Medical Media Mixer: The Perfect Cocktail cover art

Medical Media Mixer: The Perfect Cocktail

Medical Media Mixer: The Perfect Cocktail

By: medicalmediamixer
Listen for free

Season's Savings | £0.99/mo for 3 months

£5.99/mo after 3 months - terms apply. Cancel monthly

Medical Media Mixer is a fun and educational podcast where two full-time medical professionals dive into the world of pop culture—TV, movies, music, and books—with a medical twist. Each episode breaks down the science (and nonsense) behind popular media, served up with a themed cocktail for good measure. Whether you’re a healthcare worker, a pop culture junkie, or just love a good drink with your deep dives, Medical Media Mixer is your prescription for smart laughs and spirited conversation.

Copyright 2024 All rights reserved. Art Hygiene & Healthy Living Music Physical Illness & Disease
Episodes
  • Ep 95 The Reanimator: Del Toro’s Frankenstein and the Real Medicine of Face and Limb Transplants

    Ep 95 The Reanimator: Del Toro’s Frankenstein and the Real Medicine of Face and Limb Transplants
    Oct 26 2026
    This week we're mixing up The Reanimator — a jet-black, charcoal-stained cocktail that turns electric green before your eyes — while we dig into Guillermo del Toro's Oscar-winning 2025 adaptation of Frankenstein, streaming now on Netflix, and the classic Mary Shelley novel and 1931 Boris Karloff film that inspired it. Then we bring it back to real medicine with a deep dive into face and limb transplants: what vascularized composite allotransplantation actually involves, who qualifies, why rejection is the field's biggest hurdle, and what the data says about the risks and life-changing rewards for the small number of patients who undergo it. This episode contains discussion of trauma, chronic illness, and suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by call or text. Sources Frankenstein (2025 film) — IMDbFrankenstein (2025 film) — WikipediaFrankenstein (novel) — WikipediaFrankenstein (1931 film) — IMDbFrankenstein (1931 film) — Wikipediahttps://d1pv6k8x0ig2x3.cloudfront.net/worlds-first-face-double-hand-transplant/https://projects.nj.com/stranger/Siminoff LA, et al. "Vascularized composite allotransplantation: Knowledge and attitudes of a national sample of organ procurement organization professionals." Clinical Transplantation. 2020. doi:10.1111/ctr.14071Khalifian S, et al. "Facial Transplantation: The First 9 Years." Lancet. 2014. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62632-XHernandez JA, et al. "OPTN/SRTR 2024 Annual Data Report: Vascularized Composite Allograft." American Journal of Transplantation. 2026. doi:10.1016/j.ajt.2026.05.726Cavaliere A, et al. "Long-Term Outcomes and Future Challenges in Face Transplantation." JPRAS. 2024. doi:10.1016/j.bjps.2024.02.064Shores JT, et al. "Hand and Upper Extremity Transplantation: An Update of Outcomes in the Worldwide Experience." Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 2015. doi:10.1097/PRS.0000000000000892Wells MW, et al. "Two Decades of Hand Transplantation: A Systematic Review of Outcomes." Annals of Plastic Surgery. 2022. doi:10.1097/SAP.0000000000003056Laspro M, et al. "Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation of the Hand: A Systematic Review of Eligibility Criteria." Annals of Plastic Surgery. 2023. doi:10.1097/SAP.0000000000003659Lantieri L, et al. "First Human Facial Retransplantation: 30-Month Follow-Up." Lancet. 2020. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32438-7Knoedler L, et al. "A Systematic Review of Treatment Strategies to Combat Acute and Chronic Rejection Episodes in VCA." Frontiers in Immunology. 2026. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2026.1733221Tchiloemba B, et al. "Long-Term Outcomes After Facial Allotransplantation." Transplantation. 2021. doi:10.1097/TP.0000000000003513Diaz-Siso JR, et al. "Initial Experience of Dual Maintenance Immunosuppression With Steroid Withdrawal in VCA." American Journal of Transplantation. 2015. doi:10.1111/ajt.13103Lemogne C, et al. "Psychological and Psychiatric Aspects of Face Transplantation." Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2019. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2019.02.006Tasigiorgos S, et al. "Five-Year Follow-up after Face Transplantation." NEJM. 2019. doi:10.1056/NEJMc1810468Blankenstein AP, et al. "Psychological Outcomes of Facial Transplantation." Annals of Plastic Surgery. 2025. doi:10.1097/SAP.0000000000004487Leonard DA, et al. "The United Kingdom Hand and Upper Limb Transplantation Service: First Twelve Years." JPRAS. 2025. doi:10.1016/j.bjps.2025.05.001 Episodes every Monday ⭐️ Subscribe, Rate and Review! 🍸 Recipes drop on socials Discounts: 15% off Comfrt apparel Purple Carrot: 40% off your first box ClassPass: 2 weeks free 15% off non-alcoholic spirits at The Zero Proof 💳 Support us on Patreon | ☕️ Buy Me a Coffee Contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
    Show More Show Less
    51 mins
  • Ep 94 The Cold Fashioned: Eric LeGrand, Coffee, Whiskey and the Future of Spinal Cord Injury Research

    Ep 94 The Cold Fashioned: Eric LeGrand, Coffee, Whiskey and the Future of Spinal Cord Injury Research
    Oct 19 2026
    On Oct. 16, 2010, Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand made a kickoff-coverage tackle against Army and didn't get up. He'd fractured his C3 and C4 vertebrae, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down, and his mother was told he had a 0% to 5% chance of walking again. The next day, he mouthed three words to her: "I'll be back." This week, over a Cold Fashioned — a coffee-forward Old Fashioned that nods to LeGrand Coffee House and his Kentucky straight bourbon — we trace his story from the field to the ventilator to the sideline, then go deep on spinal cord injury itself: why "C3, 4, 5 keeps the diaphragm alive," the autonomic complications most people have never heard of, what the ASIA scale really predicts, and how rehab and neuroplasticity shift the odds. We close with the research horizon, from riluzole and anti-Nogo-A antibodies to epidural spinal cord stimulation that has helped completely paralyzed patients stand and step again. Tonight's Cocktail The Cold Fashioned — Mr Black recipe Media Referenced This Episode Believe: My Faith and the Tackle That Changed My Life — AmazonBelieve: The Victorious Story of Eric LeGrand (Young Readers' Edition) — AmazonState of Play: Broken (HBO Sports, 2014)Mission Possible with Eric LeGrand — IMDbMission Possible with Eric LeGrand — full YouTube playlistBuilding LeGrand — YouTubeA Cup of Believe — podcast Eric LeGrand Eric LeGrand — WikipediaLeGrand Coffee HouseEric LeGrand BourbonChristopher & Dana Reeve FoundationEric LeGrand on X Medical References Li M, et al. Peer-Supported Interventions for People With Spinal Cord Injury. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024.McDonald JW, Sadowsky C. Spinal-Cord Injury. Lancet. 2002.GBD Spinal Cord Injuries Collaborators. Global, Regional, and National Burden of Spinal Cord Injury, 1990–2019. Lancet Neurol. 2023.Schroeder GD, Vaccaro AR, Welch WC, et al. Best Practices Guidelines: Spine Injury. American College of Surgeons. 2022.Ropper AE, Ropper AH. Acute Spinal Cord Compression. N Engl J Med. 2017.Chiles BW, Cooper PR. Acute Spinal Injury. N Engl J Med. 1996.Rupp R, et al. International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury: Revised 2019. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil. 2021.Yelamarthy PKK, et al. Radiological Protocol in Spinal Trauma. Eur Spine J. 2020.Freund P, et al. MRI in Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury. Lancet Neurol. 2019.Picetti E, et al. Early Management of Adult Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in Patients With Polytrauma. World J Emerg Surg. 2024.Hassankhani A, et al. ACR Appropriateness Criteria: Acute Spinal Trauma, 2024 Update. J Am Coll Radiol. 2025.Krueckel J, et al. Clinical Recommendations for the Acute Care of Patients With Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2025.Zeller SL, et al. Critical Care of Spinal Cord Injury. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2024.Baroudi M, et al. Management of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: A Current Concepts Review. Injury. 2024.Lambrechts MJ, et al. Updates in the Early Management of Acute Spinal Cord Injury. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2023.Failli V, et al. Experimental Treatments for Spinal Cord Injury: What You Should Know. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil. 2021.Zipser CM, et al. Cell-Based and Stem-Cell-Based Treatments for Spinal Cord Injury. Lancet Neurol. 2022.Kirshblum S, et al. Characterizing Natural Recovery After Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury. J Neurotrauma. 2021.Khorasanizadeh M, et al. Neurological Recovery Following Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Neurosurg Spine. 2019.Stenimahitis V, et al. Long-Term Outcome and Predictors of Neurological Recovery in Cervical Spinal Cord Injury. Sci Rep. 2024.Zadra A, et al. Life Expectancy and Long-Term Survival After Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2024. Emerging Therapies and Neuromodulation Pedro KM, et al. Riluzole as a Pharmacological Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury. Curr Opin Neurol. 2025.Zhou LY, et al. Riluzole Promotes Neurological Function Recovery in Rats Following Spinal Cord Injury: A Meta-Analysis. J Neurochem. 2019.Zarei H, et al. The Neuroprotective Role of Riluzole in Spinal Cord Injury. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2025.Fehlings MG, et al. Safety and Efficacy of Riluzole in Acute Spinal Cord Injury Study (RISCIS). J Neurotrauma. 2023.Fehlings MG, et al. Riluzole Improves Outcome After Acute Spinal Cord Injury: RISCIS Reanalysis. EBioMedicine. 2025.Fehlings MG, et al. A Randomized Controlled Trial of Local Delivery of a Rho Inhibitor (VX-210). J Neurotrauma. 2021.Forgione N, Fehlings MG. Rho-ROCK Inhibition in the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury. World Neurosurg. 2014.Fehlings MG, et al. A Phase I/IIa Clinical Trial of a Recombinant Rho Protein Antagonist in Acute Spinal Cord Injury. J Neurotrauma. 2011.Khavandegar A, et al. RhoA/ROCK Inhibition and Locomotor Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury. Spinal Cord. 2025.Watzlawick R, et al. Effect and Reporting Bias of RhoA/ROCK-Blockade Intervention. JAMA Neurol. 2014.Weidner N, et al...
    Show More Show Less
    53 mins
  • Ep 93 Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill, Postpartum Psychosis and the Truth About the Insanity Defense

    Ep 93 Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill, Postpartum Psychosis and the Truth About the Insanity Defense
    Oct 12 2026

    In 2019, Olympic dressage trainer Michael Barisone shot his student Lauren Kanarek at his Hawthorne Hill farm in Long Valley, New Jersey. In 2022, a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity. Inspired by Netflix's "Untold: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill," Tara and Nicole explain what the insanity defense actually means medically and legally. They cover how states define legal insanity, why the defense succeeds far less often than people think, and why "not guilty" doesn't mean walking free. The hosts also revisit the cases that shaped public perception: Lorena Bobbitt, John Hinckley Jr. and Andrea Yates. They also touch on Lindsay Clancy, whose postpartum psychosis defense ended in a mistrial last month. Grab a Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity cocktail and join us for this one.

    Sources:

    • Untold: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill – Netflix
    • Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity – US Law Explained
    • Insanity Defense – Wikipedia
    • Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity – Psychology Today
    • Michael Barisone and Lauren Kanarek Tell Their Sides – People
    • 5 Unsettling Details About the Attempted Murder of Lauren Kanarek – Primetimer
    • Famous Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity Cases – Legal Clarity
    • Cases Where Insanity Defenses Have Been Successful in the US – New York Post
    • Lindsay Clancy Trial: How the Insanity Defense Differs in Mass. – Northeastern Global News
    • Judge Declares Mistrial in Lindsay Clancy's Murder Case – NPR

    Episodes every Monday ⭐️ Subscribe, Rate and Review! 🍸 Recipes drop on socials Discounts: 15% off Comfrt apparel Purple Carrot: 40% off your first box ClassPass: 2 weeks free 15% off non-alcoholic spirits at The Zero Proof 💳 Support us on Patreon | ☕️ Buy Me a Coffee Contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 6 mins
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet