

Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine
Justin McElroy, Dr. Sydnee McElroy
Join Dr. Sydnee McElroy and her husband Justin McElroy for a tour of all the dumb, bad, gross, weird and wrong ways we've tried to fix people.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 11, 2017 • 37min
Sawbones: Snoring
Dr. Sydnee and Justin mark the 200th episode of Sawbones with a topic that's a real snooze: The history of snoring! (Get it?) Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Aug 25, 2017 • 32min
Sawbones: Tickling
Sawbones tries to lighten things up this week and Dr. Sydnee and Justin explore the chuckle-worthy history of tickling. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Aug 17, 2017 • 37min
Sawbones: Eugenics
This week on Sawbones, join Justin and Dr. Sydnee for a timely, tragic history of eugenics. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Aug 11, 2017 • 43min
Sawbones: Opioid Addiction
This week on Sawbones, join Justin and Dr. Sydnee for a sobering look at America's opioid crisis. The bad news: We're all still living in a Sawbones episode. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Aug 3, 2017 • 38min
Sawbones: Erectile Dysfunction
This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin rub a baby alligator's heart on every penis we can find as we explore the history of treating erectile dysfunction. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Jul 20, 2017 • 43min
Sawbones: Mutter Museum
Philadelphia is home not only to the most recent Sawbones live show, but also one of the world's most unusual museums -- The Mutter Museum -- a collection of medical oddities and anatomical specimens. But this is no freak show, this is an unflinching, educational look at the disturbingly beautiful and beautifully disturbing side of medicine. This is the Sawbones promised land. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Jul 14, 2017 • 33min
The (Maybe) Real Dr. Frankenstein
The man who (maybe) inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein didn't just try to breathe life into corpses. He also invented a medicine so toxic it was used in chemical warfare. Also, a kind of blue! This is all real. We swear. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Jul 7, 2017 • 39min
Sawbones: Wrinkles
If you've got a few decades on you, you've certainly started to notice a few of the telltale signs of aging. Well, not YOU, of course. YOU look great, but like, your friends and stuff. This week, Justin and Dr. Sydnee explore the incredible array of bizarre treatments for wrinkles. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Jun 30, 2017 • 1h 8min
Sawbones: An Incomplete History of Gender Confirmation
This week, special guest Laura Kate Dale joins Dr. Sydnee and Justin for a (very) incomplete history of gender confirmation. We hope you'll join us too! Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Jun 25, 2017 • 37min
Sawbones: Yet More Weird Medical Answers
Why is there iodine in salt? What takes the place of a removed organ? Can you ... actually, that one is too gross to put here. Join Dr. Sydnee and Justin as they take on your weird medical questions even ... that last one. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers