• Do Unto Myself as I would Do Unto Others
    Jan 8 2026

    There is a long, perhaps to be forgotten, history of clinicians performing observational n=1 studies upon themselves to “prove” their safety and efficacy of the proposed therapy. The talk is to describe toxicology-related examples of this now discouraged practice.

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    23 mins
  • The FDA and the Homeopathy Loophole
    Nov 27 2025

    The episode traces how the FDA evolved from a modest watchdog born of early 20th-century drug tragedies into a powerful regulatory agency, highlighting key reforms that reshaped American medicine. It then unpacks the long-standing “homeopathy loophole,” explaining how a century-old provision allowed homeopathic remedies to bypass modern scientific standards and why that exemption still fuels debate today.

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    49 mins
  • Toxic Murderer Dr William Palmer
    Oct 27 2025

    Dr. William Palmer, surgeon, gambler, toxic murderer. The historical account of Dr Palmer and the events that made him a notorious serial killer.

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    10 mins
  • One Drop
    Oct 1 2025

    Karen Wetterhahn, a super star organic chemist at Dartmouth College who worked on heavy metal toxicity, presented to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Memorial Hospital on January, 20th 1997. She was profoundly ill, and shortly lapsed into a coma. Her records were scoured and her medical team was able to trace her symptoms back to a single exposure she had received 6 months earlier in her laboratory.

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    18 mins
  • Bluer than Velvet
    Sep 14 2025

    Methylene blue is a vividly blue dye that holds the distinction of being the first fully synthetic medication to be given to human beings, and played a major part in the scientific advances of the late 19th century. Its almost unnatural hue belies its modern use as a life-saving antidote to methemoglobinemia.

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    23 mins
  • Folklore, Fact, and the Manchineel Tree
    Jul 10 2025

    Apples have been associated being forbidden fruit and source of nefarious poisonings all throughout folklore. This presentation delves into whether there is any historical legitimacy to these tales, and if we have anything to fear when it comes to an apple a day.

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    17 mins
  • Radiant Tragedy
    May 27 2025

    Join us as we discuss the history of the radium craze in the early 1900s and how its early popularity led to the tragic demise of many young women who worked as radium dial painters. Their story helped establish the field of medical physics and led to important legislation aimed at the protection of the health and safety of workers.

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    31 mins
  • The Deadly Art of Seeing Green
    Apr 23 2025

    The goal of bringing the full color spectrum onto the canvas is important to artists but many of the early compounds had significant toxicity. The talk will discuss the adverse effects from some of the heavy metals found in early pigments.

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    16 mins