Boy Man

11 snips

Dec 1, 2023

In this discussion, writer Patrick Burleigh shares his unique journey with precocious puberty, experiencing physical changes like a mustache in middle school due to a rare genetic mutation. He delves into the emotional challenges of early maturation, including bullying and identity struggles. Patrick reflects on the recklessness of adolescence and a life-changing moment that led him to Dartmouth College. The conversation also touches on how these experiences influence his writing and thoughts on parenthood, mixing humor with poignant insight into growing up too fast.

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ANECDOTE

Early Puberty

Patrick Burleigh started puberty at 18 months old, marked by early pubic hair and aggression.
By age three, he looked seven and experienced strong, confusing sexual urges.

INSIGHT

Testotoxicosis

Patrick's testotoxicosis caused early, unregulated testosterone production.
This led to his body physically maturing much faster than his brain.

INSIGHT

Puberty Process

Puberty involves the pituitary gland signaling the testes to produce testosterone.
In testotoxicosis, a mutation causes testosterone production without brain signals.

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Could puberty get any more awkward? Turns out, yes. Writer Patrick Burleigh started going through puberty as a toddler. He had pubic hair before he was two years old and a mustache by middle school. All of this was thanks to a rare genetic mutation that causes testotoxicosis, also known as precocious puberty. From the moment he was born, abnormally high levels of testosterone coursed through his body, just as it had in his father’s body, his grandfather’s body, and his great-grandfather’s body. On this week’s episode, Patrick’s premature coming of age story helps us understand just why puberty is so awkward for all of us, and whether and how it helps forge us into the adults we all become.

Special thanks to Craig Cox, Nick Burleigh, and Alyssa Voss at the NIH.

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported by - Latif Nasser
with help from - Kelsey Padgett, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, and Alyssa Jeong Perry
Produced by - Pat Walters, Alex Neason, and Alyssa Jeong Perry
with help from - Ekedi Fausther-Keyes and Matt Kielty
with mixing help from - Arianne Wack
Fact-checking by - Diane A. Kelly
and Edited by - Pat Walters

EPISODE CITATIONS:
Music -
"The Light" by Cate Le Bon & Group Listening.

Articles -

To read Patrick’s own writing about his experience with precocious puberty and to see photos of him as a child, check out his article in The Cut, “A 4-Year-Old Trapped in a Teenager’s Body” (https://zpr.io/athKVQmtfzaN)

In her spare time, our fact checker Diane Kelly is also a comparative anatomist, and you can hear her TEDMED talk, “What We Didn’t Know about Penis Anatomy” (https://zpr.io/MWHFTYBdubHj)

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Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.