In the mid-1870s, the experimental therapy of lamb blood transfusion spread like an epidemic across Europe and the USA. Doctors tried it as a cure for tuberculosis, pellagra and anemia; proposed it as a means to reanimate seemingly dead soldiers on the battlefield. It was a contested therapy because it meant crossing boundaries and challenging taboos. Was th ... Show More
Yesterday
Andrew H. Jaffe, "The Random Universe: How Models and Probability Help Us Make Sense of the Cosmos" (Yale UP, 2025)
An award-winning astrophysicist looks at how the understanding of uncertainty and randomness has led to breakthroughs in our knowledge of the cosmos
All of us understand the world around us by constructing models, comparing them to observations, and drawing conclusions. Scientis ... Show More
1h 29m
Nov 19
Carl Benedikt Frey, "How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations" (Princeton UP, 2025)
In How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations (Princeton University Press, 2025), Carl Benedikt Frey challenges the conventional belief that economic and technological progress is inevitable. For most of human history, stagnation was the norm, and even tod ... Show More
54m 29s
Nov 13
Craig Hogan, "The Unlikely Primeval Sky" (American Scientist, November-December)
Of all the patterns that could possibly be preserved in the post–Big Bang radiation, the one we see is surprisingly smooth on large angular scales. Sitting by a campfire on a dark night, looking up at the Milky Way, a curious child asks, “What does the sky tell us? Where does it ... Show More
30m 27s
Apr 2024
Rupa Marya and Raj Patel, "Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice" (FSG, 2021)
Raj Patel, the renowned political economist and New York Times bestselling author of The Value of Nothing, teams up with the physician Rupa Marya to offer a radical new cure: the deep medicine of decolonization. Decolonizing heals what has been divided, reestablishing our relatio ... Show More
1h 3m
Aug 2022
Episode 251: WDx #18 – Setbacks in Medicine: “I thought I was alone”
In this episode, Dr. Ashley McMullen, Dr. Simone Vais, and Jane Lock share stories of setbacks in medicine related to the theme, “I thought I was alone.” Session moderated by Madellena Conte. Interested in sharing a story during a future Setbacks in Medicine discussion? Fill out ... Show More
46m 34s
Mar 2023
Sanadores, parteras, curanderos y médicas. Las artes de curar en la Argentina moderna (2022)
La pregunta sobre nuestras formas de curación, tratamientos médicos, solución de enfermedades, itinerarios terapéuticos, sistemas de salud, políticas de salud pública, y todo lo que rodea a nuestra salud y medicina, es una pregunta amplia que tiene múltiples formas de responder y ... Show More
47m 48s
Feb 2021
Episode 158: WDx #7 – Clinical Unknown with Dr. Jori May – Vaginal Bleeding
Maani, Priyanka, and Lindsey discuss a clinical unknown with Dr. Jori May. Want to test your learning? Take our episode quiz here Dr. Jori May Jori May, MD, is Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). ... Show More
51m 16s