The Chirurgeon’s Apprentice in The Huffington Post
I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve been featured in The Huffington Post! Click HERE to read more!
Let’s Talk about Sex: Victorian Anti-Masturbation Devices
Perhaps it’s not something I’d blurt out at a dinner party, but between you and me, the number of anti-masturbation devices I come across in my research is astonishing! The Victorians were obsessed with preventing acts of self-love. Take the example to the left. This terrifying contraption is called a ‘jugum penis.’ It was designed […]
Syphilis: A Love Story
We don’t know much about her. We don’t even know her name. What we do know is that the woman who wore the above prosthetic lost her nose in the middle of the 19th century due to a raging case of syphilis. This deformity was so common amongst those suffering from the pox (as it […]
Silent Voices in History: The Searchers of the Dead
One could hardly imagine a more vile job than examining the putrid, bloated remains of diseased corpses during the early modern period. Yet that is exactly the task that befell the ‘searchers’ of the dead beginning in the 16th century. Who were they? And why do we know so little about them today? The […]
Medicine’s Dark Secrets: I need YOU!
A few months ago, I took to the streets and began filming a trailer for a television documentary called “Medicine’s Dark Secrets.” In it, I examined books made from human skin; explored the crypt of St Bride’s Church; and learnt how to tie nooses with the Ravenmaster at the Tower of London. It was an […]
The Chirurgeon’s Apprentice in The Lancet
‘I never feel more alive than when I am standing amongst the rows and rows of anatomical specimens at St Bartholomew’s Pathology Museum in London, UK. In one jar floats the remains of an ulcerated stomach; in another, the hands of a suicide victim.’ Read the full article in The Lancet here.
The Dead Man’s Poem (Twas the Night before Christmas)
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the lab, A dead body lay stiff and cold on the slab, The curious public all jammed in the theater, To witness justice be brought to a traitor The instruments were laid by the table with care, In hopes the anatomist soon would be there. At last came […]
‘The Medicalisation of Evil’ – The Guardian
As a medical historian whose research focuses on a time and place very alien to our own, I rarely comment on current events. However, in the wake of the recent school massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, I would like to discuss briefly what I would characterise as the ‘medicalisation of evil.’ […]
The 12 Instruments of Deathmas (Fa-la-la-la-la!)
The holidays rarely afford me an opportunity to engage with others about my favourite subjects. Try opening a conversation at a festive party with: “So, did you know that a decapitated head may retain consciousness for 6 seconds after death?” Trust me, it usually doesn’t go down well. But that got me thinking – surely […]
Abraham Lincoln: Conversations with the Dead
My love affair with history began with Abraham Lincoln. Now, you may have a mental picture in your mind of a little girl with long blonde curls sitting on the couch reading about ‘Honest Abe.’ Allow me to shatter that image. I was never little. Well, at least not physically. I was always about half […]