Macabre Medicine

Discover the medical procedures of the past, from drilling to bloodletting.

Hosted byChelsey Weber-Smith

Curated byJorge Patino, Hark Editor

7 CLIPS34 MINS

Clip 1 of 7

The Time When Doctors Severed People's Brains to Cure Depression

Meet Dr. Walter Freeman, the man who invented and performed lobotomies on mentally ill people by severing parts of their brain.

The Time When Doctors Severed People's Brains to Cure Depression

Behind the Bastards

5 MINS

Clip 2 of 7

Drilling Holes Through the Skull

Trepanation, or the act of drilling a hole in a person's skull, is a procedure still practiced today. Discover what it was like for an Inca warrior to undergo this process thousands of years ago.

Stuff To Blow Your Mind

4 MINS

Clip 3 of 7

Be Still & Pray to the Gods, This Bladder Stone Is Coming Out

Used to treat and remove bladder stones, lithotomies date as back as the year 600 BC. Listen to the first written description of a lithotomy.

Be Still & Pray to the Gods, This Bladder Stone Is Coming Out

Curious Medicine

5 MINS

Clip 4 of 7

Bleeding People with Leeches and Pocket Knives in the Middle Ages

First found in Chinese medicine, bloodletting or the purposeful loss of blood, was thought to be an essential remedy during the middle ages.

Bleeding People with Leeches and Pocket Knives in the Middle Ages

The Morbid Curiosity Podcast

4 MINS

Clip 5 of 7

Thalidomide, the Fetus-Deforming Nausea Pill for Pregnant Women

Thalidomide was a strong and popular sedative in the 60’s that helped pregnant women with morning sickness, but caused horrible malformations in their unborn babies.

Thalidomide, the Fetus-Deforming Nausea Pill for Pregnant Women

Freakonomics Radio

5 MINS

Clip 6 of 7

Curing Cataracts with a Needle Through the Eye

Even though we have developed more effective and safer methods to remove cataracts, couching’s still practiced today in certain parts of Africa. Learn how this ancient surgical procedure works.

Curing Cataracts with a Needle Through the Eye

Curious Medicine

5 MINS

Clip 7 of 7

The Brutality of Nose Jobs in Ancient India

How to get a nose job in ancient India? Listen to this method developed by Dr. Sushruta in the year 600 BC.

The Brutality of Nose Jobs in Ancient India

Stuff You Missed in History Class

3 MINS

Hosted by

Chelsey Weber-Smith

Curated byJorge Patino

7 CLIPS34 MINS

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Macabre Medicine

The Time When Doctors Severed People's Brains to Cure Depression

Behind the Bastards

Drilling Holes Through the Skull

Stuff To Blow Your Mind

Be Still & Pray to the Gods, This Bladder Stone Is Coming Out

Curious Medicine

Bleeding People with Leeches and Pocket Knives in the Middle Ages

The Morbid Curiosity Podcast

Thalidomide, the Fetus-Deforming Nausea Pill for Pregnant Women

Freakonomics Radio

Curing Cataracts with a Needle Through the Eye

Curious Medicine

The Brutality of Nose Jobs in Ancient India

Stuff You Missed in History Class

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