This Podcast Will Kill You
Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts
This podcast might not actually kill you, but Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke cover so many things that can. In each episode, they tackle a different topic, teaching listeners about the biology, history, and epidemiology of a different disease or medical mystery. They do the scientific research, so you don’t have to.
Since 2017, Erin and Erin have explored chronic and infectious diseases, medications, poisons, viruses, bacteria and scientific discoveries. They’ve researched public health subjects including plague, Zika, COVID-19, lupus, asbestos, endometriosis and more.
Each episode is accompanied by a creative quarantini cocktail recipe and a non-alcoholic placeborita.
Erin Welsh, Ph.D. is a co-host of the This Podcast Will Kill You. She is a disease ecologist and epidemiologist and works full-time as a science communicator through her work on the podcast. Erin Allmann Updyke, MD, Ph.D. is a co-host of This Podcast Will Kill You. She’s an epidemiologist and disease ecologist currently in the final stretch of her family medicine residency program.
This Podcast Will Kill You is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including science, true crime, comedic interviews, news, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, Buried Bones, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast and more.
Since 2017, Erin and Erin have explored chronic and infectious diseases, medications, poisons, viruses, bacteria and scientific discoveries. They’ve researched public health subjects including plague, Zika, COVID-19, lupus, asbestos, endometriosis and more.
Each episode is accompanied by a creative quarantini cocktail recipe and a non-alcoholic placeborita.
Erin Welsh, Ph.D. is a co-host of the This Podcast Will Kill You. She is a disease ecologist and epidemiologist and works full-time as a science communicator through her work on the podcast. Erin Allmann Updyke, MD, Ph.D. is a co-host of This Podcast Will Kill You. She’s an epidemiologist and disease ecologist currently in the final stretch of her family medicine residency program.
This Podcast Will Kill You is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including science, true crime, comedic interviews, news, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, Buried Bones, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast and more.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 24, 2026 • 1h 33min
Ep 204 Cancer Part 3: How do we treat it?
A wide-ranging look at how cancer treatments evolved from radical surgery to targeted and immune-based therapies. They tour the history of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy and why approaches shifted. Modern advances like stereotactic radiation, CAR T cells, and precision medicine get attention. The conversation also touches on treatment trade-offs, access disparities, and research funding challenges.
Mar 17, 2026 • 46min
Special Episode: Lawrence Ingrassia & A Fatal Inheritance
Lawrence Ingrassia, journalist and author who traced his family’s cancer history, explores Li-Fraumeni syndrome and the discovery of the TP53 mutation. He weaves personal loss with the 1960s race to understand hereditary cancer. Listens cover scientific breakthroughs, how families were traced, and the emotional aftermath of finding a genetic cause.
15 snips
Mar 10, 2026 • 1h 19min
Ep 203 Cancer Part 2: Why does it happen?
They examine how normal cell processes can be hijacked to become cancerous and why multicellular life makes cancer unavoidable. Topics include how tumors dodge growth controls, disable cell death, and alter metabolism. The conversation frames cancer as an evolutionary problem, explores Peto’s paradox across species, and outlines evolution-informed treatment ideas like adaptive therapy.
17 snips
Mar 3, 2026 • 1h 36min
Ep 202 Cancer Part 1: What is it?
A four-part series kickoff that unpacks how cancer is clinically defined and diagnosed. It traces historical shifts in understanding from ancient descriptions to Virchow’s cell theory. The conversation covers why cancer became more visible in the 20th century, how cancers are classified and staged, and what makes tumors malignant.
Feb 24, 2026 • 56min
Special Episode: Jon Adams and Edmund Ramsden & Rat City
What happens if you put a bunch of rats in an enclosure and provision them with unlimited food and water? Researcher John B. Calhoun was committed to finding out. Results from Calhoun’s “rat utopia” experiments from the mid-20th century revealed a behavioral dark side that emerged as space grew increasingly limited, ultimately leading to complete population collapse. As headlines conveyed dire warnings about global overpopulation, Calhoun’s work served to reinforce those fears and shape our understanding of the importance of personal space. In this week’s TPWKY book club episode, Jon Adams and Edmund Ramsden join me to discuss their book, Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B. Calhoun. Tune in for a fascinating a tour through Calhoun’s bizarre and influential research, which even inspired a beloved (if a little creepy) children’s book and movie, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/3WwtIAuSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 17, 2026 • 1h 22min
Ep 201 Poop Part 2: Flushed away
Poop is an incredibly valuable and massively underutilized resource. However, most of us don’t see it that way because of our evolutionarily ingrained disgust towards poop. Flush toilets and intricate sewer systems have revolutionized health and hygiene by whisking our poop far away where we don’t have to think about it. But that poop has gotta go somewhere, and eventually, not thinking about it isn’t going to be an option. Similarly, not thinking about our individual poop is asking for disaster, since what we produce can reveal a great deal about our gut and overall health. In this episode, we explore the problems that poop can cause on both the individual and population level. From constipation to fiber, and the Great Stink to communal poop sponges, we’re continuing our journey into the curiously fascinating world of poop. Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/3WwtIAuSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9 snips
Feb 10, 2026 • 1h 12min
Ep 200 Poop Part 1: How the sausage gets made
A deep dive into what makes poop and how digestion produces it. A walkthrough of the digestive tract, sphincters, transit time, and the microbiota that dominate stool. Surprising ecological angles from dung beetles to whale ambergris and uses of feces in fuel, paper, and research. A call to rethink disgust and see poop as an ecological resource.
11 snips
Feb 3, 2026 • 1h
Special Episode: Nicola Twilley & Frostbite
Nicola Twilley, journalist and food writer behind Gastropod and the book Frostbite, unpacks the hidden history of refrigeration. She traces the cold chain from ice harvesting to home fridges. Short takes cover early preservation methods, how cooling reshaped meat and produce markets, and refrigeration’s growing climate cost and possible low-energy alternatives.
13 snips
Jan 27, 2026 • 1h 11min
Ep 199 Sleep Part 2: Predictably unpredictable
They trace how industrialization and artificial light reshaped human sleep and challenge the myth of a single “natural” pattern. Historical accounts of segmented nights, midnight activities, and bedding culture get examined. They highlight wearables, sleep anxiety, and how medical metrics narrowed what counts as normal. The episode ends by weighing public health trends, risks of short or long sleep, and the need for societal flexibility.
21 snips
Jan 20, 2026 • 1h 14min
Ep 198 Sleep Part 1: Sleeping with one eye open
Explore the mysteries of sleep, a universal experience shared by many species. Delve into the different components of human sleep and how it compares across animals. Discover the surprising effects of genetics and life stages on sleep needs. Learn about unique behaviors like unihemispheric sleep in dolphins and how ecological factors influence sleep strategies. Unpack the scientific components of sleep measurement and what it reveals about our nightly rhythms. Join the hosts as they unravel why we need sleep, including energy conservation and memory consolidation.
