Medical historian Richard Barnett joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about medical history. What is cupping and why is it so popular? Who was Typhoid Mary? What is the Iron Lung and how does it work? Answers to these questions and many more await on History of Medicine Support.
WIRED recommends:
Watch more from WIRED | Tech Support:
#History #LouisPasteur #AlexanderFleming
00:00 – History of Medicine Support
00:20 – 300% mortality rate? Just scream, it’ll be fine
02:02 – The science of cupping
02:56 – Don’t raw dog your milk, folks
05:09 – Nothing like a cold radioactive tonic on a summer’s day
06:23 – Blowing smoke up someone’s backside can be a lifesaver
07:07 – The most controversial Nobel Prize winner
09:36 – Larva-ing your best life
10:37 – The Iron Lung
11:59 – Chill, just lose a few pints of blood
12:49 – Who was Typhoid Mary?
14:10 – Trepanning, absolutely mind-boggling
15:09 – Those who can, do
15:53 – The first plastic surgery? ~600 BC
16:53 – Germ Theory 🤝 sterilization
18:32 – Short back and septoplasty please barber
19:18 – Alexander Fleming broke the mould
21:26 – Mad Hatter’s toxic trait? Hg
22:05 – Vaccines and the measles resurgence
24:01 – Why is it called X-ray?
24:50 – Couching, cataracts and cocaine
26:30 – Nature’s bloodletting
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@historylife4436
May 26, 2026 at 6:38 pm
Science is the enemy now in America, yay for us😭
@tazimusics
May 26, 2026 at 6:40 pm
I, too, have contributed to the comments.
@tazimusics
May 26, 2026 at 6:42 pm
I understand that British people pronounce things differently specifically to pronounce them differently , but “Paytent”? Really? Cmon now.
@zlr9022
May 26, 2026 at 6:45 pm
For anyone interested in learning more on Radithor and Eben Byers, Kyle Hill has a great video on the whole thing. I highly recommend it and Kyles channel as a whole
@mikesanborn4541
May 26, 2026 at 6:57 pm
This was excellent! I really hope you have Mr. Barnett back
@shark613
May 26, 2026 at 7:14 pm
18:45 Well, my father’s barber was the one who circumcise me back in 2005. No anaesthetics , just with a red hot scissors.
@AntonioTylerDraws
May 26, 2026 at 7:27 pm
10:49 there’s a couple of documentaries and videos out here about the last users of iron lungs. One of the more tragic things is, because there are limited parts, and when someone dies their iron lung is usually stripped for parts for the remaining survivors
@Lieutenant_Lascivious
May 26, 2026 at 7:29 pm
Leeches that are lab grown, and sterile, like the maggots, are used in medicine in the modern day to pump blood, stimulate oxygen flow, and prevent clogging in surgically reattached limbs (especially fingers and toes) as they heal after initial surgery. I think it’s only fair to mention it.
@travisinthetrunk
May 26, 2026 at 7:30 pm
I was trepanned after I got into an auto accident. I still have a small hole in my skull.
@DeniSe-Zt
May 26, 2026 at 7:30 pm
I love it when someone loves their job and whoever made the timestamps on this video lol ..
@historylife4436
May 26, 2026 at 7:32 pm
Only idiots don’t take vaccines. Don’t be an idiot get vaccinated!
@KathrynC-k2c
May 26, 2026 at 7:33 pm
This guy is great- I could listen to him all day. You should bring him back for a pt. 2 sometime
@BlueBird8925
May 26, 2026 at 7:35 pm
Fascinating speaker and topic!
@JakeThomasCreative
May 26, 2026 at 7:35 pm
This guest is one of the most competent presenters you’ve ever had in this series! I really enjoyed it, very informative.
@tenakeefe6293
May 26, 2026 at 7:40 pm
Informative and enjoyable !!
@FerDeArgentina
May 26, 2026 at 7:41 pm
Exceptionally good.
@virtueisrelative
May 26, 2026 at 7:45 pm
’tissssue’ <3
@PapaLove09
May 26, 2026 at 7:46 pm
We need more of Richard. I can listen to him to hours!
@Langolyer2010
May 26, 2026 at 8:01 pm
WE NEED TO GO BACK TO THE ISLAND
@darthplagueis13
May 26, 2026 at 8:05 pm
For the last one, I feel like he didn’t fully answer the question, because the answer is: It actually also does something and is in fact still used to this day.
It’s not so much about removing the blood, the amount is so small that it barely does anything, but it’s all about the saliva of the leeches.
This saliva contains a really quite remarkable cocktail of different proteins, which have a number of useful effects, most prominently they’re a powerful anti-coagulant, but they’ve also got a natural anaesthetic effect and are somewhat anti-inflammatory as well.
Now, not every medical problem is going to be solved by sticking a leech to it, obviously, but they really are rather useful little critters.
@JW_Steed
May 26, 2026 at 8:11 pm
I’m going to need a part two, three, four and five, please. thank you.
@ColinGrym
May 26, 2026 at 8:23 pm
This was so much more interesting than I initially expected it to be. I love the quality of experts that Wired finds.
@sambojangles10
May 26, 2026 at 8:29 pm
23:54 PLEASE PLEASE get on your high horse, and ride it all over! We need someone with this expertise to spread the verifiable TRUTH!
@PianoGirl091
May 26, 2026 at 8:35 pm
I don’t agree that pain won’t kill you. If the pain is so bad that you go into shock, you’ll absolutely die.
@annehersey9895
May 26, 2026 at 9:25 pm
I’m in my 70’s and still unable to have an MRI without taking Xanax first because the machine takes me back to the newsreels of children my age with polio stuck in an Iron Lung. Luckily I was the first generation to receive the Polio vaccine but those images have stayed with me since.
@goodbye_horsegirls
May 27, 2026 at 2:12 pm
Typhoid Mary is an Irish american icon. Cearta!
@N2kenionaverse
May 27, 2026 at 2:38 pm
Well, that was just delightful. More, please.
@NotSoKnight
May 27, 2026 at 2:44 pm
Hmm
@jpbaley2016
May 27, 2026 at 3:20 pm
It’s not just “vaccine skepticism” but also religious fanaticism that prevents vaccinations. The fact that the US allows religious beliefs to be an excuse not to vaccinate their children is nothing short of letting primitive savagery rule politics.
@ashley9534
May 27, 2026 at 3:51 pm
I could listen to this guy talk all day
@claudiabos8096
May 27, 2026 at 4:41 pm
I thought it was Ben Linus!!!
@paulzarudnev
May 27, 2026 at 4:41 pm
Did not answer the question about leeching though.
@killercharm
May 27, 2026 at 4:42 pm
i would venture to say that typhoid mary may have been so harshly dealt with, and she really was, because she kept insisting on working as a cook for family after family after she had been warned and desperately.
@redbeard6493
May 27, 2026 at 5:09 pm
The mention of the iron lung made me think of Paul Alexander . He spent 70 years in a mechanical respirator and still somehow managed to graduate high school , pass the bar and become a practicing attorney, wrote a memoir and a long list of other accomplishments. I am always in awe of his resilience.
@RenTheWren
May 27, 2026 at 5:11 pm
Wakefield has done so much damage… 🙁
@kelvincannon3675
May 27, 2026 at 5:24 pm
25:51 Why did he say “we try, at the roots of modern cataract surgery”, nobody’s “trying” anything on my eyes during a “modern day surgery”, hopefully not anyone else will allow “modern-surgeons” to “try” anything on their eyes either. Nowadays, with all of the phd requirements for doctorates, they’re allegedly 10+ steps ahead of “try”, having already acquired “true methods”.
@jomarperez7498
May 27, 2026 at 8:12 pm
1st that’s not what he said. He said “and the roots of modern cataract surgery where we try to insert an artificial lens rather than just taking the lens off.” Then proceeded to give an example of a historical surgeon who tried to put in artificial lens in pilots eyes. 2nd your overthinking the word “try.” It’s not try in a sense as we don’t know what we’re doing or just experimenting nowadays.They say “try” because even though cataract surgery and many surgeries have come a long way, nothing is ever 100% guaranteed. Even the most simple, routine surgeries can go wrong.
@kelvincannon3675
May 27, 2026 at 8:50 pm
@jomarperez7498kNo, you’re over thinking the word “try”. “Try” is “try”. Simple as that.
@jomarperez7498
May 27, 2026 at 8:53 pm
@kelvincannon3675 You’re an idiot 😭. You can’t use the word in the definition. You also don’t know how to use quotation marks based on your first comment cause that’s clearly not what he said. Nobody’s “trying” anything. They are taking your cataract out and putting a new lens in. Simple as that
@jomarperez7498
May 27, 2026 at 9:02 pm
“Try”- make an attempt or effort to do something.
There are tried and true methods to it, but again nothing is 100% guaranteed.
@ManaSong
May 27, 2026 at 5:35 pm
This was cool, I hope they bring this guy back for more videos!
@stellaanony3020
May 27, 2026 at 5:37 pm
Anyone else noticing that the experts look like what I would imagine the expert to look like given their field of study? Mister Barnett is exactly what I would imagine a 19th/early 20th century doctor to look like.
And I’m all in for it. Love it!
@greeneyedxvampiress
May 27, 2026 at 5:37 pm
History of medicine is actually one of my favorite subjects- I would love if they invited this expert back!
@rainstriderstreamflower5645
May 27, 2026 at 6:02 pm
I was born before the 1800s I’d would chose death over a painful surgery.
@helenskene2849
May 27, 2026 at 6:08 pm
And like you many did. Also there was a fairly high mortality rate associated with such surgeries
@NaeOnYT
May 27, 2026 at 6:20 pm
OBSESSED with historical medicine and so glad this was posted!
@justandonlylove
May 27, 2026 at 6:38 pm
Maria Sklodowska-Currie* who is Marie Currie?
@DougPaulley
May 27, 2026 at 6:46 pm
Ex-Dr Wakefield. He was De-Doctored. I also think he prosecute for mass manslaughter.
@MilesNovar
May 27, 2026 at 7:20 pm
Sorry, have you ever told anyone that you crashed on the island in a balloon with a big smiley face?
@Ktaadn
May 27, 2026 at 7:26 pm
I have an old bottle with the name Pluto Water embossed on it. I’ve always wondered what it was all about. The name doesn’t inspire confidence it’s safety.
@alison8629
May 27, 2026 at 7:49 pm
I would listen to him speak of tis-yews all day. Perhaps he could make a fill-um.
@rachaelgraceblack
May 27, 2026 at 7:59 pm
Hey Rich, ace interview, hope you’re well. Big love. ❤
@TheDeadKingsRaven
May 27, 2026 at 8:16 pm
Now that’s a proper bellow 😅
@jennie9
May 27, 2026 at 8:17 pm
This was a great listen! Thanks for consistently getting such knowledgeable people who love their field to do these videos.
@cerboris521
May 27, 2026 at 8:55 pm
Nobody seems to ask why Dr Fleming had petri dishes of mold and bacteria in the first place. It makes the whole accidental discovery not so accidental. I believe he would have eventually discovered penicillin even without the holiday part since he was studying the bacteria and molds anyway.
P.S. Absolutely love your educated manner of speech.
@faybyshe
May 28, 2026 at 3:10 am
Connection between Mad Hatter’s Disease and Autism?!? 😮
@eliava
May 28, 2026 at 3:10 am
very sad about him mispronouncing hadassah but still glad to have seen one of my favorite names in the wild, haha
@SeruggaRodneyWilliam
May 28, 2026 at 4:00 am
Listen Wired. You guys need to do a podcast. I’m not joking. These videos are too short and these guests are too good.
@NNNedlog
May 28, 2026 at 6:22 am
This was so interesting to watch. Really enlightening
@philippe2453
May 28, 2026 at 8:02 am
Maria SKŁODOWSKA Curie ffs
@PumpkinMozie
May 28, 2026 at 9:01 am
Information like this makes me instantly grateful to be living in the 21st century haha
@jayjya
May 28, 2026 at 9:16 am
Fleming hated fleur. I wish he went into their personalities
@elrebriand2137
May 28, 2026 at 10:09 am
It’s Maria SKŁODOWSKA-Curie, you prude. Some expert he is, not to know the proper name of a woman so important to science
@Glaringatyou
May 28, 2026 at 11:41 am
With Typhoid Mary, part of the problem she refused to believe she was spreading the disease and keep working with food, untill they locked her up.
@dianeaustin2414
May 28, 2026 at 12:30 pm
Excellent material and presenter.
@Binnie_Bamboni
May 28, 2026 at 12:46 pm
easily one of the best speakers yet
@xxxPdoublexxx
May 28, 2026 at 12:49 pm
Why does he look just like the actor Michael Emerson
@jzthegreat
May 28, 2026 at 12:50 pm
This guy is good. I hate surgery and had to stop this video a bunch of times
But this guy is really good. You should do another with this fella
@skoolboy991
May 28, 2026 at 1:05 pm
3.6 Roentgen. Not great not terrible.
@hisoka9478
May 28, 2026 at 1:34 pm
Good to see Ben Linus again.
@ΕλληΦεαρινου
May 28, 2026 at 1:46 pm
My guy here, shares an uncanny resemblance to Michael Emerson playing Harold Finch in Person of Interest.😆
@ademirmochi5423
May 28, 2026 at 1:59 pm
Of course it was a portuguese that invented lobotomy… human right, dignity or even the smallest kind of simpathy is not really in tandem with them during a embarrassingly long part of their history…
@taitanomo24
May 28, 2026 at 2:08 pm
quickly my new favorite after Mr.Sweeney the mortician. More of him pls!!
@ti1286
May 28, 2026 at 2:40 pm
Never clicked faster 💛
@laurieb3703
May 28, 2026 at 3:17 pm
The chapter names 😂😂😂
@cole1776x
May 28, 2026 at 4:49 pm
I want to know why I never hear any medical professional say older bodies dug up have cancer. Even the extremely well preserved bodies. No one ever questions this because you all think cancer is normal and trust the government to tell you sht. You can get cancer but older people never did? Hmm
@ayofanfics39
May 28, 2026 at 4:54 pm
Marie SKŁODOWSKA Curie.
@vitalivour666
May 28, 2026 at 5:02 pm
I feel the need to mention:
Measles is also so resurgent because of anti-vaxxers and eugenicists like RFK Jr., the world’s most powerful anti-vax quack
@ci-borg64
May 28, 2026 at 8:55 pm
have an awful migraine and then trepanning makes sense, promise.
@abbeycodi3875
May 28, 2026 at 9:17 pm
12:43 Lord Byron’s death, too. He had a fever of some sort, and his doctors continuously bled him and gave him purgatives, which inevitably and painstakingly drained him of life. It’s so antithetical to how one should treat a fever; so medieval, you’d think doctors knew a little better by the 19th century.
@Moncrom
May 29, 2026 at 10:34 pm
“I am mad, doctor.” 1920s doctor: “Have you tried turning your brain on and off again ?”
@falloutpunk
May 29, 2026 at 11:54 pm
Of course a colleague of Freud’s wanted to use cocaine for something.
@rhyswahl9223
May 29, 2026 at 11:55 pm
I like this guy. Very nice to listen to.
@MegaVeeraphong
May 30, 2026 at 12:15 am
Bloodletting is still a treatment in our time, albeit very limited in its application. Look up Polycythemia Vers.
@sheenawarecki92
May 30, 2026 at 12:45 am
I knew exactly what he was talking about at the beggining 💀
@urbanstrencan
May 30, 2026 at 3:10 am
This was great one, some crazy medical stuff was done in the past😮😅😮
@Dreamsofahomesickalien
May 30, 2026 at 5:42 am
Requesting more medical content, Wired! Thank you!! 😊
@SteffidelaM
May 30, 2026 at 6:10 am
I could listen to these experts all day
@zip7275
May 30, 2026 at 8:31 am
I could listen to this guy all day.
@valensaz93
May 30, 2026 at 10:02 am
Why does he pronounce “tissue” like that?????
@Davi-un5wi
May 30, 2026 at 11:10 am
surprised no one mentioned chainsaws
@ashleysteven4522
May 30, 2026 at 12:01 pm
Imagine being so ignorant that you truly believe vaccines cause autism. At that point it’s best not to breed. Let your bloodline die
@blackkissi
May 30, 2026 at 1:12 pm
24:05 fun fact: In Swedish x-rays are simply called “Röntgen”, based on his name
@Minalkra
May 30, 2026 at 2:34 pm
Leeches are used sometimes to prevent blood pooling after connective surgery while letting the body rebuild the blood circulation system. So not used the way ancient people once may have used them but used nonetheless.
@RachaeltheSpicyHobbit
May 30, 2026 at 2:50 pm
So, Honey Sugarman in Bojack Horseman, her lobotomy scar is a little higher than it should be, it should be a cut under the brow, but I think they put it above for emphasis. I like how that episode shows the lobotomy was a tool men used to control women, who were often labeled “hysterical” for having normal responses to traumatic events, many traumatized by losses in WWII.
@RachaeltheSpicyHobbit
May 30, 2026 at 2:54 pm
“The important thing is having sterile, disinfected maggots” now I’m picturing little maggots in surgical outfits with gloves on, lol
@topmodelbaby100
May 30, 2026 at 2:56 pm
Fun fact in Danish and German it’s not called x-rays. It’s just called Røntgen/Röntgen after the inventor.
@RachaeltheSpicyHobbit
May 30, 2026 at 2:58 pm
Our ancestors watching us pop Xanaxes and light up a vape when they would’ve done bloodletting to calm down, must think we’re pansies, lol
@septicaemia5699
May 30, 2026 at 6:03 pm
Should’ve posted this before GCSE History paper 1 🙁
@visualnoise13
May 30, 2026 at 6:03 pm
Im glad Ben Linus finally became a good man
@forgotmyduck
May 30, 2026 at 6:30 pm
23:30 truly wish Andrew Wakefield has a lifetime of warm pillows and damp socks.
@invox_in_your_inbox
May 30, 2026 at 7:37 pm
I know there had to be WAY more questions than this!
Part 2 when pls?
@maggiepaul1225
May 30, 2026 at 8:39 pm
I have a letter my grandfather wrote to my great-grandfather during world war 2 going on and on about how incredible antibiotics were. The heartbreaking part is that he wrote of how he wished it had been discovered sooner so that his mother, my great-grandmother, would have been saved when she developed a post-partum infection that killed her. She died a month to the day after her youngest baby was born. My great-grandfather was left all alone with five babies under 12 years old. My grandfather was just 7 when his mother died. So many lives have been saved thanks to Alexander Fleming and his discovery.
@ashcruz904
May 30, 2026 at 9:13 pm
I can’t believe people lived like this. We were really born at the right time.
@shinekire
May 30, 2026 at 9:24 pm
This guy is cool
@Dave-ip7hs
May 30, 2026 at 10:59 pm
I need to tap his knowledge
@ayanev7
May 31, 2026 at 12:40 am
Since when Benjamin Linus is a medical historian?
@jonesythecat5687
May 31, 2026 at 2:12 am
My dad, born in 1934, remembered cupping used to treat boils.
@hks2222
May 31, 2026 at 2:53 am
i could listen to this all day!
@HrLBolle
May 31, 2026 at 6:21 am
I wonder if Cupping could have some benefit when it comes to chronic nerve related ailments
@naosay
May 31, 2026 at 8:11 am
Since when Michael Emerson because a medical historian?
@henk-3098
May 31, 2026 at 8:34 am
Fun fact, leeches are still used in modern surgery sometimes.
@Shockedbywater
May 31, 2026 at 9:18 am
8:35 Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on? Who knew that preceded electronics by decades. LOL
@BenPotts
May 31, 2026 at 12:15 pm
Loved you in Fallout season 1
@Summerhead96
May 31, 2026 at 2:24 pm
Where’s the music for the questions? 😭😭
@BrainFreezeWave
May 31, 2026 at 2:44 pm
I wish I knew you could be a medical historian!! Dream job. I’ve been collecting old medical books for years, it’s such a fascinating world
@xanacotti
May 31, 2026 at 3:02 pm
Eben Byers buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, PA. Sealed lead coffin.
@Velvetec
May 31, 2026 at 4:28 pm
6:57 Why in the bottom though, instead of in the mouth?
@madeofmandrake1748
May 31, 2026 at 5:43 pm
21:30 On the topic of mercury poisoning, this is also why old lighthouse keepers were seen as mad. The massive lens that spun the lighthouses’ light used to float in a pool of mercury, so it could turn slowly and evenly. It shouldn’t be a surprise that having an exposed pool of unventilated mercury would be hazardous to one’s health. Coupled with the isolation, going mad is basically inevitable.
@6thdayblue59
May 31, 2026 at 6:19 pm
Thank you.
This is so interesting
@pho3nix-
May 31, 2026 at 7:26 pm
I love medical stuff and facts
@KiraRagged
May 31, 2026 at 7:39 pm
I have a question for the next one! Is it true that if you had a penicillin allergy in childhood that it might have gone away, especially decades after diagnosis? My dr put me on an antibiotic and the nurse was concerned because it was one that sometimes causes reactions in people with reactions to penicillin (keflex i think). When i told her i was diagnosed when i was five she said that there was a good chance i’m not actually allergic to it anymore.
@iphoneuser727
May 31, 2026 at 9:48 pm
I can’t wait until A.I replaces “historian’s”. It’s 1 of the most useless jobs that pays way too much.
@absurdum-the-artist
June 1, 2026 at 12:41 pm
username checks out
@NicoleBrookus
May 31, 2026 at 9:57 pm
There is a modern use for bloodletting. My stepfather produces too many red blood cells, so his doctors have prescribed periodic blood donations. And it works!
@kstargazer
May 31, 2026 at 10:26 pm
Anyone else thought of Sweeney Todd when that barber question came up?
@Mettabeshay
June 1, 2026 at 1:12 am
this was awesome
@CAARaeed
June 1, 2026 at 1:17 am
Rarely have I seen someone with such a posh accent in such a cheap, ill-fitting suit. Just screams I am too smart to GAF
@lumpylumpyloo
June 1, 2026 at 2:46 am
I am the greatest I am the greatest
@eventiderapture
June 1, 2026 at 4:20 am
As someone who’s passionate about medical history, I already knew a lot of this. But the delivery was lovely and this may have been my favorite video in this series yet!
@VanessaIssa-b1q
June 1, 2026 at 6:51 am
Mcfapkins😂
@heyitsfarley
June 1, 2026 at 9:38 am
This is Benjamin Linus in disguise.
@bakchormeeman7864
June 1, 2026 at 9:59 am
The British just explain things so much better than Americans
@InfamousMax
June 1, 2026 at 11:18 am
He looks like my polish uncle that is trying to hide his identity lol
@SteeeV-q8t
June 1, 2026 at 12:03 pm
But they had guillotines. There is no problem that can’t be solved by a headectomy.
@KilJhard
June 1, 2026 at 12:26 pm
It’s so hard to take someone seriously when they are wearing glasses that don’t fit their head and has no lenses!!!! lol
@KilJhard
June 1, 2026 at 12:27 pm
2:55 Louis Pasteur looks like Mark Hammill.
@vicinity-image-clause
June 1, 2026 at 12:42 pm
Too bad, somebody missed the opportunity to ask about homoeopathy using cockroaches, snakes and mercury in their sweet pills.
@ik3871
June 1, 2026 at 1:35 pm
What about the fecal transplant?
@jakewhritenour4900
June 1, 2026 at 4:03 pm
i’ll listen to anything ben linus has to say
@OleksiiMyloslavskyi
June 1, 2026 at 4:30 pm
Wow, Ben Linus looks great after all these years
@Birulets
June 1, 2026 at 5:23 pm
Tiss-yu
@jaylycan6083
June 1, 2026 at 5:27 pm
My surgery was 8 1/2 hours, would have sucked to be awake for that
@bartekkubicaku-bitsa9802
June 1, 2026 at 5:47 pm
Cool, very interesting.
But
Marie Skłodowska-Curie
@acestillwell98
June 1, 2026 at 6:12 pm
to add onto Typhoid Mary; it wasn’t a case of a woman who carried the typhoid and accidentally infected others. They told her exactly what was happening and asked for her to report to the health department for a test, to which she responded by chasing them out with a knife repeatedly. They then forced her into quarantine in a small cottage that was on the property of a hospital, which she was allowed to walk around in. She was released on the deal that she would report to the health department periodically and would never cook for families again. After about two years, she fled and changed her name, and went back to cooking. She most likely would cook for families or businesses until she infected people, after which she would leave. They eventually found and arrested her after she infected a maternity hospital. She
@drplasma1990
June 1, 2026 at 9:30 pm
The “funny” part is that my doctor has prescribed me bloodletting. In this modern age that blood is not wasted (via blood donation), but I was surprised that to reduce the iron content in my blood it would be beneficial for me to donate blood.
@omerjawhar
June 1, 2026 at 10:34 pm
It is a shame that his entire expertise revolves around the west only.
@DKM-y2k
June 1, 2026 at 11:23 pm
He was such a villain on LOST, and now a great video…
@zackinator1439
June 2, 2026 at 12:37 am
16:57
Question: “Why did people not know they needed to wash their hands and sterilize?”
Me: “Because germs are really small. They couldn’t see them.”
Richard: *explains how the microscope was already invented, people saw bacteria and stuff, but they just didn’t quite make the connection yet.*
Me: 😮
@zackinator1439
June 2, 2026 at 12:47 am
25:45
“He starts to use cocaine”
uhh, ok
“…as a local anesthetic”
Oh. Ok, gotcha.
The slight pause killed me xD
@RipplesInTheWaters
June 2, 2026 at 1:49 am
22:51 also, the antivaxxers helped the resurgence.
@kylequintana
June 2, 2026 at 2:19 am
ok the anesthesia question, did these folks not hear about or watch films on people who had to amputate limbs caught in machinery? They didnt get the luxury of anesthesia and made it through the painful ordeal
@hepunk
June 2, 2026 at 3:58 am
this thumbnail has been on my page for a few days now, and all i could wonder is why fallout casted a historian in their show.
@U.Make.Me.Randy.Yuuuup
June 2, 2026 at 8:26 am
This guy is great,
@ruialmeida818
June 2, 2026 at 9:48 am
If it weren’t for the dire need for herd immunity, I would say that all anti vaxxers could live together in a commune and let natural selection take its course.
@FlamRackett
June 2, 2026 at 11:09 am
This expert is fantastic, I love this topic
23:35 exactly why we need more trust in vaccines now. The damage that Wakefield done is unforgivable
@rimmallah7611
June 2, 2026 at 1:44 pm
He’s very well spoken, i like that
@Imsowetshelp
June 2, 2026 at 2:22 pm
Get this guy back, eloquent and knowledgeable
@ericfuller6326
June 2, 2026 at 2:44 pm
My grandfathers brother told a story of them cutting his uncles leg off on the kitchen table after an accident dr. Came and did it at the house he could remember the screaming this was like maybe 1918 all medical advances hadnt come to rural areas.
@rat_in_a_cowboy_hat
June 2, 2026 at 5:00 pm
Her name was Maria Skłodowska-Curie!
@gygerguro
June 2, 2026 at 5:42 pm
I would pay to see a conversation between this guy and Sydney McElroy (a doctor who does a medical history podcast)
@agataslebioda1742
June 2, 2026 at 6:20 pm
Maria SKŁODOWSKA Curie
@theanonymousmrgrape5911
June 2, 2026 at 7:31 pm
I have never in my life seen someone who looks more like a historian of medicine
@CoffeeandCustomrolls-zn3pe
June 2, 2026 at 10:08 pm
This man needs a YouTube channel!!!
@brandonselby9738
June 2, 2026 at 11:16 pm
19:40 it’s more like the discovery was an experiment that did not go as designed
@faermanj
June 3, 2026 at 7:57 am
You are the best, love your content, may it keep coming! ❤🎉
@mirthenary
June 3, 2026 at 1:24 pm
But don’t they use leeches to restore blood flow to reattached fingertips, etc. (Probably to get rid of the excess blood that builds up, really)
@mirthenary
June 3, 2026 at 1:25 pm
Can you get a lawn care expert on here?😁
@abominablesnowdude8859
June 3, 2026 at 5:03 pm
One small but very important correction; Andrew Wakefield is not a doctor and should not be referred to as one, his medical license was revoked because of his unethical actions during his fraudulent vaccine study.
@star_man
June 3, 2026 at 6:09 pm
Is he wearing glasses without lenses in them?!
@edwardc3874
June 3, 2026 at 7:47 pm
we need this guy again !
@reasonablyok
June 3, 2026 at 9:32 pm
Mcfapkins…
@Garreousbear
June 4, 2026 at 12:25 am
Vaccines are super cool. I am a huge fan of the vast majority of children surviving into adulthood.
@Sillyandmischievous
June 4, 2026 at 1:07 am
lol mcfapkittens?
@rrobkaiserr
June 4, 2026 at 4:41 am
“Mcfapkins” bless his soul.
@rusope1050
June 4, 2026 at 5:29 am
omg finally i know what those poles outside barber shops mean!!!!
@ginismoja2459
June 4, 2026 at 8:39 am
So incredibly interesting, we are so lucky to have access to this kind of content.
@MouseFloof
June 4, 2026 at 10:40 am
23:33 the only time I would ever correct someone who has a higher degree than me…
“surely you mean disgraced, ex-doctor Andrew Wakefield”?
@Lazarus7000
June 4, 2026 at 11:39 am
Like maggots, leaches are occasionally still used, they’re particularly good at bringing down swelling in tissue without causing much damage, so they’re used in cases like plastic surgery where swelling could be a serious problem because you’re trying to get tissues to heal in a very specific way.
@sagetheplantboi8612
June 4, 2026 at 2:09 pm
10:37 it’s a movie made by markiplier based on a video game
@EmArTea
June 4, 2026 at 2:17 pm
“an assault on the body, which early surgery was” I mean it’s still an assault on the body, we’re just wAY better at it now
@littlegrabbiZZ9PZA
June 4, 2026 at 2:56 pm
23:40 No need to call him a doctor anymore, he’s had his license and title stripped.
@lyadmilo
June 4, 2026 at 5:15 pm
But leeches are like maggots! Sterile medical grade leeches are actually a useful treatment for some forms of skin cancer.
@ahmedmestiriwastaken
June 4, 2026 at 6:26 pm
0:29 “Before that, in Europe…” Here made it more precise
@rantifusaxp
June 4, 2026 at 7:03 pm
I didn’t know Michael Emerson was a medical historian.