John Brinkley: The Quackiest Quack in History?

# Episode Summary

This episode dives into the wild and outrageous true story of Dr. John Brinkley, one of history's most infamous quacks who made a fortune in the 1920s and 30s with his completely bogus "goat gland transplant" procedure, which he claimed would restore sexual vigor and cure everything from diabetes to schizophrenia. The story covers Brinkley's shady origins in Appalachian North Carolina, his rise from a traveling medicine show huckster to a wealthy media pioneer who leveraged early radio and film to build his empire, his brief and strange foray into politics, and his dramatic downfall when he was exposed in court as a bona fide charlatan. Along the way, you'll learn about the surprisingly murky history of transplanting animal parts into humans, Brinkley's violent and unethical behavior toward patients and colleagues, and how a determined editor at the American Medical Association ultimately brought him down.