The Cadaver's Lessons
By: Bernadette & Samantha Smith
Language: en
Categories: Health, Fitness, Medicine, True Crime
The Cadaver's Lessons is a podcast that explores the strange, fascinating, and sometimes unsettling history of medicine. Each episode traces the origins of medical practices and rare or unusual diagnoses, examining why people believed in them, how they were used, and what they reveal about the people and societies behind them.From early anatomy and experimental treatments to cases where medicine and crime collide, this show examines what lessons the past has left behind. Some ideas evolved into the foundations of modern healthcare. Others? Definitely should have stayed buried.Episodes range in tone and focus: some lean heavily into medical...
Episodes
Case File: Amanda Feilding
Jan 09, 2026Amanda Fielding: Drilling into Consciousness
Medicine—and the mind—have always pushed against the edges of what we think is possible.
And some questions refuse to stay locked inside the skull.
Welcome to The Cadaver’s Lesson, a podcast exploring the strange, fascinating, and unsettling history of medicine. In this episode, we step away from the operating theater and into the realm of consciousness as we examine the life and work of Amanda Fielding—an aristocrat, artist, activist, and one of the most controversial figures in modern psychedelic research...
Duration: 00:22:20Trepanation: What’s a little hole in the skull?
Jan 05, 2026Trepanation: What’s a little hole in the skull?
Medicine has always been a little… experimental.
And some ideas refuse to stay buried.
Welcome to The Cadaver’s Lesson, a podcast exploring the strange, fascinating, and unsettling history of medicine. In this episode, we open the skull—carefully—to examine trepanation, one of humanity’s oldest surgical practices, and its surprising survival into modern medicine.
From ancient cultural rituals and early medical reasoning to battlefield trauma and emergency neurosurgery, we trace how drilling into the skull evolved into...
Duration: 00:59:07Welcome to the Table
Dec 28, 2025Medicine has always been a little… experimental.
And every lesson has a body count.
Welcome to The Cadaver’s Lesson, a podcast exploring the strange, fascinating, and unsettling history of medicine. From early anatomy and experimental treatments to rare diagnoses and cases where medicine collides with crime, we examine how medical ideas began, why they made sense at the time, and what they reveal about the people behind them.
Hosted by Bernadette (B), a true crime junkie drawn to psychology and moral gray areas, and Samantha (Sam), an ER Physician Assistant grounded in evidence and...
Duration: 00:10:49