If you’ve ever worried about catching a cold from a co-worker who came into work when he (or she) should’ve taken a sick day, then this episode is for you.

A granddaughter sets out to find the roots of her grandmother’s obsession with Vicks Vaporub. The little blue jar ends up changing their relationship.  

When Mathilda Crisp was three years-old, she got sick. She stopped sleeping through the night, but during the day, she would fall asleep without warning — during a swim lesson, for example, or straight into her cereal bowl at breakfast. For one doctor, figuring out what was making this little girl sick was just the beginning of an even bigger medical mystery.

Jennifer Jako spent a lifetime trying to explain a single mistake she made. In this episode, we tell the story of that mistake and how it ultimately took a secret experiment buried deep inside one of America’s favorite television shows to help correct the record.

Who knew counting a crowd would be so… political? If the election felt contentious, the inauguration seemed to make the country even more divided, between "us" and "them." After many gathered on the Washington Mall for President Trump's inauguration and the Women’s March the following day, Only Human looks to social psychology to explain what happens to us as individuals when we become part of a crowd.

To understand crowds, Paul Wertheimer threw himself into the mosh pit — literally. 

Only Human is working on an episode about the psychology of crowds. We're looking at what happens to us as individuals when we join a rally, a ceremony or a protest -- such as inauguration, or the Women’s March on Washington. And we need your help! This survey will help us understand what kind of effect these events might have on us, whether you're attending in person or watching from home. It should just take a couple minutes. Thank you!

The 2016 election has certainly felt stressful. But what is the Trump-Clinton saga actually doing to us, physically? It turns out there’s a way to measure this. Researchers at the University of Nebraska have been looking at the intersection of biology and politics, and they teamed up with us to conduct an election stress experiment. We scattered across the city and managed to get more than 100 liberals and conservatives to give us spit samples to test their stress levels. And we found some...

We have this idea of what therapy is supposed to look like. There’s a couch. An objective therapist sitting across the room scribbling notes. But of course it’s not that simple. In this episode, six short stories, many from our listeners, looking at how the role of patient and therapist can get... complicated.

Earlier this year, North Carolina passed HB2, the so-called "bathroom bill." But the state is also home to one of the few clinics for transgender kids in the South. This week, we spend some time in that clinic, at Duke University's Children's Hospital, to find out how these patients are coping.

Robert Hoge doesn’t look like most people. He was born with severe defects; growing up, he had to get used to people calling him “ugly.” This week, Robert reflects on the lie we all tell ourselves: that it’s what on the inside that counts, and looks don’t matter. And he tells us what happens when the way you look forces you to confront that, every day.  

Is laughter really the best medicine? This week, Mary Harris and Studio 360’s Kurt Andersen try to find out. We go to laughter yoga in New York, an improv class for doctors and nurses in Chicago, and talk to some brain scientists about why humans laugh in the first place.

Poet Max Ritvo is back on our show this week, for what he’s calling his “farewell tour".The 25-year-old has spent years living with terminal cancer and says he’s now at the end of his road. But in typical Max fashion there are as many laughs as there are tears.

When Rose was growing up, she knew something wasn't quite right about how she heard the world. But every time she got a hearing test at the audiologist's office, she aced them. It took her years to figure out what was happening — until she met Professor Nina Kraus. What began as a quest to solve a mystery about one woman’s hearing lead to a discovery not about faulty ears, but about how all of our brains process sound. (Rebroadcast)

Marc Edwards uncovered the dangerous lead in Flint’s water last year. Like a lot of other people crusading for change, he discovered the struggle isn’t just about getting the science right. It’s also about convincing people to listen.

For some people, there is no “getting over” being sick. There’s just an occasional break from the pain. Three people tell Only Human what it’s like when life hands you a vacation from disease and then sends you home again.

As the Supreme Court nears its decision on a landmark abortion case, we revisit a favorite episode. Dr. Willie Parker, a devout Christian, refused to perform abortions in his early career. Then he heard a Martin Luther King Jr. speech that changed his mind. (Originally aired Feb 2, 2016)

In part three of our mental health series we meet Rachel Star Withers, a fearless woman with schizophrenia who offers a rare snapshot of mental illness on YouTube. Follow along on Facebook at Only Human Podcast.

Medical school culture isn’t known to be open about mental health issues. But many students like Giselle suffer from intense anxiety and depression. And she doesn’t want to stay silent. This is part two of our mental health series. Follow along on Facebook at Only Human Podcast.

What happens when you’re becoming a psychologist but you’ve  never come clean to your own family about your struggles with mental health? This is the dilemma Rose confronts, and she lets us eavesdrop when she finally confesses to her mother that she’s been depressed most of her life.

Scientist Paul Quinton has lived twice as long as expected for someone with cystic fibrosis. He also made a discovery that led to a breakthrough treatment for the disease. But now that this new drug is available, who gets to decide how much it costs?

Native Americans have struggled with poor access to health care for many years. Two doctors who grew up on reservations are trying to change that, one patient at a time.

Jay Alan Zimmerman is a musician who has been losing his hearing over the past several decades. As his hearing worsened, Jay considered other professions, but couldn’t imagine a life without music. Now he’s trying to decide if he’ll risk the unknown and participate in experimental research to try to gain back all he’s lost. (Rebroadcast)

Prenatal screening keeps getting more precise, more accessible, and less stressful -- at least in terms of the basic procedure. But what happens when these tests catch something? This week, the life and death decisions that come with genetic information.

A young woman with diabetes hacks her insulin pump and takes DIY medicine to a new level. But could she find herself in trouble with the federal government?