The Human Subject

In The Human Subject, Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw investigate the threads connecting modern day medicine to its often brutal origins.This is the story of patient B-19, a 24-year old who, in 1970, walks into a hospital in Louisiana troubled by the fact that the drugs he’s been abusing for the past three years are no longer having the desired effect. He claims he is “bored by everything” and is no longer getting a “kick” out of sex. To Dr Robert Heath’s intrigue, B-19 has “never in his life experienced heterosexual relationships of any kind”. Somewhere along the way, during the consultations, the conclusion is drawn that B-19 would be happier if he wasn’t gay. And so they set about a process that involves having lots of wires sticking out of his brain. Julia and Adam hear from science journalist and author, Lone Frank, author of The Pleasure Shock: The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor. Presenters: Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw Producer: Simona Rata Assistant Producer: Mansi Vithlani Executive Producer: Jo Meek Sound Design: Craig Edmondson Commissioner: Dan ClarkeAn Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4

In The Human Subject, Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw tell the story of Andemariam Beyene, an engineering student from Eritrea studying in Iceland. In 2011 he was desperate for a cure to the large tumour discovered in his trachea. He had tried surgery and radiotherapy and nothing had worked. Dr Paolo Macchiarini, Karolinska Institute's star surgeon presents himself as Andemarian's best and last option. He proposes an experimental treatment - but one that has never been done before on a human being. Andemariam would be the first. Unfortunately, he agrees to it. Julia and Adam speak with Karl-Henrik Grinnemo, a professor in cardiothoracic surgery at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden, who was at Karolinska Institute during Paolo Macchiarini's tenure.Presenters: Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw Producer: Simona Rata Assistant Producer: Mansi Vithlani Executive Producer: Jo Meek Sound Design: Craig Edmondson Commissioner: Dan ClarkeAn Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4

This is the story of 12 year old Howard Dully. The year is 1960. His stepmother is finding him to be ‘unbelievably defiant’ so she takes him to a private California hospital. There he is evaluated by Dr Walter Freeman who diagnoses him with childhood schizophrenia. For this he prescribes a brutal procedure which would alter Howard’s life forever - a lobotomy. Dr Freeman performed thousands of these operations across the United States, including on Rosemary Kennedy, JFK’s sister. Julia and Adam hear from Jack El-Hai, journalist, medical writer and author of The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness.Presenters: Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw Producers: Rufaro Faith Mazarura and Simona Rata Assistant Producer: Mansi Vithlani Executive Producer: Jo Meek Sound Design: Craig Edmondson Commissioner: Dan ClarkeAn Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4.

In The Human Subject, Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw investigate the threads connecting modern day medicine to its often brutal origins.This is the story of a 17 year old enslaved girl - Anarcha - and the other enslaved women who gave birth to the field of gynaecology. The year is 1845 and Anarcha has just had a baby. But there’s a problem. She is in great pain and her doctor, J Marion Sims, believes nothing can be done about it - at least at first.She has developed a vesico-vaginal fistula, a hole between her bladder and her vagina. This leaves her incontinent and in the doctor’s words: “aside from death, this was about the worst accident that could have happened to the poor young girl”. In search of a cure Anarcha would be experimented on 30 times. Julia and Adam hear from Dr Deirdre Cooper Owens, a professor at the University of Connecticut and the author of Medical Bondage: Race, Gender and the Origins of American Gynaecology.Presenters: Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw Producers: Simona Rata and Rufaro Faith Mazarura Assistant Producer: Mansi Vithlani Executive Producer: Jo Meek Sound Design: Craig Edmondson Commissioner: Dan ClarkeAn Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4.