Medical science has a long and storied history of trying out cures and procedures that later strike us as wacky. And they're still at it today! Learn about bizarre treatments, from opium for children to tobacco smoke enemas in this episode.
AI Summary
# Stuff You Should Know: Bizarre Medical Treatments
This episode takes you on a wild ride through some of the strangest medical treatments doctors once considered totally legit—from tobacco enemas used to revive drowning victims to radioactive products you could buy at Sears. Josh and Chuck explore bizarre practices like mercury poisoning (yes, to treat syphilis), the "whirling chair" for mental illness that literally spun people unconscious, leeches that are actually still FDA-approved today, and some seriously questionable remedies involving cocaine, opium, and even human remains. You'll learn that some of these treatments actually worked, while others were just spectacularly wrong, making this a fascinating and often hilarious journey through medical history gone sideways.
Dead Calm
1989
1h 36m
★ 6.6
"Did you ever see that movie? Yeah, out on the water with the boat? — Chuck references the film while discussing botulism as a plot element involving people dying on a boat."
— Chuck
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Jeff Brazier: Me and My Brother
2010
"Justin does the My Brother and My Brother and Me podcast with his brothers. — Josh mentions the McElroy brothers' comedy podcast in relation to their Sawbones spinoff."
— Josh
"Nancy Rodriguez from Netflix's Love is Blind Season 3. — Nancy Rodriguez from Love Is Blind Season 3 is mentioned in a promotional advertisement at the end."
Project Hail Mary
2026
2h 37m
★ 8.3
"It was on episode of Friends For God's sake. I know. You know? And they propagated the lie. — Chuck criticizes Friends for perpetuating the myth that urine helps jellyfish stings."
— Chuck
Saturday Night Live
1975
★ 7.0
"You sound like Shwetty Balls, Alan Baldwin's Shwetty Balls skit from Saturday Night Live. — Chuck compares Jerry's voice to a classic SNL sketch character."
— Chuck
The Housemaid's Secret
2027
"We talked about the movie Pie. Yeah. Where spoiler alert... That's how it ends. — Josh references the film Pi in connection with trepanation, which is depicted in the movie's ending."
— Josh
"I know we've talked about the Soderbergh's TV show of the Nick. The Nick. — Chuck references a TV show with a doctor using cocaine, likely referring to The Sopranos."
— Chuck
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