Drug Story: Ivermectin by 98% Invisible
I've been wondering why MAGA glammed onto Ivermectin as being good for anything that ails you?
Our local Fleet Farm here in Oshkosh had a note on the Ivermectin bin in the horse ailse, stating that it was NOT a recognized remedy for Covid. I wish I had a photo of that sign o' the time!
Drug Story is an independent documentary podcast from journalist Thomas Goetz that explores the hidden history of medicine one drug at a time. Each episode uses a single medication to examine the science, politics, culture, and human stories surrounding disease and treatment. And they are SO good.
This week, we’re featuring one of their episodes about ivermectin, from Nobel Prize-winning anti-parasitic breakthrough to one of the most polarizing drugs of the COVID era. Along the way, the story travels from hookworm outbreaks in the American South to river blindness campaigns in West Africa, before arriving in the modern world of internet cures, medical distrust, and viral misinformation. It’s a fascinating, deeply reported story about medicine, evidence, and how a genuine wonder drug became tangled up in politics, hope, and conspiracy.
