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Sawbones
Sawbones: The Hilarious, Horrifying Road to Modern Medicine | Justin McElroy, Sydnee McElroy
A compelling, often hilarious and occasionally horrifying exploration of how modern medicine came to be! Wondering whether eating powdered mummies might be just the thing to cure your ills? Tempted by those vintage ads suggesting you wear radioactive underpants for virility? Ever considered drilling a hole in your head to deal with those pesky headaches? Probably not. But for thousands of years, people have done things like thisand things that make radioactive underpants seem downright sensible! In their hit podcast, Sawbones, Sydnee and Justin McElroy breakdown the weird and wonderful way we got to modern healthcare. And some of the terrifying detours along the way. Every week, Dr. Sydnee McElroy and her husband Justin amaze, amuse, and gross out (depending on the week) hundreds of thousands of avid listeners to their podcast, Sawbones. Consistently rated a top podcast on iTunes, with over 15 million total downloads, this rollicking journey through thousands of years of medical mishaps and miracles is not only hilarious but downright educational. While you may never even consider applying boiled weasel to your forehead (once the height of sophistication when it came to headache cures), you will almost certainly face some questionable medical advice in your everyday life (were looking at you, raw water!) and be better able to figure out if this is a miracle cure (its not) or a scam. Table of Contents: Part One: The Unnerving The Resurrection Men Fun w Galvanism Weird Weight Loss Miracle Cure: Opium Black Plague Heroes of Misguided Medicine: Pliny the Elder Erectile Dysfunction The Doctor Is In: Listener Questions Answered Dont Drill a Hole in Your Head Part Two: The Gross Mummy Medicine The Guthole Bromance The Unkillable Phineas Gage Max Drank Poopy Water Heroes of Misguided Medicine: Robert Liston Golden Showers of Health Miracle Cure-All: Radium Dr. John Romulus Brinkley The Doctor Is In Q&A Just (Four) Humour Me The Camel Dung Miracle Part Three: The Weird The Dancing Plague Bad Medicine: Tobacco for Health The Seasick-Proof Saloon Miracle Cure-All: Vinegar The Doctor Is In Q&A Heroes of Misguided Medicine Part Four: The Awesome The Poison Squad Bad Medicine: Self Experimentation Eat Your Chocolate! Heroes of Misguided Medicine Parrot Fever Miracle Cure-All: Honey The Miraculous Polio Vaccine The Doctor Is In
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review
SpaceAce
Pickpick

Quite a bit of overlap on topics between this book and the podcast, but the art is a wonderful addition.

I have the 2nd edition, and some of the page numbers referenced weren‘t updated from the 1st edition, and are incorrect. That‘s my only nitpick!

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Zephsomething
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Y‘all please read the whole thing there aren‘t enough characters for me to type it all out (I tried)

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Zephsomething
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Y‘all I‘m so excited to sit on my porch handing out candy and reading this book

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RainyDayReading
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Pickpick

Another humorous look at how far we have come in modern medicine. Most of the stories in here (dancing plague, mercury, lobotomies etc.) I already knew. But it was such an enjoyable reading experience because of the wit and humor the authors managed to weave into some pretty gross stuff. I will say this book had more typos, missing words and editing goofs than any other book I have read prior. I‘m surprised none of them were caught 👇🏻

RainyDayReading But aside from that and the rather abrupt ending this is a new favorite! It‘s just a shame the editor/publisher didn‘t put as much effort into the presentation of the book that the authors obviously put into the content. #bookspinbingo 4y
31 likes1 stack add1 comment
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rachelsbrittain
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Pickpick

Highly recommend for any fans of medical history, random trivia, &(of course) the podcast this book is based on. Learn the fascinating, horrifying, & often gross history of medicine. Mostly familiar ground for listeners (though told with wonderful humor &added details). More than usual copy edit issues, but I remember some trouble with the publisher at time of publication so that may be why. Either way, an excellent, informative, worthwhile read.

ShyBookOwl I love this podcast, but I'm worried the book will just be a re-hash of episodes. Is it a very different experience? 4y
jillrhudy Checking out this podcast ASAP 4y
rachelsbrittain @ShyBookOwl honestly if you're looking for entirely new content it's probably going to disappoint. It covers most of the same topics. I still enjoyed it because it was a good refresh, totally captured their voices, included some added details, and had lots of great illustrations and pictures. But yeah, overall it's a similar experience if you've listened to every episode 4y
See All 6 Comments
rachelsbrittain @jillrhudy I highly highly recommend it!! 4y
ShyBookOwl @rachelsbrittain gotcha. Good to know! 4y
Tera66 I love the podcast! This is great! 4y
45 likes3 stack adds6 comments
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rachelsbrittain
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Don't mind if I do! One book on time travel and another on medical history--can't go amiss with all of that.

catiewithac Very nice chair! 4y
night_shift I'm really wanting Sawbones! 4y
rachelsbrittain @UnidragonFrag I just finished & throughly enjoyed it! 4y
night_shift @rachelsbrittain cool! Glad to hear it wasn't bad! 4y
48 likes1 stack add4 comments
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rachelsbrittain
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Treated myself to a birthday trip to the bookstore (after finally getting to see Endgame) 😍

Airykah13 I just looked up Red, White & Royal Blue and it sounds so cute! Gonna have to read that one soon 5y
wanderinglynn Happy birthday! 🥳🎉 5y
rachelsbrittain @Airykah13 it's so good!! I actually already read it and loved it so much I decided I needed a physical copy 😅 5y
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AmyG Happy Birthday! 🎂🎁🎈 5y
theresidentromantic Those socks are a delight, are they at least a little wool ish? 5y
TheSpineView Happy birthday! 5y
CaliforniaCay Happy Birthday!! 🥳🥳🎉🎊🎈🎁 5y
rachelsbrittain @theresidentromantic they are so incredibly soft!! 5y
52 likes11 comments
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SassenachTheBookWizard
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Mehso-so

Oph this book was...weird to listen to as just an audiobook so keep that in mind with my review.

I know much of it is adapted from the podcasts by the authors but it's everywhere. There's no focus. The information is interesting but I feel so scatter brained in a million different directions. Each section didn't flow into each other. That being said, loved the narration and I'll look into the podcast.

70 likes1 stack add
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SassenachTheBookWizard
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I couldn't resist this Audible Daily Deal the other day so it'll be my non-fiction read of the month

readingjedi I so want this! Enjoy 😁 5y
56 likes1 comment
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ralexist
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Pickpick

A highly irreverent look at medical history. I picked this up because of the reading challenge prompt "Related to a Podcast". I'm not a podcast listener so it took me a while to find something. You'll find lots of tidbits in this but beware the typos and lack of citations, though it never claims to be a serious study. This had me chuckling at the ridiculosity of some of the things humans went through just to make themselves feel better.

ShyBookOwl YES!! Literally listening to the latest Sawbones episode atm 😆 5y
Cinfhen A few others chose this one too!! All had positive reviews 😃💕 5y
33 likes1 stack add3 comments
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thereadingowlvina
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Pickpick

I loved this hilarious read - #BookRelatedToAPodcast for my #Booked2019 challenge 😂💕

Rating: 5🌟

For my full review please visit https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2725515118

@4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen

Cinfhen Yay 🥳🥳🥳 5y
36 likes1 comment
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MicrobeMom
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Pickpick

This was a fun read about the mishaps of medicine throughout time. I really enjoyed the writing which was fun and light through many serious and gross topics, and I loved the illustration! #booked2019 #relatedtoapodcast

wordzie 😎 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage Thanks for this review! @SkeletonKey just DNFd so I was worried I‘d hate it. I love medical history, so was hoping it‘d be fun. 5y
SkeletonKey @BarbaraTheBibliophage - I‘m notoriously picky about stuff, don‘t mind me... it‘s a fun book, I hope you enjoy! 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @SkeletonKey Haha. I‘m not always an easy sell either! 5y
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SkeletonKey
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Mehso-so

This was a DNF because I‘m not sure I understand books based on Podcasts. For the most part, I prefer listening to the Podcast for the information AND I already feel guilty for spending reading time listening to it, so I do not then want to reread the information. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Oh well. To each their own.

#podcasts #sawbones #booked2019 @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

Megabooks I took it as you could read a book mentioned on a podcast like All the Books or The Reading Women. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I‘m not a big podcast fan either. 5y
SkeletonKey @Megabooks - Ooooh! That would have been a better interpretation for me. I like podcasts a lot but the books based on them seem to lack additional depth. 5y
Cinfhen Sorry it was a DNF! And @Megabooks is correct! You could have read any book that was mentioned on a podcast or however you chose to interpret. It‘s all good... move on to something else 5y
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SkeletonKey @Cinfhen - Thanks! 5y
LiterRohde And books related to podcasts do not all just rehash the same information as the podcast. I read the first book related to the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. While it was similar to the podcast, it was a whole new story that they were not going to tell on the podcast. Sometimes it‘s a great way to get more of what you love from the podcast. Plus, I found mine in audiobook format, so it was like listening to the podcast. (edited) 5y
SkeletonKey @LiterRohde - I tried to read that one too, but got sidetracked! Might try again someday, audio is a good idea. But there are so many things in the world to read. 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage I‘ve been wondering about this book. Does the outline match podcast episodes? Or is it new content in the same style? 5y
SkeletonKey @BarbaraTheBibliophage - It doesn‘t follow episodes, but it does group together information from the episodes into related categories (gross things, weird things, etc). It would be a great encyclopedia-type book of medical weirdness for younger people. 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @SkeletonKey Ah. Got it. Thanks. 5y
Cinfhen I wasn‘t able to find your new author pick, can you please remind me what you read so I can give you credit towards that prompt. Thanks 💚 5y
SkeletonKey @Cinfhen - Oh yes! I didn‘t realize you kept track. I tagged you, it was How Long Til Black Future Month. 5y
Cinfhen We track the books because at the end of every quarter we hold a drawing and for every prompt completed during that quarter you earn an entry 🥳 5y
SkeletonKey @Cinfhen - Oh neat!! That‘s awesome. 5y
40 likes13 comments
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SkeletonKey
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For the “Related to a Podcast” challenge of #booked2019.

Also pictured: library water bottle filled with cucumber water... because HYDRATE.

Also pictured: a very sweet valentine‘s day gift of a candle that‘s supposed to smell like BOOKS. Because someone knows me well.

#sawbones #books #hydrate #podcasts

Lindy Does that candle actually smell like books? 5y
SkeletonKey @Lindy - Naaaah, it‘s reminiscent but mostly vanilla-y. 5y
Lindy @SkeletonKey The paper in old books gives off a sort of vanilla smell as its compounds break down. So, I guess the candlemakers might have been trying to capture that. 5y
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SkeletonKey @Lindy - I‘ve read that! It‘s a pleasant scent either way. 5y
sarahbarnes I need that water bottle. 😁 5y
SkeletonKey @sarahbarnes - I do have the power to get more 😁 5y
sarahbarnes Oooh...I would be interested in discussing that power with you further. 😁 5y
SkeletonKey @sarahbarnes - They‘re $5 at my library, can be shipped by me 😄 5y
sarahbarnes That‘s awesome! I‘m definitely interested! I would happily pay $5 + shipping. 5y
sarahbarnes I can email you my address, and get the $$ to you however is easiest for you! 5y
35 likes1 stack add10 comments
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PathfinderNicole
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Pickpick

I love the McElroys and when I saw Justin wrote this with his wife I wanted to try it despite never listening to the Sawbones podcast. I did end up enjoying the content and found it full of typical McElroy humor. That said, the editor did an awful job. The book was full of spelling errors, grammar issues, duplicated sentences, and pages 205-212 were straight up glued together. Still a pick since the enjoyment of the content outweighs the errors.

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Expandingbookshelf
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Please go buy this book!

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Expandingbookshelf
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I love this book 🤣

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Apbowman92
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Getting in some good reading before all the Christmas chaos. I love the Sawbones podcast and the book is equally great. #happychristmaseveeve #sawbones #justinmcelroy #drsydneemcelroy

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tracy.anne8
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Took the hubby to Barnes & Noble as part of his birthday today and found this book for myself. I can't wait to start this one. #barnesandnoble #nonfiction #medicine #history #medicalhistory #suckerforaprettybook #bookhaul

26 likes1 stack add
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sebrittainclark
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1. The Chilling Adventurers of Sabrina ( super dark/spooky comic about witches )

2. Carmilla ( vampire classic )

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ( witches and wizards )

4. Dread Nation ( Zombies )

5. Sawbones ( sometimes gruesome, sometimes just strange medical history )

I don't really read scary books, but I ended up being pretty on theme this month!

#SundayFunday

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danibel
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Currently reading

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sebrittainclark
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Book mail!

I've only flipped through a few pages, but the illustrations are gorgeous!

Suzze Looks cool. I hadn‘t heard of this podcast. I‘m going to check it out. 6y
sebrittainclark @Suzze I love the podcast! I save up episodes up listen to whenever I have to make a long drive! 6y
Suzze @sebrittain I‘m listening to the most recent one right now. Thanks for the tip. 6y
rachelsbrittain It's so pretty 😍😍😍 6y
69 likes4 comments
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Mindelan
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I‘ve been waiting for this one! In typical Sawbones fashion, I am alternating constant giggling with horrified exclamations and loving it. I think much but not all of the material has been covered on the podcast, but they‘re bringing greater depth to the research and fresh goofs to the table. It‘s also packed with visuals, both historic illustrations and new ones from Teylor Smirl (Sydnee‘s sister!) which add a whole new dimension to the humor.

8 likes1 stack add
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sebrittainclark
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🥧 I love pretty much any pie. Unfortunately I can't eat most desserts right now.

🍫 While I love nuts, they have no business in a brownie

😓 I got a warning once when I was in college

🚗 Unsurprisingly, I mostly listen to podcasts in the car

Thanks @jesshowbooks #friyayintro

Thecoffeeqween Yay for pie! I was beginning to think I was the only one who loves pie! 6y
17 likes1 comment
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Phlamboyant
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Pre-order accomplished!

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Mindelan
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Just found out one of my favorite podcasts is putting out a book next fall! Can‘t wait to snap this up. They tell stories of early medical/science history, and occasionally delve in to slightly more modern pseudoscience as well. As a science educator, I love hearing them using evidence-based reasoning to confront questionable practices, but also making it funny accessible to non-experts.

Mindelan I would like to question why Sydnee McElroy (the MD/researcher coauthor) is not listed in the short title description. Is there a way to flag this for review? (edited) 6y
sebrittainclark I am so excited to read this! 6y
Mindelan @sebrittain Me too! And it looks like it is being illustrated by Sydnee‘s sister Teylor too. I hope they have some diagrams of the room from the episode about the seasick-proof saloon. It‘s one of my favorites 🤣 6y
8 likes3 comments