This Podcast Will Kill You
@tpwky.bsky.social
Disease + podcast = so much good dinner party conversation. Hosted by @erinwelsh.bsky.social and Erin Allmann Updyke.
YouTube Premiere of Pregnancy Act One on March 11, 5pm PT:
https://youtu.be/Dx0ewmmMjnQ
YouTube Premiere of Pregnancy Act One on March 11, 5pm PT:
https://youtu.be/Dx0ewmmMjnQ
Necrotizing fasciitis earned its nickname “flesh eating bacteria” from how quickly it progresses from what looks like a skin irritation to a deadly infection. This week, we get up close and personal with necrotizing fasciitis and its causative agents.
November 11, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Necrotizing fasciitis earned its nickname “flesh eating bacteria” from how quickly it progresses from what looks like a skin irritation to a deadly infection. This week, we get up close and personal with necrotizing fasciitis and its causative agents.
The New World Screwworm, is a nightmare of a fly and it seems to be making a comeback in the places it was previously eradicated - Central and North America. What exactly this fly does, why it’s such a problem, and how we came to defeat it (temporarily) all feature in this week’s episode.
November 4, 2025 at 2:03 PM
The New World Screwworm, is a nightmare of a fly and it seems to be making a comeback in the places it was previously eradicated - Central and North America. What exactly this fly does, why it’s such a problem, and how we came to defeat it (temporarily) all feature in this week’s episode.
Ohio! We are coming to you! We are so honored to be presenting one of the keynote addresses at this year's Infectious Diseases Institute Annual Meeting! Registration closes this Friday... we can't wait to see you there!
October 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Ohio! We are coming to you! We are so honored to be presenting one of the keynote addresses at this year's Infectious Diseases Institute Annual Meeting! Registration closes this Friday... we can't wait to see you there!
This week, we (both!) chat with two of our all-time favorite science communicators, @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social and @tealcartoons.bsky.social to discuss their newest book Dead Ends! There’s learning, there’s laughter, there’s a lesson: failure is okay. Not just okay but a necessary part of science
October 28, 2025 at 1:04 PM
This week, we (both!) chat with two of our all-time favorite science communicators, @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social and @tealcartoons.bsky.social to discuss their newest book Dead Ends! There’s learning, there’s laughter, there’s a lesson: failure is okay. Not just okay but a necessary part of science
Famine is much more than a food shortage and starvation on a population-level scale. This week, we’re picking up where we left off last episode to explore the definitions, drivers, and many dimensions of famine. Tune in for a broad overview of this heavy but incredibly important topic.
October 21, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Famine is much more than a food shortage and starvation on a population-level scale. This week, we’re picking up where we left off last episode to explore the definitions, drivers, and many dimensions of famine. Tune in for a broad overview of this heavy but incredibly important topic.
This is the first of two episodes centered around malnutrition, starvation, and famine. Today, we explore the profound consequences that arise when our bodies are not given the energy stores they need and we tell the story of how we came to learn about these outcomes through a WWII-era study.
October 14, 2025 at 2:03 PM
This is the first of two episodes centered around malnutrition, starvation, and famine. Today, we explore the profound consequences that arise when our bodies are not given the energy stores they need and we tell the story of how we came to learn about these outcomes through a WWII-era study.
The roots of the inequities we see in our modern mental health system can be traced back decades, to the earliest psychiatric hospitals founded on racist notions of mental illness. This week's book club features @ahylton26.bsky.social and her book Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum.
October 7, 2025 at 3:50 PM
The roots of the inequities we see in our modern mental health system can be traced back decades, to the earliest psychiatric hospitals founded on racist notions of mental illness. This week's book club features @ahylton26.bsky.social and her book Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum.
Today's episode is all about newborn screening - from its serendipitous origins, to what the process looks like from a parent’s perspective, and how cutting-edge technology could revolutionize these programs. We even brought on an expert guest to walk us through the future of newborn screening!
September 30, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Today's episode is all about newborn screening - from its serendipitous origins, to what the process looks like from a parent’s perspective, and how cutting-edge technology could revolutionize these programs. We even brought on an expert guest to walk us through the future of newborn screening!
Yeast infections! We've all had them (er, around 75% of us probably have), but what really are they, where do they come from, and why are they so hard to get rid of? All this and then some on today's episode featuring Candida!
September 23, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Yeast infections! We've all had them (er, around 75% of us probably have), but what really are they, where do they come from, and why are they so hard to get rid of? All this and then some on today's episode featuring Candida!
On this week's book club Erin chats with the one and only @maryroach.bsky.social about book Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy, available TODAY! As with any Mary Roach production, this is the perfect combination of informative, fascinating, and fun. Tune in today!
September 16, 2025 at 1:04 PM
On this week's book club Erin chats with the one and only @maryroach.bsky.social about book Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy, available TODAY! As with any Mary Roach production, this is the perfect combination of informative, fascinating, and fun. Tune in today!
Last ep, we took you through all the ways that cold can harm us. Ending the story there would be skipping over the parts where cold is the hero, rather than the villain. In the second of this frosty miniseries, we explore situations in which we might use cold to protect us and how it actually
works.
works.
September 11, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Last ep, we took you through all the ways that cold can harm us. Ending the story there would be skipping over the parts where cold is the hero, rather than the villain. In the second of this frosty miniseries, we explore situations in which we might use cold to protect us and how it actually
works.
works.
We humans are not well-equipped to deal with the cold. Take us out of our insulated dwellings, take away our winter clothes, and things can get dicey fast. In this episode: the long and grim history of
hypothermia in war, what exactly happens inside your body when your temperature drops, and more!
hypothermia in war, what exactly happens inside your body when your temperature drops, and more!
September 2, 2025 at 2:02 PM
We humans are not well-equipped to deal with the cold. Take us out of our insulated dwellings, take away our winter clothes, and things can get dicey fast. In this episode: the long and grim history of
hypothermia in war, what exactly happens inside your body when your temperature drops, and more!
hypothermia in war, what exactly happens inside your body when your temperature drops, and more!
On this week's TPWKY Book Club episode, Erin interviews author Lina Zeldovich about her book The Living Medicine, which takes readers through the incredible and long-forgotten story of phage therapy and the doctors who developed it. You don't want to miss this one!
August 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
On this week's TPWKY Book Club episode, Erin interviews author Lina Zeldovich about her book The Living Medicine, which takes readers through the incredible and long-forgotten story of phage therapy and the doctors who developed it. You don't want to miss this one!
In December of 1952, a thick, noxious smog surrounded the entire city of London for days on end. What led to such conditions? What was in the smog to make it so toxic? And how did this pollution event lead to massive changes in air quality regulations around the world? Tune in for all this and more.
August 19, 2025 at 1:04 PM
In December of 1952, a thick, noxious smog surrounded the entire city of London for days on end. What led to such conditions? What was in the smog to make it so toxic? And how did this pollution event lead to massive changes in air quality regulations around the world? Tune in for all this and more.
YOUR GALLBLADDER! What is it? Do you still have yours? How can you live without it? Also - what the heck is bile? And what does it have to do with the humoral theory of medicine? All this and literally so much more on this week's episode!
August 12, 2025 at 1:03 PM
YOUR GALLBLADDER! What is it? Do you still have yours? How can you live without it? Also - what the heck is bile? And what does it have to do with the humoral theory of medicine? All this and literally so much more on this week's episode!
In this week’s TPWKY book club episode, renowned science writer and journalist Carl Zimmer discusses his latest book Airborne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe, which uncovers the long-forgotten story of an entire field of study - aerobiology. Tune in for a fascinating conversation!
August 5, 2025 at 7:02 PM
In this week’s TPWKY book club episode, renowned science writer and journalist Carl Zimmer discusses his latest book Airborne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe, which uncovers the long-forgotten story of an entire field of study - aerobiology. Tune in for a fascinating conversation!
Last week, we took you on a journey of discovery, and today we’re gonna tell you how the heck it all works. The discourse surrounding SSRIs is complicated and contradictory, and this episode provides lots of answers and some terrible baseball metaphors to help you make sense of SSRIs.
July 29, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Last week, we took you on a journey of discovery, and today we’re gonna tell you how the heck it all works. The discourse surrounding SSRIs is complicated and contradictory, and this episode provides lots of answers and some terrible baseball metaphors to help you make sense of SSRIs.
This week and next, we tell the story of SSRIs in two parts. In part 1 we explore the origins antidepressants, a surprising journey that takes us back millions of years and across the animal kingdom, and one that proves that John Green was right - everything truly is tuberculosis. Tune in now!
July 22, 2025 at 1:02 PM
This week and next, we tell the story of SSRIs in two parts. In part 1 we explore the origins antidepressants, a surprising journey that takes us back millions of years and across the animal kingdom, and one that proves that John Green was right - everything truly is tuberculosis. Tune in now!
Our first ever fiction book, Wendy Chin-Tanner's King of the Armadillos tells the story of a young man sent to a federal treatment facility after a diagnosis of Hansen’s disease (aka leprosy). Listen now to hear about about the writing process, and how her father’s life provided the story's basis.
July 15, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Our first ever fiction book, Wendy Chin-Tanner's King of the Armadillos tells the story of a young man sent to a federal treatment facility after a diagnosis of Hansen’s disease (aka leprosy). Listen now to hear about about the writing process, and how her father’s life provided the story's basis.
PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome is, frankly, a poorly named disorder. So what is PCOS, really, and what can it teach us about our understanding of health and disease and our assumptions about sex and gender? Tune in to this week's episode to find out!
July 8, 2025 at 1:04 PM
PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome is, frankly, a poorly named disorder. So what is PCOS, really, and what can it teach us about our understanding of health and disease and our assumptions about sex and gender? Tune in to this week's episode to find out!
Do you miss purple ketchup? Or do you shiver when you remember that pink and blue "butter" was once a thing? Today we regale you with the story of food dyes! What the heck are they, why do we use them, are they really a problem and why?! All this and literally so much more on this week's episode!
July 1, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Do you miss purple ketchup? Or do you shiver when you remember that pink and blue "butter" was once a thing? Today we regale you with the story of food dyes! What the heck are they, why do we use them, are they really a problem and why?! All this and literally so much more on this week's episode!
In this week's Book Club episode, Erin Welsh sat down with Dr Steven Mithen to talk about how the heck we can even talk to each other! In his latest book, The Language Puzzle, he details the evolution of language, from the earliest sounds and gestures to the multitude of languages we use today.
June 24, 2025 at 2:04 PM
In this week's Book Club episode, Erin Welsh sat down with Dr Steven Mithen to talk about how the heck we can even talk to each other! In his latest book, The Language Puzzle, he details the evolution of language, from the earliest sounds and gestures to the multitude of languages we use today.
Last week we took you through the history of fluoridation (and the anti-fluoridation movement). This week we get deep into dental caries and how fluoride works to protect our teeth, as well as what potential health risks may exist with fluoride exposure.
June 17, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Last week we took you through the history of fluoridation (and the anti-fluoridation movement). This week we get deep into dental caries and how fluoride works to protect our teeth, as well as what potential health risks may exist with fluoride exposure.
Fluoride continues to make headlines, but as always with controversial topics in science and medicine, this is nothing new. On today's episode, we take you through the history of fluoride and its introduction into community water sources - 80 years ago. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss part 2!
June 10, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Fluoride continues to make headlines, but as always with controversial topics in science and medicine, this is nothing new. On today's episode, we take you through the history of fluoride and its introduction into community water sources - 80 years ago. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss part 2!
For this week's book club, Erin Welsh sat down with historian of medicine, professor, and author Dr. Wendy Kline to chat about her book, Exposed: the hidden history of the pelvic exam. From its dark origins to its current reclamation, this episode has it all!
June 3, 2025 at 1:04 PM
For this week's book club, Erin Welsh sat down with historian of medicine, professor, and author Dr. Wendy Kline to chat about her book, Exposed: the hidden history of the pelvic exam. From its dark origins to its current reclamation, this episode has it all!