Tired of conflicting health claims? Dr. Joe Schwarcz helps you spot scientific misinformation and discover the truth behind health trends and nutrition news.

Episode Resources

• Better Not Burn Your Toast (Book)
• McGill Office for Science and Society (OSS)
• NPR: A History of Snake Oil Salesmen
• The Andrew Wakefield Study Retraction (NCBI)
• National Cancer Institute: Acrylamide and Cancer Risk
• The Road to Wellville by T.C. Boyle

We are constantly bombarded by conflicting studies and bold marketing claims about what we should eat or avoid. Dr. Joe Schwarcz joins the show to help us navigate this sea of scientific misinformation and separate actual evidence from clever marketing. As an author of over 20 books, he explains why the "latest study" might not be the final word on your health and how to remain skeptical of loud voices in the wellness space.

The conversation covers everything from the history of snake oil and the rise of phrenology to the modern-day risks of ultra-processed foods. Dr. Joe breaks down how the peer review process actually works and why "burnt toast" might not be the carcinogen you fear. You will also hear the bizarre history of John Harvey Kellogg’s "sanitarium" and why ancient traditions like eating kimchi are still relevant in the age of modern probiotics.

If you are looking to sharpen your critical thinking skills and stop falling for wellness influencers' clickbait, this episode is for you. You will learn how to balance a health-conscious lifestyle with the simple joy of eating without getting lost in the noise of pseudoscience.

Discover The Strength of Water memoir, a powerful story of Chinese reverse immigration. Learn how one woman survived moving from 1920s Detroit to a rural Chinese village.

Episode Resources:

• Get your copy of "The Strength of Water" by Karin K. Jensen
• Connect with Karin K. Jensen

In this incredible interview, author Karin K. Jensen shares the astonishing true story behind The Strength of Water memoir, a book that details her mother's unbelievable journey of perseverance. Born in America, her mother Helen was taken to a remote Chinese peasant village in the 1930s at just 11 years old. After surviving war, disease, and near-starvation, she fought her way back to the United States alone as a teenager. How does a person endure such immense hardship and not only survive, but build a life of strength and independence? This episode uncovers a story of resilience you won't soon forget.

Join us as we explore the profound narrative of this unique memoir about a Chinese mother, as told by her daughter and author, Karin K. Jensen. We delve into the complex history that shaped this family's destiny, starting with the paper sons and daughters history that allowed her grandfather to immigrate to the U.S. despite the Chinese Exclusion Act. Karin paints a vivid picture of her mother's early life in a 1920s Detroit Chinese laundry, a world that was abruptly torn away. The conversation details the extreme culture shock Helen experienced in the reverse immigration story, moving from a modern American city to a Cantonese village with no electricity or modern medicine. We discuss the family dynamics with her new stepmother, the harrowing experience of contracting malaria and malnutrition, and being left for dead on a "death board." Throughout the discussion of The Strength of Water memoir, Karin highlights the unwavering spirit that drove her mother to survive. The story follows Helen's return to America, her work as a teen domestic in California, the pain of a difficult first marriage to a man with a gambling addiction, and her ultimate triumph in achieving financial independence and finding true partnership. This is more than just a Chinese reverse immigration story; it's a testament to the power of a mother's dream for a better life and the strength that can be found in the face of impossible odds.

About Our Guest:

Karin K. Jensen is the author of "The Strength of Water," a powerful memoir written in the voice of her mother, Helen. By meticulously interviewing her mother, aunts, uncle, and other family members, Karin reconstructed a lost piece of Chinese-American history, capturing her mother's incredible journey from an American-born child to a survivor of 1930s rural China and back again.

Timestamps / Chapters:

(00:00) The Unbelievable Reverse Immigration Story of Helen Chu

(01:32) Writing in a Mother's Voice: Capturing Authenticity

(03:40) The Journey to America: Understanding the "Paper Son" System

(06:12) Life in a 1920s Detroit Chinese Laundry

(15:23) Culture Shock in Reverse: Returning to a 1930s Cantonese Village

(23:57) Illness and Survival: A Brush with Death in Rural China

(27:14) The Kindness of Strangers: Securing a Passage Back to America

(33:01) Trapped in a Difficult Marriage and the Hidden Cost of "Settling Down"

(37:14) Building Financial Independence and Finding True Partnership

(39:07) The Meaning Behind the Title: "The Strength of Water"

(40:08) What's Next? Adapting the Story for the Screen

Discover the Doctor's Riot of 1788 and the grim history of body snatching. Learn about 18th-century anatomy riots and the shocking modern-day black market for body parts.

Episode Resources:

• Get your copy of "Doctors' Riot of 1788: Body Snatching, Bloodletting, and Anatomy in America" by Andy McPhee
• Connect with Andy McPhee

In 1788, a furious mob stormed the streets of New York, not over taxes or tyranny, but over stolen corpses. This was the Doctor's Riot of 1788, a violent clash that exposed the grim underworld of 18th-century medical science. What drove medical students to dig up fresh graves in the dead of night? In this episode, we're joined by author Andy McPhee to discuss his book, The Doctor's Riot of 1788, and uncover the shocking history of body snatching, a practice that, in some forms, continues to this day. We explore the central dilemma: how could medicine advance without access to the one thing society refused to give?

The history of body snatching in America is a dark and fascinating tale of science, ethics, and social class. Author Andy McPhee details how, five years after the Revolutionary War, New York City was a tinderbox of tension. Medical students at New York Hospital, desperate for cadavers to study anatomy, regularly stole bodies from the "Negroes Burial Ground." While the city's Black population protested, their pleas were ignored. The situation exploded only when students began taking bodies from the white Trinity church graveyard. The riot was sparked by a medical student, likely John Hicks, Jr., who taunted a young boy by dangling a dismembered arm from a window, claiming it was the boy's recently deceased mother. This single act ignited days of chaos, pitting a mob against founding fathers like John Jay and Baron von Steuben, who tried - and failed - to quell the violence.

This episode delves into the legal and moral gray areas of the time, explaining the critical difference between body snatching and grave robbing; one was a minor offense, the other a serious crime. This legal loophole allowed "resurrectionists" to flourish, supplying medical schools across the country. McPhee reveals that the Doctor's Riot was not an isolated incident but one of many "anatomy riots" that occurred at medical schools across the young nation, from Baltimore to Vermont's "Hubbardton Raid." The conversation then takes a startling turn to the present, revealing the horrifying reality of modern body snatching. We discuss the case of "Masterpiece Theater" host Alistair Cooke, whose bones were stolen and sold after his death, and the recent Harvard Medical School morgue scandal involving Cedric Lodge, showing how an unregulated "body broker" market continues to exploit the dead for profit.

About Our Guest:

Andy McPhee is a historical nonfiction author and the writer of The Doctor's Riot of 1788. In this interview, he shares his meticulous research process, which involved diving into digital archives like HathiTrust, archive.org, and Newspapers.com to piece together this forgotten chapter of American history and verify sources from a time when journalism was notoriously biased.

Timestamps / Chapters:

(00:00) The Shocking Story of the Doctor's Riot

(01:33) How the Author Discovered This Forgotten History

(09:11) Body Snatching vs. Grave Robbing: The Critical Difference

(10:42) The Unbelievably Mild Penalties for Stealing a Corpse

(16:04) The Spark: John Hicks Jr. and the Arm in the Window

(20:09) Founding Fathers vs. The Mob: How Hamilton & John Jay Faced the Riot

(28:37) The Barbaric State of 18th-Century Medical Science

(31:53) Racial Tensions and the Unwritten Rules of Body Snatching

(35:45) Modern Body Snatching: The Alistair Cooke & Harvard Morgue Scandals

(41:39) "Mary's Ghost": A Haunting Poem from the Era