This Podcast Will Kill You podcast

This Podcast Will Kill You

This podcast might not actually kill you, but Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke cover so many things that can. In each episode, they tackle a different topic, teaching listeners about the biology, history, and epidemiology of a different disease or medical mystery. They do the scientific research, so you don’t have to.   Since 2017, Erin and Erin have explored chronic and infectious diseases, medications, poisons, viruses, bacteria and scientific discoveries. They’ve researched public health subjects including plague, Zika, COVID-19, lupus, asbestos, endometriosis and more. Each episode is accompanied by a creative quarantini cocktail recipe and a non-alcoholic placeborita. Erin Welsh, Ph.D. is a co-host of the This Podcast Will Kill You. She is a disease ecologist and epidemiologist and works full-time as a science communicator through her work on the podcast. Erin Allmann Updyke, MD, Ph.D. is a co-host of This Podcast Will Kill You. She’s an epidemiologist and disease ecologist currently in the final stretch of her family medicine residency program. This Podcast Will Kill You is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including science, true crime, comedic interviews, news, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, Buried Bones, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast and more.

This podcast might not actually kill you, but Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke cover so many things that can. In each episode, they tackle a different topic, teaching listeners about the biology, history, and epidemiology of a different disease or medical mystery. They do the scientific research, so you don’t have to.   Since 2017, Erin and Erin have explored chronic and infectious diseases, medications, poisons, viruses, bacteria and scientific discoveries. They’ve researched public health subjects including plague, Zika, COVID-19, lupus, asbestos, endometriosis and more. Each episode is accompanied by a creative quarantini cocktail recipe and a non-alcoholic placeborita. Erin Welsh, Ph.D. is a co-host of the This Podcast Will Kill You. She is a disease ecologist and epidemiologist and works full-time as a science communicator through her work on the podcast. Erin Allmann Updyke, MD, Ph.D. is a co-host of This Podcast Will Kill You. She’s an epidemiologist and disease ecologist currently in the final stretch of her family medicine residency program. This Podcast Will Kill You is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including science, true crime, comedic interviews, news, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, Buried Bones, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast and more.

 

#293

Ep 215 The Hidden Depths of Earwax

In keeping with last week’s theme of “bodily excretions that are kinda gross t... more

07 Jul 2026

54 MINS

54:03

07 Jul 2026


#292

Ep 214 Boogers: Digging for treasure

Hard and crusty. Green and gloopy. Clear and watery. Boogers come in a veritable rainbow o... more

30 Jun 2026

1 HR 02 MINS

1:02:11

30 Jun 2026


#291

Special Episode: Dr. Carl Elliott & The Occasional Human Sacrifice

Stories of unethical medical experimentation often center around the individuals who spear... more

23 Jun 2026

57 MINS

57:48

23 Jun 2026


#290

Ep 213 Burns Part 2: It’s like sci-fi but real

At the turn of the 20th century, a severe burn was often a death sentence. Today, that is ... more

16 Jun 2026

58 MINS

58:56

16 Jun 2026


#289

Ep 212 Burns Part 1: The first million or so years

Burns have been a part of the human experience since our hominin relatives began controlli... more

09 Jun 2026

55 MINS

55:31

09 Jun 2026


#288

Special Episode: Alexandra Sifferlin & The Elusive Body

An accurate diagnosis can give us so much. It can give us a path forward. It can give us a... more

02 Jun 2026

51 MINS

51:15

02 Jun 2026


#287

Ep 211 Motion Sickness: It comes in waves

It comes on sneakily. You become aware of your stomach. You break out in a cold sweat. You... more

26 May 2026

1 HR 16 MINS

1:16:52

26 May 2026


#286

Ep 210 Histoplasmosis: Bats, birds, and budding yeast

Once thought to be a rare, always fatal disease, histoplasmosis is now recognized as one o... more

19 May 2026

1 HR 18 MINS

1:18:47

19 May 2026


#285

Special Episode: Dr. Olivia Weisser & The Dreaded Pox

In a time when smallpox, tuberculosis, measles, and typhus ran rampant through the streets... more

12 May 2026

51 MINS

51:02

12 May 2026


#284

Ep 209 Dietary Guidelines Part 2: Why is there protein in everything?

If you’ve come across the latest dietary guidelines, a few things may have caught yo... more

05 May 2026

59 MINS

59:11

05 May 2026


#283

Ep 208 Dietary Guidelines Part 1: Who’s behind these guidelines?

Over the decades, dietary guidelines have taken a diverse array of shapes, from pamphlets ... more

28 Apr 2026

57 MINS

57:58

28 Apr 2026


#282

Special Episode: Adam Kucharski & Proof

Why do we believe what we believe? Is what we believe the truth? How can we convince other... more

21 Apr 2026

50 MINS

50:06

21 Apr 2026


#281

Ep 207 Tear Gas: How can a chemical weapon be “humane”?

Tear gas is an expected, normalized part of protests today. But its use in international w... more

14 Apr 2026

1 HR 15 MINS

1:15:20

14 Apr 2026