This Podcast Will Kill You: Toxins and Toxicity

 This show boasts that it breaks down complex scientific topics into accessible, engaging conversations. Fortunately for its audience, the show lives up to the hype. It's a strange time in the U.S., where everyone is a scientific expert; each with their pet conspiracy theory, from vaccines to chem trails and the flat earth to kid's drinks that turn them gay (Alex Jones). 

This Podcast Will Kill You is a popular science and public health show that explores the biology, history, and social impact of different diseases, medical mysteries, and toxins. Hosted by two disease ecologists and epidemiologists, Dr. Erin Welsh and Dr. Erin Allmann Updyke, each episode dives deep into a specific disease (e.g., COVID-19, plague, malaria), poison, or health topic like cancer or burns.

 They cover how it works, how it spreads, and its historical significance. 

 The Erins structure every episode into three main sections: the biology (how it affects the body), the history (how it has impacted humanity), and the prognosis (how scared you realistically need to be).

 To keep the heavy topics fun and lighthearted, every episode is paired with a custom-themed alcoholic cocktail called a "quarantini" and a non-alcoholic version called a "placeborita". 

The show is part of the Exactly Right podcast network and serves as a great way to learn about infectious diseases and science without needing a medical degree, or a wacky conspiracy theory you heard on Fox News.

 As grad students studying disease ecology, Erin and Erin found themselves disenchanted with the insular world of academia. They wanted a way to share their love of epidemics and weird medical mysteries with the world, not just colleagues. Plus, who doesn't love an excuse to have a cocktail while chatting about pus and poop?

 Erin Allmann Updyke, MD, PhD, is an epidemiologist, disease ecologist, and board-certified Family Medicine physician. She loves pink wine and iced lattes, and yes, she's bringing a cake to your party.

 Erin Welsh, PhD, is a disease ecologist and epidemiologist now working full-time as a science communicator through her work on This Podcast Will Kill You. She loves bourbon and sour beers, and yes, she's probably already read that book.  

One of my favorite episodes, although a bit nauseating, was the May 26th show on Motion Sickness. The co-hosts explain: "It comes in waves. It comes on sneakily. You become aware of your stomach. You break out in a cold sweat. Your mouth fills with saliva. And before you know it, you’re leaning over the side of the boat (or out of the car, or into the airplane sick bag), barfing up your breakfast. Motion sickness. We’ve all been there, or at least most of us have. Why? What is it about our physiology that breaks down as soon as we travel via water, vehicle, or air? That’s exactly what we’re going to explore in this episode. From how long humans (and other species) have been coping with these debilitating symptoms to what’s actually going on in your brain to trigger the breakdown, from what’s in the most nauseating historical “cures” for motion sickness to why the drugs we today have some positive effect, we’re covering it all."

 Then the co-hosts double down on grossness and tell us: "In keeping with last week’s theme of bodily excretions that are kinda gross that you don’t really think about but are actually really important, we’re devoting this episode to earwax, aka cerumen. In one hour, we somehow manage to weave together stories of earwax impaction, misadventures in ear candling, glimpses of earwax in art history, and a whale of a tale as revealed by cetacean cerumen. The biology and history of earwax proves to be surprisingly rich and revealing and will have you second-guessing yourself as you reach for that cotton swab. Armed with this week’s episode on earwax and last week’s on boogers, you’ll be ready to take on even the most daunting office icebreaker."

 This Podcast Will Kill You has all the elements of a successful and inviting podcast. The Erins are terrific hosts, who are obviously having fun. The science they espouse is rooted in, well, science, not conspiratorial nonsense developed for political gain. Finally, the show does not take itself too seriously and mixes a non-toxic, all-natural, organic, and gluten-free brew of humor and science class.