Should your doctor prescribe a placebo for you, instead of conventional medicine? And if she did, would it work? Is the double-blind placebo-controlled paradigm really the gold standard for medical research?
Placebos are the most widely used treatments in the history of medicine. Thousands of studies show that they can be effective and make us happier and he ... Show More
Yesterday
Heather Davis, "Plastic Matter" (Duke UP, 2022)
Plastic is ubiquitous. It is in the Arctic, in the depths of the Mariana Trench, and in the high mountaintops of the Pyrenees. It is in the air we breathe and the water we drink. Nanoplastics penetrate our cell walls. Plastic is not just any material—it is emblematic of life in t ... Show More
1h 1m
Yesterday
Tom White, "Bad Dust: A History of the Asbestos Disaster" (Repeater, 2025)
Once used extensively in schools, hospitals, and housing, asbestos has taken the lives of millions. Bad Dust: A History of the Asbestos Disaster (Repeater, 2025) by Tom White traces the international history of the asbestos disaster — from mining operations in apartheid South Afr ... Show More
39m 40s
Nov 22
Oana Godeanu-Kenworthy, "Videotape" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Over the span of a single decade, VHS technology changed the relationship between privacy and entertainment, pried open the closed societies behind the Iron Curtain, and then sank back into oblivion. Its meteoric rise and fall encapsulated the dynamics of the '80s and foreshadowe ... Show More
44m 53s
Apr 2020
Will a placebo boost my sports performance?
<p>In medicine, it’s long been recognised that a placebo, a sham medicine or treatment, can have a powerful positive effect on a patient’s health. Part of that effect relies on a person’s belief that an inactive substance or treatment (for example, a sugar pill) is in fact an act ... Show More
26m 27s
Jan 2024
TMHS 757 - The Truth About The Placebo Effect
Each year, trillions of dollars are poured into the American healthcare system, yet the rates of chronic illnesses and diseases continue to climb. If we want better health outcomes, we’ve got to stop handing over our power to prescription pads and diagnoses, and instead harness a ... Show More
1h 18m
Apr 2020
Covid 19 – The fightback in Africa begins
Nigeria has seen a small number of Covid -19 cases, largely spread amongst the most affluent, people who travel abroad, However there is concern about the potential of the virus to spread to overcrowded slum areas. In such conditions social distancing measures would be difficult ... Show More
58m 21s
Jan 2024
TMHS 758 - The Root Cause of ALL Diseases - With Dr. Darshan Shah
The United States spends trillions of dollars on healthcare every year, yet our citizens are sicker than ever. With absurdly high rates of all manner of diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders, it’s clear something is amiss in our approach to ... Show More
1h 10m
May 2022
How Your Expectations Can Change Your Life
<p>During World War II, Henry Beecher, an anesthesiologist serving in the U.S. Army, noticed that 32% of the soldiers he treated for horrific battle wounds felt no pain. A further 44% experienced only slight or mild discomfort, despite the fact they had shrapnel embedded in their ... Show More
50m 26s