MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries
Wondery | Ballen Studios
The human body is a miracle. But when it’s not working, it can be the stuff of nightmares. On this new series from master storyteller MrBallen, we’re sharing medical horror stories and diagnostic mysteries that are surgically calibrated to make your blood run cold.From bizarre, unheard-of diseases and miraculous recoveries to strange medical mishaps and unexplainable deaths — you’ll never hear the phrase “heart-stopping” in the same way again. MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between MrBallen and Wondery, the award-winning company behind Dr. Death.Follow MrBallen's Medical Mysteries on Amazon Music, the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes publish for free every Tuesday. Prime members can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Or, you can listen episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Start your free trial in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or by visiting https://wondery.com/links/mrballens-medical-mysteries/ now.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 2, 2024 • 28min
Ep. 26 | The Birds
In the summer of 1999, a mysterious outbreak rages through New York City, paralyzing and even killing its victims. Doctors scramble for a solution, not realizing the answer is lying at their feet.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Mar 26, 2024 • 25min
Ep. 25 | It Moves
A young woman working on a fishing vessel in Alaska begins experiencing a strange burning sensation in her eye. What she finds inside her eyelid makes her skin crawl.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Mar 19, 2024 • 24min
Ep. 24 | Blood on Their Hands
In the summer of 1846, a young doctor is thrilled to join Austria’s prestigious Vienna General Hospital. But he soon discovers that new mothers in one of the hospital’s maternity wards are dying at a disturbing rate. He desperately seeks an answer for why it’s happening… and what he finds changes the field of medicine forever.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Mar 12, 2024 • 34min
Ep. 23 | Gut Instinct/Into the Woods
“Gut Instinct”In the summer of 2021, a doctor celebrates his retirement with a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. But shortly after he gets back, he begins experiencing debilitating stomach pain. Desperate to figure out what’s wrong with him, he tries to diagnose himself. He suspects the answer is a horrible disease that people rarely survive. “Into the Woods”After a camping trip in the summer of 2009, a woman develops a gruesome rash that covers her body with painful welts and makes her mouth bleed. Multiple doctors can’t figure out what is wrong with her – because the answer is something few physicians would ever suspect.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Mar 5, 2024 • 31min
Ep. 22 | Surf’s Up
On Christmas Day, 2008, a surfer living in Hawaii wakes up with a splitting headache and itching all over his body. Soon, the man is comatose and nearly brain-dead in a hospital as doctors struggle to understand what’s happening. His doctors don’t think he’ll recover, but his mother refuses to give up hope – will her belief be enough to save him?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Feb 27, 2024 • 25min
Ep. 21 | Breathless
In 2012, a healthy high school volleyball star suddenly has to fight for every breath she takes. Within a few weeks, she’s on the list for multiple organ transplants and needs a refrigerator-sized machine to keep her alive. Her doctors have no idea why this is happening to her – until the answer comes from a place nobody ever expected.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Feb 20, 2024 • 29min
Ep. 20 | The Mist
In 2007, a worker at a pork processing plant in Minnesota suffers nerve damage so severe that he can no longer move his legs. Within a few months, his co-workers begin to develop similar alarming symptoms. Investigators search for a common thread, and what they find is more disturbing than anything they could have imagined.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Feb 13, 2024 • 35min
Ep. 19 | Life in Paradise/The Stranger
“Life in Paradise”In 1993, a man living in a retirement community in Tennessee falls ill with what he thinks is the flu. But, within hours, he’s comatose and suffering from multiple organ failure. His doctor is stunned, and becomes even more perplexed when the man’s neighbor shows up with the same symptoms. Is it all just a coincidence? Or is a silent killer lurking in the community’s manicured grounds?“The Stranger”One day in 2014, an elderly Frenchman comes home to find a stranger hiding in his bathroom. The intruder doesn’t seem dangerous, although something about him feels…off. And when the man discovers who it is, it changes his life forever.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Feb 6, 2024 • 27min
Ep. 18 | Man With the Blue Skin
In 1944, nearly a dozen men show up at a hospital in New York. All are violently ill and passing out – and they all have bright blue skin. A medical investigator rushes to figure out what is making them sick… and what is causing their bizarre appearance. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jan 30, 2024 • 32min
Ep. 17 | The Curse of Veneto
In 1983, an Italian man finds himself completely unable to sleep, and when he looks in the mirror, his own eyes frighten him. A sense of doom washes over the man. He knows that within a year, he’ll be dead – because he’s just fallen prey to a centuries-old family curse.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
