The Present Illness
Episodes
Pope Leo takes on AI; Ashley St. Clair Spills Hot MAGA Tea
29 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Pope Leo takes on AI in first encyclical; Ashley St. Clair spills hot MAGA tea; UFC fight at the White House; Ronnie Chieng commencement speechRFK Jr ...
Replay: The Professor Will See You Now (If they still have a job)
22 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Replay: Academic freedom under attack; viral case of an Oklahoma pre-med student's targets her transgender professor; Erika Kirk's terrible ...
Rich Folks Complain About Helicopters Carrying Sick Kids and Shingles Vaccine May Prevent Dementia
15 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Seattle’s Laurelhurst community vs. Seattle Children’s Hospital; Shingles Vaccine may reduce dementia; Hantavirus scare; American dialects; Zaffro...
Telehealth Abortion under Attack, plus Bedside Betrayal in Canada Court’s Sloka Case
08 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
5th Circuit Mifepristone chaos heads to Supreme Court; Canadian judge let’s off doctor for SA; Clit art; Golden Tempo; and bee huts!Hunter Peterson ...
A Liver is Not a Spleen
01 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Surgeons need to know anatomy; Voting is good; SCOTUS conflicts of interest; pediatric society hosts unscientific panel on trans kidsSCOTUS decision o...
Everybody Pees + Abuse Academy
24 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Where’s the bathroom?; digital sexual violence; Buck v. Bell turns 99; RFK Jr’s hearings; Bhattacharya is actually fine with censorship;RFK Jr: Tr...
Shut Down Dilley Detention Center with Dr. Lara Jones
17 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Pediatrician Dr. Lara Jones discusses advocating to free children from ICE detention facilities. Follow her @AskLaDoctora.Kids in ICE DetentionThe 19t...
We're Overwhelmed Too, But We'll Take the Cool Moonshots
10 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Crossing our fingers to avoid nuclear war; Pentagon goes after the pope; Artemis sends back dope pictures of the moon and earthIranTrump violates inte...
Forced Gene Testing and Surgery
03 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
IOC resumes harmful sex gene testing; forced c-sections with zoom court rooms; The Lancet profiles our host!; A woman goes to the moon; Alyssa recomme...
Mayo Med Student + ICE at the Airport
27 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mayo medical student’s videos go viral in the bad way; medical misogyny; Match Day memories; ICE at the airports; husbands learn about pelvic examsM...
A Testosterone Filled Nothing Burger (Plus Rare Good News!)
20 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
RFK loses ACIP lawsuit; Pediatricians fight ICE; Boy Boss Documentary disappoints us (Review of Inside the Manosphere); WNBA players get a raiseMarch ...
Pro-Iran Hackers Attack US Healthcare Giant Stryker
13 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Stryker cyber attack by Handala Hackers; Iran’s new supreme leader - is he even alive?; DOGE dummy Justin Fox can’t explain DEI; Timmy Chalamet me...
Persian Politeness with Dr. Kaveh Hoda
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Our first guest is Dr. Kaveh Hoda of The House of Pod! Persian Tarof culture; a new supreme leader in Iran; the US can't decide on its war messag...
New War with Iran and Bad Energy with Casey Means
06 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Overnight war with Iran; Casey Means’ confirmation hearings; Newsom sucksHillary & Bill ClintonNewsom diminishes trans peopleKansas revokes tran...
Men's Hockey Goes From Hero to Zero
27 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
State of the Union bingo card; US Mens Hockey squanders the good vibes; RFK Jr’s HHS gets sued yet again for illegally messing with vaccination; Pun...
ICE's Dystopian Daycare (+ Gisèle Pelicot)
20 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Go Team USA! Weird Workout with RFK Jr; ICE harming kids in detention; Gisele Pelicot speaks out about her husband's abuseHilary Knight is the gr...
Epstein's Dirty Medical Money (plus Space Babies!)
13 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Epstein dirty money in Medical Education; Should we make babies in outer space?; Olympian’s relationship fumble; Knitting the resistance; Possum cak...
Protect Trans Kids, Not Peter Attia
06 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
“Longevity” Doctor Peter Attia in Epstein Files 2,000 times; How to Leave Open Comments on Fed Regs Banning Gender Affirming Care; Bad Bunny’s B...
Diabolical Dictators and Online Trolls
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The doctors thrive on spite; Nurse Alex Pretti; Iran Update; How cheap bots/trolls drive disinformationNote: we had an audio issue for the first few m...
Robots, Research & Rubik's Cubes
23 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Unethical research in Guinea-Bissau; Robots won’t fix maternity care deserts; Louisiana tries to extradite California doctor.Americas public health ...
Too Much Propofol
16 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This week: famed author's son dies after anesthesia, the "war on protein", and Arghavan's views on protests in Iran.Join Arghavan ...
Time to Block Grok
09 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Activation Warning: This episode discusses SA, CSAM, state violence. In the first feverish episode of The Present Illness in 2026, the Doctors discus...
White House's Fever Dream Photoshoot
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn their final episode of 2025, Drs. Salles & Burgart perform a thorough examination of the Vanity Fair exclusive featuring Trump&ap...
Marriage gap? Blame Nick Fuentes.
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, the doctors perform a clinical examination of the pathological messaging aimed at young men by right-wing influencers l...
The Professor Will See You Now (If They Still Have a Job)
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week's episode, Drs. Salles and Burgart perform a critical examination of academic freedom under attack, focusing on the vi...
The Atlantic Lost Its Fact Checkers
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe doctors perform an emergency triage on the state of public health leadership this week, starting with a scathing dissection of The A...
Labor & Dismissal
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textActivation Awareness: This episode discusses serious pregnancy complications and the dismissal of women's health concerns.In this w...
The Epstein of It All
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJoin Drs. Arghavan Salles and Alyssa Burgart as they don their sterile gloves to dissect the web of connections surrounding Mr. Pedophil...
Lady Voters
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this electrifying episode of The Present Illness, Drs. Arghavan and Alyssa examine America's complicated relationship with lady ...
SNAP, Crackle, Billionaire
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textArghavan & Alyssa diagnose America's latest nutrition emergency as SNAP benefits face potential cuts. They dissect the economic...
This Man Does Not Like You
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textTikTok is up for sale in America, but Arghavan and Alyssa are not into it. They discuss the implications of TikTok's potential sale...
Vaccine Debate and Very Loud Ladies
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, Drs. Arghavan Salles and Alyssa Burgart dive into the world of vaccine misinformation, examining a debate between scien...
Death by Wellness Influencers: Paloma Shemirani
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode of "The Present Illness," hosts Arghavan Salles and Alyssa Burgart delve into the tragic story of Paloma Shemi...
The Shutdown Shuffle
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this fever dream of an episode, Arghavan and Alyssa perform a thorough examination on America's latest government shutdown drama...
Tylenol, Autism & the Clown Car of Public Health
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this engaging first episode of "The Present Illness," physician-hosts Arghavan Salles and Alyssa Burgart delve into the com...