History & Commentary

An oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem....

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is essential listening for understanding the history, philosophy, and evolution of science....

Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Thomas Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, and much more....

Acclaimed historian Mark Jackson takes a fresh global view of mankind’s great battle to stave off death and disease, exploring both Western and Eastern traditions....

An updated edition of the classic history of schizophrenia in America, which gives voice to generations of patients who suffered through "cures" that only deepened their suffering and impaired their hope of recovery Schizophrenics in the United States currently fare worse than patients in the...

Some of the cruelest deeds of Japan's war in Asia did not occur on the battlefield, but in quiet, antiseptic medical wards in obscure parts of China. Far from front lines and prying eyes, Japanese doctors and their assistants subjected human guinea pigs to gruesome medical experiments....

One of America's top doctors reveals how AI will empower physicians and revolutionize patient care....

The Autumn Ghost will leave listeners in awe of the courage of those who battled the polio epidemic, and grateful for the modern medical care they pioneered....

A fascinating look at a bizarre, forgotten epidemic from the national best-selling author of The American Plague....

A gifted healer’s powerful guidance on how therapy can help us revitalize our emotional landscape in an increasingly stressful world “A wise and compassionate book.” ―The Washington Post Mary Pipher's groundbreaking investigation of America's “girl-poisoning culture,” Reviving...

The highly anticipated inside look at the collapse of the Murdaugh dynasty by the celebrated investigative journalist and creator of the #1 hit Murdaugh Murders Podcast, Mandy Matney. Years before the name Alex Murdaugh was splashed across every major media outlet in America, local South...

The 1964 murder of a nationally known cancer researcher sets the stage for this gripping exposé of medical professionals enmeshed in covert government operations....

Weaving together information from official sources and personal interviews, Barbara Tomblin gives an account of the US Army Nurse Corps in the Second World War....

A fascinating account of the world’s most famous disease - polio - told as you have never heard it before. Epidemics of paralysis began to rage in the early 1900s, seemingly out of nowhere....

With honesty, humility, and a commitment to the health and well-being of all children, Between a Shot and a Hard Place challenges the polarizing rhetoric and offers a path forward—one that respects individual choices while fostering informed, thoughtful dialogue.

The remarkable stories of the world's most famous body parts. Louis XIV's rear end inspired the British National Anthem. Queen Victoria's armpit led the development of antiseptics. Robert Jenkin's ear started a war. All too often, historical figures feel distant and abstract; more myth and...

Medical Bondage moves between southern plantations and northern urban centers to reveal how 19th-century American ideas about race, health, and status influenced doctor-patient relationships in sites of healing like slave cabins, medical colleges, and hospitals....

Discover the remarkable birth of modern medicine.

When did we start trusting influencers over doctors? You used to see a doctor. Now you go online. Want to track your blood sugar? Your heart rate? Your sleep? You can. Need to focus? Want to lose weight fast? Everything is a click away. But who is regulating this?

Plagues upon the Earth tells the story of how pathogenic microbes have been an intimate part of human history from the beginning - and how our deadliest germs and biggest pandemics are the product of our success as a species....

Over the past 50 years, rates of autoimmunity and chronic disease have exploded. In this provocative book, Dr. Thomas Cowan argues for a direct causal relationship to a corresponding increase in the number of vaccines American children typically receive....

Today, astonishing surgical breakthroughs are making limb transplants, face transplants, and a host of other previously undreamed-of operations possible. But getting here has not been a simple story of medical progress....

With poignant insight and humor, Frank Vertosick, Jr., MD, describes some of the greatest challenges of his career, including a six-week-old infant with a tumor in her brain and more....

Secrets of Women’s Healthy Ageing draws on the findings of a unique clinical study that has focused on the health of more than four hundred women in their mid-to-late lives.

In The Black Death: New Lessons from Recent Research, celebrated medievalist Dorsey Armstrong shares the fascinating new story of this old pandemic....