The AD-FREE version of this episode and all of our others is available right now on Patreon. My special guest tonight is author Nathan Belofsky who's here to enlighten you about the unbelievable medical practices used in the past. Wanna listen to the shows without the ads? Become a 'Mysterious Radio Truther' to enjoy every podcast "AD-FREE" right now! Follow us on Instagram @mysteriousradio Follow us on Twitter @mysteriousradio Follow us on Pinterest pinterest.com/mysteriousradio Like us on Facebook Facebook.com/mysteriousradio Visit our website: https://www.mysteriousradio.com Now published in five languages, Strange Medicine casts a gimlet eye on the practice of medicine through the ages that highlights the most dubious ideas, bizarre treatments, and biggest blunders. From bad science and oafish behavior to stomach-turning procedures that hurt more than helped, Strange Medicine presents strange but true facts and an honor roll of doctors, scientists, and dreamers who inadvertently turned the clock of medicine backward: * The ancient Egyptians applied electric eels to cure gout. * Medieval dentists burned candles in patients' mouths to kill invisible worms gnawing at their teeth. * Renaissance physicians timed surgical procedures according to the position of the stars, and instructed epileptics to collect fresh blood from the newly beheaded. * Dr. Walter Freeman, the world's foremost practitioner of lobotomies, practiced his craft while traveling on family camping trips, cramming the back of the station wagon with kids--and surgical tools--then hammering ice picks into the eye sockets of his patients in between hikes in the woods. Strange Medicine is an illuminating panorama of medical history as you've never seen it before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices