Sawbones: The Chicago River Reversal
This week on Sawbones, the incredible true story of how Chicago changed the direction of a river to battle typhoid and cholera. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Dec 28, 2019•35 min•Ep. 304
Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine
Join Dr. Sydnee McElroy and her husband Justin McElroy for a tour of all the dumb, bad, gross, weird and wrong ways we've tried to fix people.
Episodes
A Medicine Called Christmas 2: A Royal Pain
Just in time for Christmas, we've got another extremely special holiday film created by Justin and Sydnee McElroy. Gather the family and prepare for A Medicine Called Christmas 2: A Royal Pain. NARRATOR: Rachel McElroy PHIL: Griffin McElroy TAB: Sydnee McElroy JESUS: Dwight Slappe SORIANO: Travis McElroy CHRIS: Justin McElroy WAITER: Michael Meadows MR. BIG CITY: Tommy Smirl BETH: Teylor Smirl MANDY: Rileigh Smirl QUEEN: Mary Smirl SANTA: Clint McElroy...
Dec 22, 2019•39 min•Ep. 303
Sawbones: Elderberry and Other Things That Don't Prevent the Flu
You may have seen a Facebook meme claiming that a combination of elderberry and Oscillococcinum can prevent the flu. The truth of the matter may surprise you! (unless you've ever in your life ever listened to even a single episode of our show) Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Dec 13, 2019•43 min•Ep. 302
Sawbones: Taint Tanning and Heliotherapy
Listen, we're not gonna sit here all fancy and act like we didn't just record an entire episode about people sunning their buttholes. That's what happened, nothing can change that. If you don't listen, it was for nothing. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Dec 06, 2019•41 min•Ep. 301
Sawbones: Yes Virginia, There Are More Medical Questions
We're marking our 300th episode (OK, it's our 301st) by answering all of your pressing medical questions. Can you really poke your brain through your nose? Where do boob crumbs come from? Listen for that and so much more! Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Dec 01, 2019•41 min•Ep. 300
Sawbones: The Man Behind the Knick
This week on the 300th (!) episode of Sawbones, meet William Halstead, the father of American surgery, the man who inspired Cinemax's The Knick and ... a great advocate for cocaine. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Nov 25, 2019•33 min•Ep. 299
Sawbones: Food Sensitivity Testing
The market is flooded with at-home tests that let you "take medical care into your own hands" but is that something you even want in your hands? Are they reliable? Also, is Justin really going to give up cereal? Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Nov 15, 2019•45 min•Ep. 298
Sawbones: Auto-Brewery Syndrome
On Sawbones, we take pride in our ability to detangle medical myth from fact and give you the truth about the human body. This week on Sawbones ... things aren't so clear. You may need a stiff drink for this one ... unless your body is making them already? Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Nov 03, 2019•43 min•Ep. 297
Sawbones: Cough Drops
William Goldman wrote in The Princess Bride "True love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops." This week on Sawbones, we ruin them. We're really sorry, Bill. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Oct 25, 2019•40 min•Ep. 296
Sawbones: Ben Franklin
Ben Franklin may not have have been a doctor, but he still had a massive impact on the medical field in his time. What were his contributions? And was he ever actually president? You'll have to listen to find out! Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Oct 21, 2019•33 min•Ep. 295
Sawbones: The Hippocratic Oath
We've all heard about the oath new doctors have to take before they get their first scalpel and weird head mirror thing. But has it always been the same? Did Hippocrates really make it up? Is "First, do no harm" part of it? We'll answer all that and more on this week's Sawbones. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Oct 11, 2019•40 min•Ep. 294
Sawbones: National Hotel Disease
This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin check in with National Hotel Disease, the diarrhea so bad it almost brought down a U.S. presidency. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Oct 04, 2019•39 min•Ep. 293
Sawbones: Essential Oils
This week on Sawbones, we talk about the many, many things essential oils can't do for you and the dueling Utah-based companies that insist we're wrong. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Sep 27, 2019•36 min•Ep. 292
Sawbones: Garlic
For thousands of years, throughout an unprecedented number of cultures, garlic has been touted for its ability to improve our health. How? Well, by warding off vampires, silly. ... OK, there's some other stuff too. You should probably just listen. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Sep 20, 2019•43 min•Ep. 291
Sawbones: Vaping
On Sawbones, we like to take a lot of hard lines and make grand proclamations: Vaccines good, viruses bad, that sort of thing. But when it comes to vaping, things get a little ... cloudier? Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Sep 13, 2019•53 min•Ep. 290
Sawbones: Hydrotherapy
Water: There's plenty of it, it's not obviously poisonous and it's cheap as all get out. Maybe THAT'S the answer to all our species' medical woes? ... It's not, but if you've ever listened to Sawbones before you see where this episode (recorded live in beautiful Atlanta) is going. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Sep 09, 2019•42 min•Ep. 289
Sawbones: The HPV Vaccine
A vaccine that can practically eliminate a type of human cancer should be cause for celebration across our species. Would it surprise it to learn that some people don't trust it? ... Probably not at this point, huh? This week on Sawbones: The HPV vaccine. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Aug 30, 2019•40 min•Ep. 288
Sawbones: Sneezing
Welcome to all the owners of human bodies! You're gonna love these things, they can run, jump ... and every once in a while they uncontrollably blast snot out of your face at 100 MPH. This week on Sawbones: Sneezing. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Aug 26, 2019•38 min•Ep. 287
Sawbones: Fever
Any species could have created a bunch of bogus ways to treat fevers. But only humans could use fevers as a bogus treatment for other stuff and then end up being sort of right about it. This week on Sawbones, we're burning down the house. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Aug 18, 2019•47 min•Ep. 286
Sawbones: Eli Lilly's Secret Pot Farm
One of the nation's leading pharmaceutical companies once maintained one of the biggest marijuana farms in the country. This week on Sawbones, how Eli Lilly lost its taste for pot, and why it refuses to acknowledge its past. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Aug 04, 2019•31 min•Ep. 285
Sawbones: Yes, More Medical Questions Answered!
Does medicated chap stick doing anything? What are doctors hiding? Why can't you keep your bones? This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin bring you answers to these questions and many more on a new Q&A episode! Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Jul 26, 2019•41 min•Ep. 284
Sawbones: The Chattanooga Medicine Company
This week on Sawbones, live from the historic Ryman Auditorium, hear the patent medicine company so insidious they made Dolly Parton sing about laxatives on one of the biggest stages in country music. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Jul 19, 2019•33 min•Ep. 283
Sawbones: Medical Reversals
You're well acquainted with all of humanity's history of medical mistakes, but even modern medicine changes it's mind from time to time. This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin explain what a medical reversal looks like! Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Jul 12, 2019•41 min•Ep. 282
Sawbones: Wine
We all know that consuming wine has no downsides whatsoever, but did you know it also has some amazing health benefits as well?! It's true! (Depending on your definition of "benefits" ... and "health" and ... OK, and "amazing" too. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Jun 30, 2019•36 min•Ep. 281
Sawbones: Medicine in Japanese American Concentration Camps
This week on Sawbones, we revisit a dismal period in American history that our government seems determined to repeat. Also you'll meet the heroic Japanese American doctors, nurses, dentists and other medical professionals that fought to save lives despite the fact that they themselves were prisoners. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Jun 21, 2019•47 min•Ep. 280
Sawbones: Trichinosis
We all know it's probably smart not to eat raw pork, but this week on Sawbones, we'll meet the inspiring people brave enough to ask "Why?" (Note: We're publishing this week's episode a little early because we're headed out on tour!) Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Jun 13, 2019•33 min•Ep. 279
Sawbones: Adenoviruses
This is the story of the military-funded vaccine that was, wasn't and then ($100 million later) was again. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
Jun 07, 2019•41 min•Ep. 278
Sawbones: Paternity Testing
Though we have it down to a (literal) science at this point, the history of determining parentage is chock-full of fake medicine. Two words: Impotence court. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
May 31, 2019•40 min•Ep. 277
Sawbones: The World of Warcraft Plague
This week on Sawbones: A real-world miracle. Justin gets to talk about video games as Dr. Sydnee explores a in-game plague that brought World of Warcraft to its knees.
May 26, 2019•38 min•Ep. 276
Sawbones: The First Pharmacist
This week on Sawbones, we meet the first pharmacist in the U.S., visit the New Orleans museum that celebrates his legacy and hunt the ghosts that supposedly haunt it. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
May 18, 2019•33 min•Ep. 275
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