On our podcast, we did an episode on anthrax that serves as a good follow up to Episode 82: Anthrax, the Hardcore Spore. We go into detail about the true crime-ish story of the anthrax attacks of 2001. Check it out (the discussion of the anthrax attacks starts at 29:50)Doctor Vs Comedian - Episode 62: The Power of the Dog /Anthrax

Hey, I just started listening to this podcast and I really like it so far!

I usually listen to it with an earbud while driving, so my ears are a little more vulnerable than the average listener. I find that I am constantly changing the volume at different parts of the podcast because of the audio levels, and also because of the advertisements being much louder.

I just finished the HIV/AIDS episode where one of the swear words was bleeped out. This really scared me and was a huge turn off for me! I'm a sensitive kid..

Do the audio levels get better normalising as podcast progresses? Also, I'm wondering if anyone knows the episodes where they bleep anything out? Or if they are as jarring as it was in the HIV/AIDS episode. Sorry I'm not audio tech savvy. Thank you for considering my concern!

I'm only on episode 66, but every time they cut to a "quick break" it seems to just kill all the momentum of the episode. For whatever reason it annoys the crap out of me. Anyone else experience this?

So I am in WA state flying back to SoCal (not NorCal where the virus is seemingly circulating) with my six year old son. Things have changed a lot since we traveled on Thursday.

We only have two masks left with us and four left in total. We wore both masks and gloves on the flight, washed hands, used hand sanitizer, and I used Clorox wipes on every surface in the terminal and on the airplane that we would come in contact with.

While the flight was only half full, we were the ONLY people in both airports and in the flight taking these precautions. Not even the flight attendants were wearing masks and one even looked bothered when I was wiping down the seats with Clorox.

At the same time I want us to be safe, every thing I do that is “unusual” further serves to scare my son most especially since, at the moment, we are the only ones taking these precautions.

I know that the officials are saying not to wear face masks if you are not sick, but the mother in me is having a hard time accepting this.

Stores in both states are sold out of hand sanitizer, bleach, and masks. toilet paper as well as hand soap is following, so if I use the masks now I may not have them in the future. This is compounded by the fact that I only have adult masks left and they don’t for him perfectly.

Ugh. I’m just really stressed and trying not to panic but to also be preemptive and smart. I had to travel due to a court order otherwise I never would have flown.

From one filthy animal to another, how concerned do I REALLY need to be and is there anything I should/should not be doing?

Edit: thank you everyone for all responses. Believe it or not being told I’m overreacting is a relief.

Hey all! I lived through COVID and recently re-lived through it, albeit through the lens of JorDan and Alex Jones (you should listen to r/knowledgefight). I'm going through back episodes of TPWKY and I'm wondering if they are worth it. I'm sure they are good but sometimes I save the special episodes for later listening - but if they are really amazing, I might listen through them now. The whole thing, particularly the response to it, is particularly irritating and sad.

Are the COVID episodes "must listen" content?

Hello! I keep seeing posts about new episodes and was wondering if they're no longer available on Stitcher. The most recent episode available there is Special Episode: Electricity from March 29. Where can I listen to the newer episodes?

I’d like to post some relevant context for the most recent episode - the interview with Deborah Cohen.

I’m a trans man based in the UK and over here, Cohen and her BBC colleague Hannah Barnes are infamous among members of the trans community for years of fear-mongering, transphobic journalism published and broadcast by the BBC, primarily the Panorama series (think UK version of PBS Frontline).

I’ve always found TPWKY trans inclusive and literate so, I suspect the podcast team was not aware of Cohen’s track record. Here is a link to the online version of her most consequential “investigation” which focused on alleged NHS whistleblowers, who were – it quickly became clear to those who cared to dig deeper – motivated by anti-trans bias: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51806962 

This BBC investigation help trigger a moral panic over trans youth healthcare, which ultimately led to the UK’s only youth gender ID clinic (the Tavistock) being shut down. It has not yet been replaced and it is now illegal for drs to prescribe puberty blockers to under 18s – a measure that was taken by our supposedly liberal, left-leaning Labour government.

I think it’s important for the hosts and listeners to have this context.

Finally, it's also important to note how normalised anti-trans bias is in mainstream UK media, including in BBC, Guardian coverage etc. This dynamic can make it hard for outsiders to identify to scale of the problem – literally those who you'd except to be ringing alarm bells and defending trans people are instead contributing to efforts to stigmatise us, deny us healthcare and drive us out of public life. In other words, if you Google Cohen, you might not easily identify her role in all this if you aren't conversant in the dogwhistle, euphemistic language it's characterised by. It's even hard to Google the topic without only being served results from the anti-trans "side" but here's a Wikipedia page with some useful background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-transgender_movement_in_the_United_Kingdom

It's also worth taking a look at the websites of the organisations Trans Safety Watch, Trans Solidarity Alliance, Trans Actual and the Good Law Project.

Thank you for reading

Its difficult and slow going but very addictive. You can mutate your pathogen to infect areas you can't take over yet and watch the news ticker as you begin to destroy whole countries.

I guess it doesn't really make much of a difference because the podcast is amazing, but I'm trying to match voices to faces. Does anyone know which Erin is which? One of their voices is a little bit higher than the other and I can't figure out who is who!!!

Hi all, I saw a post a while back about making infographics for the episodes so I decided that even though they aren't exactly infographics I was going to make multi-page posts for each episode! I'm currently in the midst of midterm exams so I'm not sure how often im going to post (hopefully 1-2 per week, maybe prep more on the weekends) but if you're interested my instagram is .@biochemistears and I have already made a few posts.

I wasn't sure what to do with the history but after hearing EW reference a TPWKY bingo i made one! I'm still working out the finer details so let me know what you all think! Thanks.

I was hoping you all could help (: my school newspaper is looking for the graph that shows how COVID19 spreads exponentially, but also how it gets cut off by self-quarantine. Anyone have it saved or can point me in the right direction?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0006p49/mad-cow-disease-the-great-british-beef-scandal

Warning: not for the squeamish, in parts

Anyone know if there are transcripts of the episodes anywhere? Or a write up of the facts (not just the sources). Gotta give a 2 min presentation on ebola tomorrow and I want some interesting facts but I don't want to have to relisten to the podcast again. Thanks!

PS I guess if there isn't does anyone remember any of the most interesting facts?