Log in

goodpods headphones icon

To access all our features

Open the Goodpods app
Close icon
headphones
This Podcast Will Kill You

This Podcast Will Kill You

Exactly Right Media – the original true crime comedy network

Star filled black icon

4.9

(29)

This podcast might not actually kill you, but Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke cover so many things that can. In each episode, they tackle a different topic, teaching listeners about the biology, history, and epidemiology of a different disease or medical mystery. They do the scientific research, so you don’t have to. Since 2017, Erin and Erin have explored chronic and infectious diseases, medications, poisons, viruses, bacteria and scientific discoveries. They’ve researched public health subjects including plague, Zika, COVID-19, lupus, asbestos, endometriosis and more. Each episode is accompanied by a creative quarantini cocktail recipe and a non-alcoholic placeborita. Erin Welsh, Ph.D. is a co-host of the This Podcast Will Kill You. She is a disease ecologist and epidemiologist and works full-time as a science communicator through her work on the podcast. Erin Allmann Updyke, MD, Ph.D. is a co-host of This Podcast Will Kill You. She’s an epidemiologist and disease ecologist currently in the final stretch of her family medicine residency program. This Podcast Will Kill You is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including science, true crime, comedic interviews, news, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, Buried Bones, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast and more.
profile image
profile image

17 Listeners

Star filled black icon

4.9

(29)

bookmark
Share icon

All episodes

Best episodes

Seasons

Top 10 This Podcast Will Kill You Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best This Podcast Will Kill You episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to This Podcast Will Kill You for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite This Podcast Will Kill You episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

This Podcast Will Kill You - Ep 99 Salmonella: A hard egg to crack

Ep 99 Salmonella: A hard egg to crack

This Podcast Will Kill You

play

06/21/22 • 103 min

We’ve all been there: doubled over in pain as stomach cramps grip your guts; the panicked shuffle to the nearest bathroom; the waves of nausea and chills as you cry out loud, “oh no, what did I eat??”. At the very least, food poisoning is a humbling experience, but at the worst, it can be absolutely deadly. In this episode, we take a deep dive into one group of pathogens commonly responsible for outbreaks of food-borne illness, the infamous Salmonella. We start first with an exploration into how and why these bacteria make you sick before turning towards the history of these pathogens, a history which includes a brief jaunt through a bizarre story involving a cult, bioterrorism, and a small Oregon town. Finally, we wrap up the episode with a look at Salmonella by the numbers today. You’ll leave this episode brimming with Salmonella knowledge, thinking twice about how well you cook your chicken or wash your veggies, and contemplating how fast you can get your hands on a food thermometer. Trust us - you’re not gonna want to miss this one!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

profile image
profile image

3 Listeners

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
This Podcast Will Kill You - Ep 85 Alcohol: Beer for Thought

Ep 85 Alcohol: Beer for Thought

This Podcast Will Kill You

play

11/02/21 • 115 min

To say that alcohol is a part of human culture is a bit of an understatement. The relationship our species has with alcohol can be traced so far back that we see evidence of it in our DNA, in the way that humans, somewhat unique among mammals, gained the ability to more efficiently metabolize dietary ethanol. But while many of us have personal experience with the effects (and unpleasant aftereffects) that alcohol has on our body, how much do we know about why it makes us feel the way it does? What is alcohol doing to our bodies, to our brains? In this episode, we take a long look at this compound, from the varied effects it has on our bodies to the long history it shares with humans. Tune in to our Season 4 finale to hear why hangovers exist, how fermenting fruits on the forest floor led us to intentional production, and the truth behind all of those headlines advocating for a glass of red wine a day to keep the doctor away.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

profile image
profile image

3 Listeners

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
This Podcast Will Kill You - Ep 63 Poison Ivy: It's Just Us

Ep 63 Poison Ivy: It's Just Us

This Podcast Will Kill You

play

12/29/20 • 88 min

Our first crossover episode this season with Dr. Matt Candeias of In Defense of Plants stars everyone’s favorite irritating plant-originated substance: urushiol! Join us for a light-hearted deep dive into urushiol, aka the stuff in poison ivy that makes you soooo itchy/burny/scratchy. Have you ever wondered why popping a benadryl doesn’t relieve those oozing, raised welts all over your gardening arms? Or whether a poison ivy rash has ever been used as evidence in a murder case? Or why poison ivy and other plants produce this substance in the first place? Don’t worry, just like a poison ivy rash after a summer gardening sesh, we’ve got you covered.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

profile image

2 Listeners

comment icon

1 Comment

1

bookmark
plus icon
share episode

Does it seem like the supplement section of your grocery store gets bigger every time you go in? Or that all television commercials these days seem to be advertising dietary supplements that promise to improve your concentration, help you lose weight, make you happier, healthier, smarter, stronger, cooler, poop better or some mix of those? You’re not imagining things. The explosion of the US dietary supplement industry over the past few years is very real, and when you’re inundated with ads for supplements everywhere you turn, it can be very difficult to navigate whether these things actually do what they say and how much they’re allowed to say without actually doing anything. That’s where this episode comes in. We take you through what supplements actually are, how their regulation in the US has changed over the past century, what dietary supplements can and cannot claim on their label, and how the supplement market has fared since the Covid pandemic (spoilers: it’s thriving).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

profile image

2 Listeners

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
This Podcast Will Kill You - Ep 1 Influenza Will Kill You

Ep 1 Influenza Will Kill You

This Podcast Will Kill You

play

10/31/17 • 62 min

In Episode 1 we're talking all things flu, just in time for the start of flu season! We'll dive into the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed literally millions of people, then talk about the state of influenza in the world today, and tell you everything you need to know about how the flu virus works.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

profile image

2 Listeners

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
This Podcast Will Kill You - Ep 57 Herpes: Stop the STIgma

Ep 57 Herpes: Stop the STIgma

This Podcast Will Kill You

play

09/01/20 • 91 min

The harm caused by herpes simplex viruses (HSV) 1 & 2 often arises not from the pathology of the viruses themselves but rather from the stigma and shame associated with a positive diagnosis. In this episode, we attempt to lay a clear foundation for understanding not only how these viruses work but also what occurred to change the perception of them from “innocuous infection” to “dreaded disease”. Starting us off with his firsthand account is the incredible Courtney Brame, founder and host of Something Positive for Positive People, a non-profit organization and podcast that aims to provide community support, healing resources, and educational discussions around positive HSV and other STI diagnoses as well as larger issues in sexuality and physical and mental health. We then dive into the meat of the episode, tackling such questions as “how do these viruses hide out in your body?”, “what kind of treatment is available?”, “where did these viruses even come from?” and “why is there such a huge amount of stigma and what can we do about it?”. To help us address this last question is our other fantastic guest, Dr. Ina Park, Associate Professor, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and Medical Consultant, Division of STD Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We chat with Dr. Park about her new book, Strange Bedfellows, when to have “the talk” with your kids, and how we as individuals can break down some of the shame surrounding a positive STI diagnosis.

To learn more about Something Positive for Positive People, head to the website spfpp.org or check out the SPFPP podcast wherever you get your podcasts! You can also follow Courtney on Instagram: @honmychest.

And don’t forget to pre-order Dr. Ina Park’s upcoming book Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs, expected February 2021. You can find out more about Dr. Park and her work on her website or by following her on Twitter: @InaParkMD or Facebook: Ina Park.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Listeners

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
This Podcast Will Kill You - Ep 88 Endometriosis: Menstrual Backwash

Ep 88 Endometriosis: Menstrual Backwash

This Podcast Will Kill You

play

01/11/22 • 136 min

Chances are you know someone with endometriosis, or perhaps you’re affected yourself. But despite its incredibly high prevalence, endo remains almost criminally understudied, undertreated, and underacknowledged. In this episode, we aim to shed light on many aspects of endometriosis, first by examining the “what” and “how” of this disease: what’s actually going on inside your body with endometriosis and how does it cause the symptoms that it does? Then we turn our sights to the why, exploring not only the possible evolutionary origins of this disease but also the deep historical roots contributing to the struggle many people still face today in obtaining a diagnosis. We discuss how although hysteria is no longer a valid medical diagnosis, it has left its mark on medicine in the form of implicit bias that leaves many people feeling unlistened to and unbelieved. We then wrap up the episode with a look at endometriosis by the numbers and some current research that leaves us feeling slightly more hopeful about the growing awareness of this disease and the need for effective treatments.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

profile image

2 Listeners

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
This Podcast Will Kill You - Ep 87 C. diff: Fighting poop with poop

Ep 87 C. diff: Fighting poop with poop

This Podcast Will Kill You

play

12/28/21 • 117 min

In this week’s episode, we cover a bacterium whose recent emergence and rapid spread has been largely an epidemic of our own making. Clostridium difficile isn’t your typical pathogen - in many cases it’s not even considered a pathogen, just a normal member of our gut microbiota. But when something disrupts our gut microbiota, like antibiotics, C. difficile is given the freedom to spread its wings, wreaking deadly havoc on our bodies especially when it refuses to leave. We explore the characteristics of this bacterium that make it such a terrifying public health threat, delve into its recent-but-not-as-recent-as-you-might-think history, and chat about the current status of C. diff before asking the question, “what can poo do for you?” That’s right, we’re taking this opportunity to talk about one of our all-time favorite medical interventions, fecal microbiota transplantation. Helping us navigate the ins and outs of fecal transplants is Dr. Majdi Osman, Chief Medical Officer at OpenBiome, a nonprofit stool bank that aims to expand access to safe fecal microbiota transplantation and fund research into the human microbiome. By the end of this episode, we think you’ll find yourself in awe at the healing powers of poop.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

profile image
profile image

2 Listeners

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
This Podcast Will Kill You - Ep 97 Snake Venom: Collateral Damage

Ep 97 Snake Venom: Collateral Damage

This Podcast Will Kill You

play

05/24/22 • 96 min

How do you feel about snakes? Intrigued or terrified? In awe or creeped out? Of course, those aren’t the only options; the sight or thought of a snake can evoke many different emotions, but chances are indifference isn’t one of them. And is it any wonder? Some snakes can produce incredibly potent venoms that can seriously harm or even kill you, a characteristic that likely helped earn them their prominent role in many cultures and religions as a creature or god to be respected, if not feared. In this episode, we take a closer look at the diverse compounds that make up these venoms by exploring how they impact our bodies in the myriad ways they do and the current tools we have to combat their effects. Then we turn to evolution, not of snakes themselves but rather the role snakes may have played in primate evolution (snake detection hypothesis, anyone?) before discussing the historical development of antivenoms. We round out the episode by reviewing the current status of snakebite as a neglected tropical disease and mentioning some very exciting therapies on the horizon. Don’t missssss out on this enlightening envenoming episode today!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

profile image
profile image

2 Listeners

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
This Podcast Will Kill You - Ep 2 Skin in the Game, Horse in the Race
play

11/07/17 • 60 min

This week we tackle leprosy. That biblical (or is it?) infection that, believe it or not, is still with us today. Leprosy has an ancient history that exemplifies some of the worst of human behavior, and its present day status may surprise you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

profile image

2 Listeners

bookmark
plus icon
share episode

Show more best episodes

Toggle view more icon

FAQ

How many episodes does This Podcast Will Kill You have?

This Podcast Will Kill You currently has 213 episodes available.

What topics does This Podcast Will Kill You cover?

The podcast is about Health & Fitness, Podcasts and Science.

What is the most popular episode on This Podcast Will Kill You?

The episode title 'Ep 99 Salmonella: A hard egg to crack' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on This Podcast Will Kill You?

The average episode length on This Podcast Will Kill You is 82 minutes.

How often are episodes of This Podcast Will Kill You released?

Episodes of This Podcast Will Kill You are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of This Podcast Will Kill You?

The first episode of This Podcast Will Kill You was released on Oct 23, 2017.

Show more FAQ

Toggle view more icon

Comments