A podcast episode about the medical history of sexual diseases with Cat Irving and Anthony Delaney. *Warning: this episode contains discussions of puss* Gonorrhea and syphilis are no laughing matter, especially in a time before antibiotics. How were symptoms first recorded, and what were the disturbing treatments people endured? Joining Anthony today as a special guest co-host is Cat Irving, Human Remains Conservator at Surgeons’ Hall in Edinburgh, to take us back through this gruesome history. 0:00 Introduction 0:37 The dark history of sexual disease 1:08 Early records and symptoms of gonorrhoea 5:01 Where does the phrase 'the clap' come from? 7:56 Brutal historic treatments for gonorrhoea 20:07 The public stigma and symptoms of syphilis 32:45 Which famous people in history had sexual diseases? 35:28 The devastating 1495 European outbreak 41:17 Mercury and historical remedies 46:40 The Contagious Diseases Act and state control 51:23 From salvarsan to penicillin: finding a meaningful cure 53:21 The horrors of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment 57:00 Why we must remember the history of medicine Edited by Anna Brant and Hannah Feodorov. Produced by Stuart Beckwith and McKenna Fernandez. Senior Producer is Freddy Chick. After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. All music from Epidemic Sounds. #HistoryHitPodcast #AfterDark #MedicalHistory