AROUSED! A history of hormones!

How about a guided tour through the strange science of hormones and the age-old quest to control them?

Metabolism, behavior, sleep, mood swings, the immune system, fighting, fleeing, puberty, and sex: these are just a few of the things our bodies control with hormones. Armed with a healthy dose of wit and curiosity, medical journalist Randi Hutter Epstein takes us on a journey through the unusual history of these potent chemicals from a basement filled with jarred nineteenth-century brains to a twenty-first-century hormone clinic in Los Angeles.

Brimming with fascinating anecdotes, illuminating new medical research, and humorous details, Aroused introduces the leading scientists who made life-changing discoveries about the #hormone imbalances that ail us, as well as the charlatans who used those discoveries to peddle false remedies. Epstein exposes the humanity at the heart of hormone science with her rich cast of characters, including a 1920s doctor promoting vasectomies as a way to boost libido, a female medical student who discovered a pregnancy hormone in the 1940s, and a mother who collected pituitaries, a brain gland, from cadavers as a source of growth hormone to treat her son. Along the way, Epstein explores the functions of hormones such as leptin, oxytocin, #estrogen, and #testosterone, demystifying the science of endocrinology.

A fascinating look at the history and science of some of medicine’s most important discoveries, Aroused reveals the shocking history of hormones through the back rooms, basements, and labs where endocrinology began.

Musical Guest: Mya Adriene Byrne is an American singer-songwriter falling mostly in the Americana vein, a combination of folk, blues and country music. Out and proud, she is a leader for the presence of queer #trans women in country and Americana, and is one of the first two trans artists to play AmericanaFest. Recently featured on Reba’s Top Ten remix of “I’m A Survivor” (on mandolin & lap steel), Byrne was named a 2022 Artist to Watch by Nashville Scene/CMT, and wrote and performed the theme song for Amazon Music’s Country Heat podcast hosted by Kelly Sutton. Her new single, “Autumn Sun”, is out now.