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Society’s running a fever, and two sharp-witted physicians are on the case. Surgeon-scientist Arghavan Salles dives into social media’s wildest trends, while anesthesiologist-bioethicist Alyssa Burgart follows news and legal cases for their ethical twists. Together, they examine the cultural, political, and public health symptoms of our time with scalpel-sharp analysis, unflinching questions, and enough humor to keep us all going.
24 Episodes
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Stryker cyber attack by Handala Hackers; Iran’s new supreme leader - is he even alive?; DOGE dummy Justin Fox can’t explain DEI; Timmy Chalamet messes with the wrong opera house DOGE & DEI: Arghavan’s video about the DOGE bro who can’t even define DEIStryker Attack: Ransomware Attacks and Data Breaches in US Health Care SystemsAl Jazeera reportingHow ‘Handala’ Became the Face of Iran’s Hacker CounterattacksCybercrime integration in Iran’s governmentIran Power: Summary of Mojtaba Khamenei’...
Our first guest is Dr. Kaveh Hoda of The House of Pod! Persian Tarof culture; a new supreme leader in Iran; the US can't decide on its war messaging; a disagreement over favorite Persian foods. Iran episode on The House of PodIsraeli oil strikes in TehranAll the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East TerrorIranian women's soccer players labeled traitorsChurchill’s Hiccup/ Winston's SneezeSamin Nosrat’s top 10 Persian recipesThanks for listening to The Present Illness with D...
Overnight war with Iran; Casey Means’ confirmation hearings; Newsom sucks Hillary & Bill ClintonNewsom diminishes trans peopleKansas revokes trans people’s driver’s licensesWar in Iran Iranians celebrateSchool bombing; gravesGolestan Palace damagedIRGC threatsLatest tally of deathsUS sinks unarmed Iranian shipWH's video gameBreaking Veteran's armCasey Means Senate confirmation hearingCarte BlancheStrong’s The Bad Science of Casey Means’ Good EnergyMeans’ exit from residencyMAHA, Means, an...
State of the Union bingo card; US Mens Hockey squanders the good vibes; RFK Jr’s HHS gets sued yet again for illegally messing with vaccination; Punch updates; Angry Quilters; Gen Z slang Men’s Hockey Squanders Good Will Some of the US men’s hockey team reactions to the response to their “locker room talk”Ellen Hughes’s commentsHilary Knight’s reaction to the US men’s hockey teamArghavan’s post about the US men’s hockey team cavorting with the presidentHockey mom Sara WilesAndy Murray knows h...
Go Team USA! Weird Workout with RFK Jr; ICE harming kids in detention; Gisele Pelicot speaks out about her husband's abuse Hilary Knight is the greatest US women’s hockey scorer everRFK Jr and Kid Rock working outDystopian Daycare in Dilley Hundreds of kids detained > 20 day Flores rule limit.Two measles cases confirmed at the Dilley family detention center2-month-old Juan Nicolás developed respiratory illness requiring hospitalization. Family deported immediately after hospital release.18...
Epstein dirty money in Medical Education; Should we make babies in outer space?; Olympian’s relationship fumble; Knitting the resistance; Possum cake (yeah you read that right) Epstein’s Ties to Medical Education Fact check! The representative Arghavan referred to who brought up the email from survivors is Thomas Massie, not Anthony Massie. Arghavan’s video summarizing Les Wexner’s relationship with Epstein and Ohio State (with references)Virginia Giuffre’s 2016 deposition in which she names ...
“Longevity” Doctor Peter Attia in Epstein Files 2,000 times; How to Leave Open Comments on Fed Regs Banning Gender Affirming Care; Bad Bunny’s Big Week; Trump wants women to smile more. Dr. Peter Attia and the Epstein Files What the president said to Kaitlan CollinsArghavan’s summary with screenshots of Attia’s emailsAttia hangs out with Epstein while his baby is critically illPeter Attia’s statementPeter Attia keeps CBS News role despite being in the Epstein files almost 2,000 timesAlyssa’s ...
The doctors thrive on spite; Nurse Alex Pretti; Iran Update; How cheap bots/trolls drive disinformation Note: we had an audio issue for the first few minutes of the episode (4:55). Iran Update: Per Iran International, internal documents from Iran suggest the regime killed at least 36,500 protesters between January 8th and January 9th, 2026Arghavan’s carousel about Iran that got a lot of trolls/bots/not nice people in the commentsSome sources for learning what’s happening in Iran (these ...
Unethical research in Guinea-Bissau; Robots won’t fix maternity care deserts; Louisiana tries to extradite California doctor. Americas public health system teeters on the edge of an ICU admission thanks to the abysmal leadership of RFK Jr and his Clown Car of Public Health officials. This week, the doctors discuss the origins of proposed unethical and exploitative research in Guinea-Bissau. Next, Louisiana attempting to extradite a California doctor for prescribing abortion medications. And D...
This week: famed author's son dies after anesthesia, the "war on protein", and Arghavan's views on protests in Iran. Join Arghavan and Alyssa as they into the 'war on protein' narrative propagated by RFK Jr, the tragic story of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's toddler son’s death following an anesthetic in Nigeria, and the ongoing protests in Iran. They discuss: New Dietary Guidelines, AKA the end of non-existent " War on Protein" Kevin Klatt, PhD, RD (Univ. of Toronto) analyzes the new dietary gui...
Activation Warning: This episode discusses SA, CSAM, state violence. In the first feverish episode of The Present Illness in 2026, the Doctors discuss the tumultuous events of winter break, including significant changes in vaccination policies, a big win for abortion rights, ICE actions in Minnesota, and the dangers of Elon Musk’s Grok. Abrupt CDC Child Vaccine Rollback AAP, APHA lawsuit against HHS moves forward Grok’s gross contribution to the winter break. Elon happy to push Grok, an...
In their final episode of 2025, Drs. Salles & Burgart perform a brief examination of the Vanity Fair exclusive featuring Trump's new White House staff. Our physician hosts dissect the viral photoshoot that's causing more raised eyebrows than a Botox convention, with special attention to the inflammatory rhetoric surrounding Susie Wiles and her supporting cast of characters. The physicians perform a thorough examination of HHS cutting AAP funding while also funding an extremely unethi...
In this episode, the doctors perform a clinical examination of the pathological messaging aimed at young men by right-wing influencers like Nick Fuentes. They dissect the misogyny spreading through social media platforms, with particular attention to the inflammatory rhetoric that leads to dangerous attitudes toward women. The prognosis? With a strong dose of media & gender literacy, recovery is possible. Touré’s fact checks on the Diddy doc (this & this); Jeff Pearlman’s insights. Ke...
In this week's episode, Drs. Salles and Burgart perform a critical examination of academic freedom under attack, focusing on the viral case of an Oklahoma pre-med student who's created a fever pitch of controversy by turning in shoddy work and targeting her transgender professor. The doctors dissect how right-wing influencers are turning classroom disagreements into national culture war symptoms, with concerning implications for academia's immune system. Our hosts investigate the alarming tre...
The doctors perform an emergency triage on the state of public health leadership this week, starting with a scathing dissection of The Atlantic's profile of RFK Jr. that seemingly skipped the fact-checking department. Drs. Salles and Burgart administer a strong dose of reality as they examine how mainstream media continues to platform dangerous health misinformation with fewer guardrails than a pediatric rollercoaster. Their differential diagnosis extends to the newest clown to emerge from th...
Activation Awareness: This episode discusses serious pregnancy complications and the dismissal of women's health concerns. In this week's episode of The Present Illness, Drs. Arghavan and Alyssa deliver a stat consultation on two viral stories about Black women receiving substandard obstetric care. With surgical precision, they dissect the case of Karrie Jones at Dallas Regional Medical Center, who was kept in a wheelchair for admitting questions while in active labor, and Mercedes Wells, who...
Join Drs. Arghavan Salles and Alyssa Burgart as they don their sterile gloves to dissect the web of connections surrounding Mr. Pedophile Criminal, Jeffrey Epstein, in "The Epstein of It All." The doctors examine how powerful men shield each other from consequences - and compound harms to survivors. Arghavan shares her social media deep dive into the recently released Epstein emails about Donald Trump, including those with journalist Michael Wolff and former Harvard Dean Larry Summers. These ...
In this electrifying episode of The Present Illness, Drs. Arghavan and Alyssa examine America's complicated relationship with lady voters. Our physician hosts unpack the historical struggle for women's voting rights with their characteristic wit, dissecting how gender equality at the ballot box has changed our political anatomy. Fresh from the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities conference, Alyssa shares insights on disability bias in ethics consultations and the lesser-known ...
Arghavan & Alyssa diagnose America's latest nutrition emergency as SNAP benefits face potential cuts. They dissect the economic consequences of food insecurity with surgical precision while examining the bizarre phenomenon of billionaires hoarding wealth like it's toilet paper in a pandemic. The doctors perform a thorough examination of: The alarming case of disappearing SNAP contingency funds (prognosis: sus)How cutting food assistance creates a cascade of symptoms across the economyBill...
TikTok is up for sale in America, but Arghavan and Alyssa are not into it. They discuss the implications of TikTok's potential sale and its impact on privacy and social media dynamics. They explore how social media influences relationship norms, particularly through examples of weaponized incompetence in partnerships. The conversation shifts to public health, focusing on the importance of hepatitis B vaccination for children and the challenges posed by misinformation in healthcare. They also ...
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