Toxic History!

By Adam Blumenberg MD

Toxic History! is a narrative medicine lecture series where medical experts tell you stories from the history of poison. Human beings have known about poison – substances that harm and even kill– for ... more

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FAQs about Toxic History!:

How many episodes does Toxic History! have?

The podcast currently has 55 episodes available.

Toxic History! episodes:

February 14, 2024 Beyond Bicycle Day: The Story of Albert Hofmann and the Discovery of LSD
This talk will describe the early career of Albert Hofmann, his accidental discovery of the hallucinogenic properties of LSD-25, his legendary bicycle ride home from work during an LSD trip, and the legacy of his discovery.
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19min
January 16, 2024 Did psychedelics fuel the space race? Counter culture, the occult, and mind-altering before LSD
The discovery of LSD and the subsequent psychedelic renaissance of the mid-20th century hold ample space in history books, but Albert Hofmann didn’t discover the first mind-altering chemical. At the turn of the 20th century, natural psychedelics’ ancient power crossed continents to shape both cultural and technological development.
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15min
December 22, 2023 The Elixir of Death
Want to know what toxic medicine has killed thousands of people? Why outbreaks keep happening? And how it started the modern FDA? Listen Dr. Prosser's Toxic History episode to find out!
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19min
November 03, 2023 Radithor Radioactive Water
In the 1920s and 1930s, radium was an exciting new material. It was used to illuminate watch dials in the dark, treat tumors, and also as a primary ingredient in quack medical remedies. This is the story of Radithor, a fake medicine containing radium.
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48min
October 19, 2023 The Salem Witch Trials and the Ergot Hypothesis
The Salem witch trials of the early 1690s were the most notorious and lethal witch hunt in American history. At the heart of the trials, the Village of Salem was a town at its boiling point, but the complex political and social factors at play still seem insufficient to explain the happenings that ultimately transpired. Could it be that the affliction at the heart of Salem, the proximate cause of all the death and despair, was caused by a fungus?
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20min
September 22, 2023 Bringing Deadly Sleepe: A Review of Selected Pre-1900s Toxicology Literature
Toxicology is full of treatments which are poorly supported by literature. Many of those treatments originated over 100 years ago. If you think data are bad now, we invite you to see what treatments were like in the past – drawn from the pages of multiple historical toxicology textbooks.
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24min
September 22, 2023 Dioxin and the Poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko
Dioxins are a category of persistent organic pollutant (POP), with a long history of human exposure and serious adverse health and environmental effects. Where did this forever chemical come from, and how did it end up in the dinner of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in 2004? Join us as we discuss the long-lasting legacy of this class of compounds that was banned in 2001, but remains forever in our hearts (and lipid tissues, and ecosystem).
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19min
July 21, 2023 Twisted Sister, a Widow's Intrigue
Springtime at the turn of the 20th century promised rebirth, hope, and prosperity in America. But in northern Michigan, a twisted nightmare was consuming an idyllic community. An infant was found deceased in a crib, the mother succumbing within the next hour, and the father only days later. Some feared a curse, others speculated a contagion. An intrepid duo of sheriff and attorney left no stone unturned, with suspicions centering around a widow in a black dress.
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17min
June 23, 2023 The Birds and The Brains: Domoic Acid Poisoning
Join Dr. Marlis Gnirke on a “trip” to 1960s California discussing a different kind of acid, one at the intersection of human toxicology, veterinary toxicology, and classic cinema.
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18min
May 12, 2023 Counting Sheep in Skull Valley
Dr. Sukhi Atti discusses the history of the release of nerve agent VX in Skull Valley, Utah.
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19min

FAQs about Toxic History!:

How many episodes does Toxic History! have?

The podcast currently has 55 episodes available.