If you have a medical question, where do you turn? How often is google or social media your first stop? As you sift through the AI overview and countless reels professing to have the answers, it becomes harder and harder to separate fact from fiction. Do these supplements actually do what they promise? Should I be wary of this commonly prescribed medication? Even if you’re not directly seeking this information, it finds you anyway, preying on health anxieties and promising an easy fix. In this week’s TPWKY book club episode, Dr. Deborah Cohen, medically-trained, award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and editor, joins me to discuss the implications of this flood of health misinformation, which she explores in her recent book Bad Influence: How the Internet Hijacked Our Health. From podcast bros touting peptide injections to TikTok influencers swearing by supplements, Cohen demonstrates that the internet is a wild west in desperate need of consumer protections. But it has also been a double-edged sword, providing community and connection alongside these bad actors. How can we continue to leverage the good of the internet to democratize health information while putting guardrails on nefarious wellness influencers hawking lies for profit? Tune in to find out.

Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/3WwtIAu

<p dir="ltr">If you have a medical question, where do you turn? How often is google or social media your first stop? As you sift through the AI overview and countless reels professing to have the answers, it becomes harder and harder to separate fact from fiction. Do these supplements actually do what they promise? Should I be wary of this commonly prescribed medication? Even if you&rsquo;re not directly seeking this information, it finds you anyway, preying on health anxieties and promising an easy fix. In this week&rsquo;s TPWKY book club episode, Dr. Deborah Cohen, medically-trained, award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and editor, joins me to discuss the implications of this flood of health misinformation, which she explores in her recent book&nbsp;<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3175/9780861549887" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bookshop.org/a/3175/9780861549887&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1785943837943000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2gLJkuUzzHt34s1mB66aiR">Bad Influence: How the Internet Hijacked Our Health</a>. From podcast bros touting peptide injections to TikTok influencers swearing by supplements, Cohen demonstrates that the internet is a wild west in desperate need of consumer protections. But it has also been a double-edged sword, providing community and connection alongside these bad actors. How can we continue to leverage the good of the internet to democratize health information while putting guardrails on nefarious wellness influencers hawking lies for profit? Tune in to find out.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: <a href="https://bit.ly/3WwtIAu">https://bit.ly/3WwtIAu</a></p>

This podcast might not actually kill you, but Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke cover so many things that can. In each episode, they tackle a different topic, teaching listeners about the biology, history, and epidemiology of a different disease or medical mystery. They do the scientific research, so you don’t have to.
 
Since 2017, Erin and Erin have explored chronic and infectious diseases, medications, poisons, viruses, bacteria and scientific discoveries. They’ve researched public health subjects including plague, Zika, COVID-19, lupus, asbestos, endometriosis and more.

Each episode is accompanied by a creative quarantini cocktail recipe and a non-alcoholic placeborita.

Erin Welsh, Ph.D. is a co-host of the This Podcast Will Kill You. She is a disease ecologist and epidemiologist and works full-time as a science communicator through her work on the podcast. Erin Allmann Updyke, MD, Ph.D. is a co-host of This Podcast Will Kill You. She’s an epidemiologist and disease ecologist currently in the final stretch of her family medicine residency program.

This Podcast Will Kill You is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including science, true crime, comedic interviews, news, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, Buried Bones, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast and more.

This Podcast Will Kill You

This podcast might not actually kill you, but Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke cover so many things that can. In each episode, they tackle a different topic, teaching listeners about the biology, history, and epidemiology of a different disease or medical mystery. They do the scientific research, so you don’t have to.
 
Since 2017, Erin and Erin have explored chronic and infectious diseases, medications, poisons, viruses, bacteria and scientific discoveries. They’ve researched public health subjects including plague, Zika, COVID-19, lupus, asbestos, endometriosis and more.

Each episode is accompanied by a creative quarantini cocktail recipe and a non-alcoholic placeborita.

Erin Welsh, Ph.D. is a co-host of the This Podcast Will Kill You. She is a disease ecologist and epidemiologist and works full-time as a science communicator through her work on the podcast. Erin Allmann Updyke, MD, Ph.D. is a co-host of This Podcast Will Kill You. She’s an epidemiologist and disease ecologist currently in the final stretch of her family medicine residency program.

This Podcast Will Kill You is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including science, true crime, comedic interviews, news, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, Buried Bones, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast and more.

Special Episode: Deborah Cohen & Bad Influence

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/eab0ca20-1916-4813-9dfa-b49c0102f738/transcript