Radiolab Presents: Viscera

Pain is one of the oldest problems humans have ever tried to solve. We’ve chewed leaves, smoked opium, invented anesthesia… and yet, until recently, we didn’t really understand how pain actually works. In this show, we follow an epic discovery journey involving giant squids, people who feel no pain, and others who feel far too much, to uncover the literal microscopic gates in our nerves that let pain signals through, and what it might mean for us if we can simply close them.

Radiolab Presents: Viscera. Gripping tales of the human body with Radiolab, hosted by correspondent Dr. Avir Mitra and Senior Producer Molly Webster.

This series of live podcasts explores the weird, wonderful, and often grotesque mysteries of the human body. By taking audience members along a journey into questions we have about our own bodies, a visceral experience is guaranteed.

Past installments include “The Elixir of Life,” a conversation exploring the ancient symbiotic experience of breastfeeding, “How to Save a Life, delving into the science of cardiac arrest, and ”Antibiotic Apocalypse," a search for answers to an alarming rise in antibiotic resistance bacteria.