''This Podcast Will Kill You'' is an American

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

hosted by disease ecologists and

epidemiologists Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke. Its first full-length episode was released on October 31, 2017. New episodes were released weekly until the second season, when they were released every two weeks. Each week a different

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

is covered, the majority of which being infectious, but some exceptions have occurred, such as

scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

in episode 19. ''"''This Podcast Will Kill You" is part of the Exactly Right Podcast Network, created by the hosts of "

My Favorite Murder ''My Favorite Murder'' is a weekly true crime comedy podcast hosted by American comedians Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. The first episode was released in January 2016. The podcast debuted at #25 on the iTunes podcast charts and peaked at ...

Structure of Episodes

Each episode is about an hour in duration and generally starts with a firsthand account of someone affected by the disease. After that, the hosts create a

mixed drink A mixed drink is a beverage in which two or more ingredients are mixed. Types * List of non-alcoholic mixed drinks -- A non-alcoholic mixed drink (also known as virgin cocktail, boneless cocktail, temperance drink, or mocktail) is a cocktail-st ...

that is connected to the disease, called a 'Quarantini', in a segment known as 'Quarantini time'. After this introduction, the

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

of the disease is explained, then history, epidemiology, and finally, the disease's effect on the modern world. Generally, Welsh tells the history of the disease and Updyke explains the biology epidemiology. Finally, the hosts cite the sources used to present the information, and supply a link to their website where the sources can be found.

History

Erin Allmann Updyke, co-host, has an M.S. from the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

and a Ph.D. from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

in epidemiology. Erin Welsh, co-host, has an M.S. in epidemiology from the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

and a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "The Erins," as they've coined themselves, started "This Podcast Will Kill You" because they felt that the medical knowledge that they have gained from their education rarely transfers out of the academia world. They wanted to make medical knowledge more accessible and easier to understand to the general public, without diluting it. Their first episode aired on October 31, 2017. In 2018, prior to launching Season 2, "This Podcast Will Kill You" joined The Exactly Right Network. In doing so, their downloads rose four times. The show was nominated for a 2019

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...

in the Science and Education Podcasts category. In 2020, they started a special series of episodes focusing on the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

List of Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

COVID-19 Series

To discuss the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the podcast introduced "The Anatomy of a Pandemic" series in which each episode tackles a particular aspect of COVID-19. This mini-series not only addresses the virus itself, but also addresses how it can impact mental health and cause societal disarray. The series reached its tentative end with Chapter 19. {, class="wikitable" , + !Season !Date !Episode !Title , - , Special , March 23, 2020 , Chapter 1 , COVID-19: Virology , - , Special , March 23, 2020 , Chapter 2 , COVID-19: Disease , - , Special , March 23, 2020 , Chapter 3 , COVID-19: Control , - , Special , March 23, 2020 , Chapter 4 , COVID-19: Epidemiology , - , Special , March 23, 2020 , Chapter 5 , COVID-19: Vaccines , - , Special , March 23, 2020 , Chapter 6 , COVID-19: Mental Health , - , Special , April 6, 2020 , Chapter 7 , COVID-19: Spillover , - , Special , April 9, 2020 , Chapter 8 , COVID-19: Disparities , - , Special , April 20, 2020 , Chapter 9 , COVID-19: Economics , - , Special , April 23, 2020 , Chapter 10 , COVID-19: Schools , - , Special , May 4, 2020 , Chapter 11 , COVID-19: Modeling (

Institute for Disease Modeling Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM) is an institute within the Global Health Division of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Established in 2008 as part of the Global Good Fund, a non-profit subsidiary of Intellectual Ventures (IV) funded by Bil ...

interview) , - , Special , December 10, 2020 , Chapter 12 , Control, Take 2 , - , Special , December 22, 2020 , Chapter 13 , Vaccines, Take 2 , - , Special , January 5, 2021 , Chapter 14 , Virology, Take 2 , - , Special , March 30, 2021 , Chapter 15 , Disease, Take 2 , - , Special , April 13, 2021 , Chapter 16 , Disparities, Take 2 , - , Special , April 27, 2021 , Chapter 17 , Frontline Mental Health , - , Special , May 11, 2021 , Chapter 18 , Conservation & Pandemics , - , Special , May 25, 2021 , Chapter 18 , Your Stories , - , Special , June 8, 2021 , Chapter 19 , Looking forward by looking back , -

References

Science podcasts 2017 podcast debuts Audio podcasts Educational podcasts American podcasts