Throughout history, women have sought to control their fertility with substances that “regulate” menstruation, terminate pregnancies, or induce labor. Teas, concoctions, and medicinal compounds containing pennyroyal, rue, artemsia, ergot, cohosh, quinine, and lead have caused significant toxicity and death when taken as abortifacients. In this talk we will explore the history of abortifacients from antiquity…
Episode 30: I’ve Been to Dwight
This is the story of Dr. Leslie Keeley and his gold cure elixir. His Keeley Institute in a small midwestern town was perhaps the most widely recognized alcohol treatment program in the United States in the 1890s. Although his elixir may have been no more than snake oil his treatment program foreshadowed treatment as we…
Episode 29: Laboratory X
State-sponsored poisoning and assassination is deeply ingrained in Russian politics. You’ve heard of Alexander Litvinenko, but where was the poison and delivery plan developed? And who were the other victims of Moscow’s poison laboratory?
Episode 28: A Stable Head with a Broken Heart
Drinkers asked for a bigger and more stable head and the brewers came up with a novel solution. The heaviest drinkers that couldn’t even afford a cup to pour their beer into and see a head started to mysteriously die of heart failure. An investigation begins!
Episode 27: The Thalidomide Tragedy and a Path to Safer Drugs
As one of the largest man made disasters in public health history, the discovery and realization of the disastrous effects of thalidomide in pregnant patients has paved a way to safe medication discovery and utilization. From this tragedy in modern medicine led new regulatory pathways, transparency in drug development, and expanded procedures to ensure therapeutic…
Episode 26: Botulinum Antitoxin
Our long history of attempting to find a treatment for botulism is a winding road of discovery, setbacks, and the constant challenge of balancing risk and benefit. Through major outbreaks that seized the nation’s attention and the disruption of major wars, however, the spirit of science and humanity prevailed, bringing us a therapy to help…
Episode 25: Beyond Bicycle Day: The Story of Albert Hofmann and the Discovery of LSDEpisode 25:
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.
Episode 24: 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.
Episode 23: 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! Dr. Jane Prosser is the host of the Pick Your Poison podcast, an amazing series on the diagnosis and medical management of poisonings.
Episode 22: 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.