The Gay Man and the Pleasure Shocks
Itβs 1970, and after a long consultation with a psychiatrist, patient B-19 signed up to an experimental treatment plan, hoping it would change his desire for men.
In The Human Subject, Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw investigate the threads connecting modern day medicine to its often brutal origins.
This is the story of patient B-19, a 24-year old who, in 1970, walks into a hospital in Louisiana troubled by the fact that the drugs heβs been abusing for the past three years are no longer having the desired effect. He claims he is βbored by everythingβ and is no longer getting a βkickβ out of sex.
To Dr Robert Heathβs intrigue, B-19 has βnever in his life experienced heterosexual relationships of any kindβ. Somewhere along the way, during the consultations, the conclusion is drawn that B-19 would be happier if he wasnβt gay. And so they set about a process that involves having lots of wires sticking out of his brain. Julia and Adam hear from science journalist and author, Lone Frank, author of The Pleasure Shock: The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor.
Presenters: Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw
Producer: Simona Rata
Assistant Producer: Mansi Vithlani
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
Sound Design: Craig Edmondson
Commissioner: Dan Clarke
An Audio Always production for ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
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- Sun 8 Sep 2024 23:00ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
The Human Subjects Who Participated in Historyβs Darkest Medical Experiments
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The Human Subject
Investigating the threads connecting modern-day medicine to its often brutal origins.