Castle on the Park
99% Invisible
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The History of the New York Cancer Hospital
As late as 1920 only 15% or so of patients survived a cancer diagnosis for more than two years. The New York Cancer Hospital soon earned a nickname, the Bastille. It was trying to look like a French head toe but it ended up feeling like a French prison. There's a show on cinemax that I watch called The Nick which graphically dramatizes these amphitheater surgeries from around the same time period.
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