medical research

26 Jun / 2018

For a Healthy Glow: Episodes from the Crypt

While working on our upcoming “Forbidden Places” episode, Eric and Jordan discovered that one of our intended subjects no longer qualifies as an area off-limits to the public! So, while they scour the planet for other inaccessible locations we thought we’d raise one of our Season 1 episodes (now with a new intro) from the Horrific History Podcast Crypt for your squeamish delight!

 

For a Healthy Glow: Radiation Poisoning (Episodes from the Crypt)

A finger, hand, limb or life…. What would you give up for the advancement of science? Would you give up as much as the Radium Martyrs of All Nations?

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12 Sep / 2017

Not Your Garden Variety Episode: Toxic Plants

Not Your Garden Variety Episode: Toxic Plants

Can you identify all the plants in your yard or garden pots? After hearing this episode, you may never look at them (or honey products) the same way again! Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender, your Horrific History co-hosts, explore some pretty (and highly toxic)  plants from across the globe. From nightshade to wolfsbane, and rhododendron to barbasco, this episode will have you questioning the biological warfare applications of your garden plants… just remember to watch how much you use!

 

Discover which invading armies might have thought of new territory as the “Lands of Tainted Honey.” While Xenophon weighs in with his thoughts on the matter, discover the awful side effects of the wholly natural (but toxic to mammals) “mad honey” which had a history of being used as a tool of violent conflicts long before Draco Malfoy thought to lace a mead with poison.

 

The “queen of poisons,” derived from […]

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2 May / 2017

Mercury in uncomfortable places

It should come as no surprise to listeners of One Night With Venus Part 1 and Part 2 that a syringe full of mercury injected into a vagina was considered top-of-the-line medical treatment in the 16th Century. How often do you get to own such an, um, penetrating insight into the subject? Remember: No squeam allowed!

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28 Mar / 2017

For a Healthy Glow: Radiation Poisoning

For a Healthy Glow

A finger, hand, limb or life…. What would you give up for the advancement of science? Would you give up as much as the Radium Martyrs of All Nations?

 

Horrific History Podcast’s co-hosts, Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender discuss radiation poisoning in history, beginning with late Renaissance alchemy research in 1603 and continuing on to address more modern history including the Manhattan Project, Kyshtym Disaster, Chernobyl, and touching on current-day Fukushima.

 

From capturing the “golden light of the sun” to “seeing one’s death” through x-ray experimentation, this episode discusses all the horrifying things that came with the development of radiation research including blindness, loss of appendages, and even slow painful demises! You’ll hear about radium condoms, miracle “cures” and other products like “liquid sunshine,” as well as the legal case of the “Radium Girls” who had been so exposed to radium over the course of their factory work that parts of them […]

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28 Feb / 2017

One Night with Venus, Pt. 2

One Night with Venus, Part 2

We’re now on Part 2 of our Valentine’s Day debut with our co-hosts, Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender, continuing their discussion on period accounts in western culture of the historical description of symptoms and gruesome historical treatments of gonorrhea and syphilis (and modern media representations of them)! This episode primarily covers accounts from the Renaissance to more modern history including receiving purple flowers, masks and prosthetic noses, animal gut condoms, and historical poultices for testicular swelling. And if that’s not gross enough for you, we’re also covering urethral lavage, gonorrheal aprons, pustules, rotting brains and mobsters! […]

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