Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine

Sawbones is the show where a family physician and her husband explore all the terrible, bizarre, and sometimes hilarious ways humans have tried to cure themselves throughout history. Dr. Sydnee McElroy handles the medical research while Justin McElroy provides the comedy, and the husband-wife dynamic gives the whole thing an easygoing, living-room feel that keeps you coming back. Running since 2013 with over 570 episodes under its belt, the show has covered everything from trepanning and bloodletting to modern wellness fads like mushroom coffee and dopamine detoxes. Episodes land weekly and clock in at a comfortable 30 to 50 minutes -- perfect for a lunch break or a quick workout session. The research is solid, and Sydnee has a knack for making genuinely dense medical history accessible without dumbing it down. Justin's role is more than just comic relief. He asks the questions a non-medical person would ask, which keeps the explanations grounded and prevents things from getting too jargon-heavy. Their chemistry is natural and unforced, and it's clear they actually enjoy making this show together even after more than a decade. With nearly 15,000 ratings and a 4.8-star average on Apple Podcasts, Sawbones has earned its reputation as one of the most entertaining medical shows available. It's not clinical education in the traditional sense, but it teaches you a surprising amount about why medicine works the way it does today by showing you all the wrong turns we took getting here. Part comedy, part history lesson, entirely worth your time.