Cautionary Conversation: In the 1920s, a conman convinced America that goat testicles were the secret to male virility. Tim Harford and Dr Kate Lister (Betwixt the Sheets podcast) dive into the bizarre and grisly tale of “Doctor” John Brinkley – a snake oil salesman who successfully mobilised the power of radio marketing. Brinkley built an empire on selling goat gland transplants and other quack “cures”.
He might have got away with it – were it not for the efforts of his nemesis, tenacious physician Dr Morris Fishbein.
You can listen to Betwixt The Sheets wherever you get your podcasts, created by our friends over at History Hit
Further reading
“That Troublesome Old Cocklebur:” John R. Brinkley and the Medical Profession of Arkansas, 1937-1942 by Albert J. Schneider
The Goat-Gland Transplantation by Sydney Blanchard Flower
The Bizarre Careers of John R. Brinkley by R. Alton Lee
John R. Brinkley: A Quintessential American Quack by Phillip C Smith
Nuts! Documentary film by Penny Lane