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The Human Subject

Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw investigate the threads connecting modern-day medicine to its often brutal origins.

Radio 4,11 episodes

Episodes

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The Trauma Victims and their Blood
Martha Milete’s life changes one night in 2006 when two masked men break into her house.
15 Sep 2024,28 mins
The Gay Man and the Pleasure Shocks
Patient B-19 signs up to a treatment plan, hoping it will change his desire for men.
08 Sep 2024,28 mins,
The Man with an Artificial Windpipe
It’s 2011 and Andemariam Beyene is out of options. One surgeon seems to provides hope.
01 Sep 2024,28 mins
The Boy with an Ice Pick in his Brain
The story of a young boy's encounter with a Dr known as The Travelling Lobotomist
25 Aug 2024,28 mins
The Mothers of Gynaecology
Seventeen-year-old Anarcha has just had a baby, but there’s a problem.
18 Aug 2024,28 mins,
The Farmers and The Goat Testicle Transplants
A farmer visits the town doctor and asks for a goat testicle transplant.
11 Aug 2024,28 mins
The Woman Who Resisted Mind Control
At only 16 years old, Lana Ponting is court ordered to the infamous Allen Institute.
04 Aug 2024,28 mins,
The Children Whose Teeth Were Destroyed
Patients at a mental institution in Sweden are given excessive amounts of toffee.
28 Jul 2024,28 mins
The Prisoners Used for Their Skin
A young man unwittingly agrees to medical experimentation in a Philadelphia prison.
21 Jul 2024,28 mins,
The Man with a Hole in His Stomach
A teenager is accidentally shot in the stomach. A doctor finds an opportunity.
14 Jul 2024,28 mins
Introducing The Human Subject
The Human Subject uncovers stories connecting modern day medicine to brutal origins.
05 Jul 2024,3 mins