“It’s like these men are being held in a bubble as science marches forward.” Mike tells Sarah how one of history's most unethical experiments came crashing down. Digressions include the history of penicillin, the power of TV movies and the mysterious diagnosis of "Satan's crabs." This episode is happier than the last one, but still contains a lot of racist l ... Show More
Nov 11
The Dictionary Wars! with Gabe Henry
<p>Remember being a teen and coming up with “cool” ways of spelling common words? Well, just like the teenager it was, the United States in the 18th century was annoying their mom, England, with the hip words that were being edited and added to their lexicon. The antagonistic pai ... Show More
1h 12m
Oct 28
Introducing: The Devil You Know with Sarah Marshall
<p>Listen now to the first episode of Sarah's new 8-part series with CBC Podcasts, The Devil You Know.</p><p>In the 1980s and 90s, Satan and his followers were accused of brainwashing children, sacrificing babies, and infiltrating North American society on a massive scale — ... Show More
41m 10s
Aug 2022
The Deadly Puzzle of Yellow Fever
August 27, 1900. Dr. Jesse Lazear, a U.S. Army surgeon, walks into Las Animas Hospital Yellow Fever ward in Havana Cuba, toting a brood of mosquitos. He has the system down: remove the cotton stopper that keeps the mosquito penned in its glass vial, turn the vial over, and seal i ... Show More
33m 12s
Dec 2023
AIDS Epidemic: Life & Death On The Frontline
<p>How do we understand something as huge as a global epidemic?</p><br><p>Similarly to Covid, the AIDS epidemic, which was most destructive in the 1980s and 90s, had such universal reach. Yet within that, there were millions of personal experiences.</p><br><p>What was it like to ... Show More
59m 33s
Nov 2023
The Infected Blood Scandal
In the 1970s and '80s, thousands of haemophiliacs in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through blood products known to be contaminated. In a recent piece, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithewaite outlines the magnitude of the scandal, exacerbated by carelessness, corporate gre ... Show More
51m 54s
Jun 2019
Tuskegee Syphilis Study - First, Do No Harm | 1
<p>In early 1930s America, segregation is the law of the land, and syphilis remains a grave public health concern. A handful of white government doctors aims to treat African Americans in a rural Alabama county where infection rates are especially high. But several officials cons ... Show More
38m 53s