

💊Take Two and Call Me in the Morning💊

• A fabulous song about perimenopause
• A hilarious rendition of You Oughta Know
• Collage from anesthesia drug labels
• Complex sculptures made of old medicine containers

Text us!

Thanks for listening to The Present Illness! 

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Credits

• Production by Arghavan Salles & Alyssa Burgart
• Editing by Alyssa Burgart
• Music by Joseph Uphoff
• Social Media by Arghavan Salles

Don’t take medical advice from random people on a podcast. This show is for informational purposes, is meant to be fun, and is certainly not medical advice. Please, take your medical questions to a qualified professional. Nothing we say represents our employers or anyone else. 

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, Hear My Cry
• Marcus Tudrick on Instagram
• Paper Pepper healing Van Gogh

Text us!

Thanks for listening to The Present Illness! 

Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube @ThePresentIllness

Credits

• Production by Arghavan Salles & Alyssa Burgart
• Editing by Alyssa Burgart
• Music by Joseph Uphoff
• Social Media by Arghavan Salles

Don’t take medical advice from random people on a podcast. This show is for informational purposes, is meant to be fun, and is certainly not medical advice. Please, take your medical questions to a qualified professional. Nothing we say represents our employers or anyone else. 

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 World Screwworm Fly

• Texas Tribune: What to know about screwworm in Texas
• Screwworm Lifecycle
• Sterile fly production facilities
• How sterile flies are used in mitigation

Disaster OMB Budget Proposal

• Summary of proposed OMB changes to federal funding
• Things to consider while writing your comment
• regulations.gov, OMB-2026-0034 is where you can enter your comment
• Or you can go to StandUpForScience.net and they have a link as well

💊Take Two and Call Me in the Morning💊

• “Non-standard Healing Crystals”
• Trad Lifting
• Some Hunter Biden tweets 
  • Would not have left his drugs behind
  • He’s never stolen an erection
  • Correcting a bad AI photo of himself
  • Hunter Biden campaign slogan

Text us!

Thanks for listening to The Present Illness! 

Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube @ThePresentIllness

Credits

• Production by Arghavan Salles & Alyssa Burgart
• Editing by Alyssa Burgart
• Music by Joseph Uphoff
• Social Media by Arghavan Salles

Don’t take medical advice from random people on a podcast. This show is for informational purposes, is meant to be fun, and is certainly not medical advice. Please, take your medical questions to a qualified professional. Nothing we say represents our employers or anyone else. 

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 demonstrated changes in brain connectivity (based on EEGs), not amount of learning. 

Pope’s First Encyclical:

• Magnifica Humanitas text, promo video
• Arghavan’s Instagram post with excerpts from the encyclical
• UC Berkeley’s new AI policy

Ashley St. Clair:

• Ashley St. Clair’s Tik Tok page
• Ashley’s video about how MAGA campaigns work
• Ashley on I’ve Had It News talking about Stephen Miller
• Ashley’s video about meeting Elon
• Ashley’s video about Elon and the space lasers
• Ashley’s video about Elon after she got pregnant
• Alisa Valdes-Rodrigues’ dangerous Epstein reveal

💊Take Two and Call Me in the Morning💊

• Ronnie Chieng commencement speech
• New Yorker comics about RFK Jr and SSRIs

Text us!

Thanks for listening to The Present Illness! 

Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube @ThePresentIllness

Credits

• Production by Arghavan Salles & Alyssa Burgart
• Editing by Alyssa Burgart
• Music by Joseph Uphoff
• Social Media by Arghavan Salles

Don’t take medical advice from random people on a podcast. This show is for informational purposes, is meant to be fun, and is certainly not medical advice. Please, take your medical questions to a qualified professional. Nothing we say represents our employers or anyone else. 

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 student outrage—often resulting in terminal employment outcomes.

• Here’s more about Samantha Fulnecky and the story at the University of Oklahoma
• Here’s more about the instructor (Jessica Adams) who was removed from teaching her class at Indiana University
• Here’s more about the instructor (Melissa McCoul) who was fired at Texas A&M and the findings of the faculty committee that reviewed what happened
• Jennifer Freyd’s DARVO concept - Deny-Attack-Reverse Victim and Offender

💊Take Two and Call Me In The Morning 💊

• Here’s one of Haley Dortch’s videos. You’re welcome!
• Somebody, Somewhere on HBO
• How I escaped MAGA! Critical thinking woke me up.
• Nurse Johnn on being unprofessional
• Here’s Jeff Hiller’s book Actress of a Certain Age

Text us!

Thanks for listening to The Present Illness! 

Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube @ThePresentIllness

Credits

• Production by Arghavan Salles & Alyssa Burgart
• Editing by Alyssa Burgart
• Music by Joseph Uphoff
• Social Media by Arghavan Salles

Don’t take medical advice from random people on a podcast. This show is for informational purposes, is meant to be fun, and is certainly not medical advice. Please, take your medical questions to a qualified professional. Nothing we say represents our employers or anyone else. 

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 neighbor”
• Satirical take on Laurelhurst
• Helicopter landing data
• Seattle Children’s Statement on Helipad Agreement

Shingles Vaccine and Dementia

• The three research articles mentioned: 
  • Nature
  • JAMA
  • Cell
• Herpes Zoster explainer video (Osmosis)

💊Take Two and Call Me in the Morning💊

• Rick Aschmann’s North American English Dialect Map
• Matt Forrest’s reel about the map
• Zay (linguist) on Tik Tok
• Pop v Soda Map
• History of regional words for carbonated beverages
• New York Turk visits Zaffron Bloom

Text us!

Thanks for listening to The Present Illness! 

Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube @ThePresentIllness

Credits

• Production by Arghavan Salles & Alyssa Burgart
• Editing by Alyssa Burgart
• Music by Joseph Uphoff
• Social Media by Arghavan Salles

Don’t take medical advice from random people on a podcast. This show is for informational purposes, is meant to be fun, and is certainly not medical advice. Please, take your medical questions to a qualified professional. Nothing we say represents our employers or anyone else. 

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 only simple majority to confirm judges - 2013 by Democrats and 2017 by Republicans.
• Personhood: The New Civil War Over Reproduction by Mary Ziegler
• Fetal personhood and access to contraception
• Louisiana law considers an embryo created during IVF to be a “juridical person.” This has been in place since 1986.
• More on Louisiana’s bills related to IVF
• Louisiana legislator’s attempt to protect IVF shelved
• Why Alabama’s bill was problematic
• Fact check: Louisiana law has considered an embryo to be a “juridical person” since 1986, restricting access to IVF in the state. Patients must ship their embryos out of state, yet this is not as restrictive as the law proposed in Alabama in 2024 that specifically referred to embryos as children.

Bedside Betrayal: Jeffrey Sloka Canadian physician

• Jeffrey Sloka was found not guilty
• Findings of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSO) re: Sloka summarized
• CPSO report

💊Take Two and Call Me in the Morning💊

• Sophia Wallace clitoris art
• Just Bee Hawai’i
• Golden Tempo wins Kentucky Derby
• Watch Cherie Devaux react to Golden Tempo’s win

Text us!

Thanks for listening to The Present Illness! 

Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube @ThePresentIllness

Credits

• Production by Arghavan Salles & Alyssa Burgart
• Editing by Alyssa Burgart
• Music by Joseph Uphoff
• Social Media by Arghavan Salles

Don’t take medical advice from random people on a podcast. This show is for informational purposes, is meant to be fun, and is certainly not medical advice. Please, take your medical questions to a qualified professional. Nothing we say represents our employers or anyone else. 

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
• Investigation into the hospital/interviews of Shaknovsky and staff
• Arghavan’s video going over the anatomy
• Arghavan’s video going over the operative report

Unscientific Conference Panel:

• PAS hosts anti-trans panel
• Protests
• Scientific take down of HHS report

💊Take Two and Call Me in the Morning💊

• Alyssa’s paper on conscientious objection
• Association for Surgical Education
• Dr. Gardner on the stage with her baby

Text us!

Thanks for listening to The Present Illness! 

Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube @ThePresentIllness

Credits

• Production by Arghavan Salles & Alyssa Burgart
• Editing by Alyssa Burgart
• Music by Joseph Uphoff
• Social Media by Arghavan Salles

Don’t take medical advice from random people on a podcast. This show is for informational purposes, is meant to be fun, and is certainly not medical advice. Please, take your medical questions to a qualified professional. Nothing we say represents our employers or anyone else. 

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 at least one such bathroom)
• Tawana Williams
• Refuge Restrooms
• InterAct’s guide to advocacy

Digital Sexual Violence

• CNN’s report on the “rape academy”
• Telegram channel
• Dominique Pelicot’s website relaunched
• Apple & Google help users find nudify apps.
• Collien Fernandes’s husband spread deepfakes of her
• The Tea App was removed after a data breach after being targeted by hackers.

💊Take Two and Call Me in the Morning💊

• Merlin the Pig
• Margot’s Got Money Troubles (Book & on AppleTV)

Text us!

Thanks for listening to The Present Illness! 

Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube @ThePresentIllness

Credits

• Production by Arghavan Salles & Alyssa Burgart
• Editing by Alyssa Burgart
• Music by Joseph Uphoff
• Social Media by Arghavan Salles

Don’t take medical advice from random people on a podcast. This show is for informational purposes, is meant to be fun, and is certainly not medical advice. Please, take your medical questions to a qualified professional. Nothing we say represents our employers or anyone else.