Cyclosporiasis cases have surged past 3,000 across at least 31 states this summer, with Michigan alone reporting more than 1,500 cases since late June — roughly 25 times its typical annual total. In this episode of The Shot, Tara breaks down what's driving the surge, why cases are concentrated in southeast Michigan, and what's still unconfirmed about the source. She also covers the clinical picture clinicians need to recognize, the testing pitfall that causes cases to be missed and the current treatment protocol.

Links

• CDC: Surveillance of Cyclosporiasis
• TODAY.com: Cyclospora Cases Reported in at Least 25 States
• Michigan Department of Health and Human Services: Outbreak of Cyclosporiasis Occurring in Michigan
• The Lancet Infectious Diseases: Human Cyclosporiasis, Giangaspero & Gasser (2019)
• Clinical Infectious Diseases: IDSA Guidelines for Infectious Diarrhea, Shane et al. (2017)
• American Family Physician: Common Intestinal Parasites, Pyzocha & Cuda (2023)

What do Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Carrie Fisher, Demi Lovato, and Brian Wilson all have in common? They’ve all lived — and created — with bipolar disorder. In this episode of Medical Media Mixer, Tara and Nicole pour the Bipolar Christy (a tart, jewel-toned vodka and pomegranate cocktail as mood-shifting as the condition itself) and dive deep into one of the most misunderstood mental health diagnoses of our time. They break down the clinical realities of bipolar I and II — mania, hypomania, depressive episodes, and everything in between — while exploring the complicated, often controversial relationship between bipolar disorder and creative genius. From Kanye’s documented four-month manic episode to Mariah Carey’s years of living in denial, to Carrie Fisher’s lifelong advocacy for mental health awareness, the stories of these artists humanize a condition that still carries enormous stigma. Tara and Nicole discuss what “mood episodes” actually look like clinically, how misdiagnosis remains a widespread problem, and what effective, evidence-based treatment looks like today — because recovery is possible, and productivity doesn’t require suffering.

Sources:

• Bipolar Christy — Cocktail Recipe
• Kanye West Details Bipolar Disorder 4-Month Manic Episode — E! Online
• Kanye West Apologizes for Antisemitic Remarks, Blames Bipolar Disorder — People
• Famous People With Bipolar Disorder — WebMD
• Celebrities With Bipolar Disorder: Selena Gomez & Others — The Flow Space
• Celebrities Share Self-Management Strategies for Bipolar Disorder — BP Hope
• Bipolar Disorder Fact Sheet — World Health Organization
• Bipolar Disorder — National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

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This week MMM hits the road for a Making Rounds episode, broadcasting live from Bellemara Distillery in Hillsborough, NJ — New Jersey's first single malt distillery, where every spirit is made grain-to-glass on-site. Sipping on their craft cocktails, Tara and Nicole dig into a stacked lineup: the Netflix dark comedy Sirens, where a sister's intervention unravels a cult-like world of wealth and control; the British psychological thriller Unchosen, exploring life inside a high-control religious community and the psychology of a dangerous awakening; the true crime documentary The Murder of Rachel Nickell, unpacking the controversial child-interview techniques used on Rachel's young son and the offender-profiling missteps that derailed the investigation for years; and a lighter palate cleanser with Jury Duty / Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat, looking at how a hidden-camera show finds and builds its real-life "heroes." Cheers to a packed episode, on location at Bellemara.

SHOW NOTES

What happens when the algorithm becomes your therapist, your confidant, and your reality? In this episode, Tara and Nicole use Brilliant Minds Season 2, Episode 13 — "The Rabbit Hole" — as a launchpad into one of the most urgent and underexamined mental health crises of the AI era: chatbot psychosis. When a patient arrives at Dr. Wolf's neurology unit in a full mental health break driven by her relationship with an AI chatbot, the show mirrors something clinicians are actually seeing right now. Tara and Nicole break down the clinical picture of AI-induced delusional amplification, why these chatbots are uniquely dangerous for vulnerable users, what psychiatry is doing to catch up, and what all of us — clinicians and patients alike — need to understand about this moment.

Sources:

• The Emerging Problem of AI Psychosis — Psychology Today
• Chatbot Psychosis — Wikipedia
• Psychiatrists Hope Chat Logs Can Reveal Secrets of AI Psychosis — UCSF
• When the Chatbot Becomes the Crisis — Pennsylvania Association for Psychotherapy
• Episode 253: AI Psychosis — Psychiatry Psychotherapy Podcast
• Brilliant Minds Recap: "The Rabbit Hole" — Nerds That Geek
• Ethereal Mind Cocktail — BarGPT

This week on Medical Media Mixer, we're pairing a sunrise in a glass with one of the most raw and courageous documentaries in recent memory. We're watching Introducing, Selma Blair (2021, Discovery+) — a film that follows actress Selma Blair through a years-long diagnostic odyssey, a harrowing stem cell transplant, and the daily reality of living with multiple sclerosis. Blair, best known for Legally Blonde and Cruel Intentions, went public with her MS diagnosis in 2018 after her symptoms were dismissed for years as stress and postpartum depression. This week, we break down what MS actually is, why it takes so long to diagnose — especially in women — and how a procedure that requires wiping out your entire immune system can be someone's best shot at a better life. We're sipping the Mountain Sunrise cocktail, a drink literally created to raise money for the National MS Society. Orange is the MS awareness ribbon color, and this drink earns its place on the table.

Sources & Further Reading

1. Jakimovski D, et al. Multiple Sclerosis. The Lancet. 2024.
2. McGinley MP, et al. Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis: A Review. JAMA. 2021.
3. GBD 2016 MS Collaborators. Global Burden of Multiple Sclerosis 1990–2016. Lancet Neurology. 2019.
4. Brownlee WJ, et al. Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis: Progress and Challenges. The Lancet. 2017.
5. Faissner S, Gold R. Efficacy and Safety of MS Drugs Approved Since 2018. CNS Drugs. 2022.
6. Piehl F. Current and Emerging Disease-Modulatory Therapies for MS. Journal of Internal Medicine. 2021.
7. Sriwastava S, et al. Recent Advances in Progressive MS Treatment. Journal of Neuroimmunology. 2024.
8. Chataway J, et al. Clinical Trials for Progressive MS. Lancet Neurology. 2024.
9. Reich DS, et al. Multiple Sclerosis. New England Journal of Medicine. 2018.
10. Introducing, Selma Blair — Documentary (2021). Available on Discovery+.
11. Mountain Sunrise Cocktail Recipe — Created for MS Awareness. Phoenix Magazine, 2018.
12. National Multiple Sclerosis Society

What does a mob boss in a bathrobe, a serial killer faking split personalities, and a bartender with a fabricated cocktail story all have in common? A great performance changes everything. In Episode 75, Tara and Nicole break down malingering and factitious disorder — two conditions where people fake, exaggerate, or manufacture illness — and why the distinction matters enormously in clinical and legal settings. Anchored by Primal Fear and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the episode explores real-world cases that read like fiction: Kenneth Bianchi's MPD charade exposed by forensic psychologist Dr. Martin Orne, and mob boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, who wandered Greenwich Village in a bathrobe for 30 years to dodge prosecution. Even the cocktail, the Seelbach, came with a completely invented origin story. This one has layers.

Sources:

• Malingering — BBC Future
• Malingering — Wikipedia
• Malingering — StatPearls/NCBI
• Malingering — Psychology Today
• Factitious Disorder — Mayo Clinic
• The Seelbach Cocktail's Fabricated Origin — Liquor.com
• Primal Fear — Wikipedia
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest — Wikipedia
• Hillside Strangler — Wikipedia
• Vincent Gigante — Wikipedia
• Seelbach Cocktail Recipe — Liquor.com

** TRIGGER WARNING FOR SA**

Episode Summary: In this episode, we examine The Pitt Season 2, Episode 7 and its portrayal of a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE). We explore how the episode handled the forensic exam process with realism and care, then break down what SANE nurses do in real life — including training requirements, certification, evidence collection, and trauma-informed practice.

• International Association of Forensic Nurses – About SANE https://www.forensicnurses.org/page/aboutSANE/
• International Association of Forensic Nurses – Certification Requirements https://www.forensicnurses.org/page/Certification/
• Nurse.org – Coverage of SANE Shortages & The Pitt S2E7 https://nurse.org/news/the-pitt-s2e7-sane-nurse-shortages/
• LA Times – The Pitt Rape Kit Exam Episode 7 Analysis https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2026-02-19/the-pitt-rape-kit-exam-episode-7
• Comic Book Club Live – Behind-the-Scenes on Season 2, Episode 7 https://comicbookclublive.com/2026/02/19/the-pitt-goes-the-distance-to-not-sensationalize-sexual-assault-in-season-2-episode-7/
• Epicurious – Nurse Aperitif Cocktail Inspiration https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/nurse-aperitif-cocktail-vermouth-jim-meehan