What travel teaches you about the human body, with Dr. Jonathan Reisman

Episode 186 April 19, 2022 00:45:16
What travel teaches you about the human body, with Dr. Jonathan Reisman
Deviate
What travel teaches you about the human body, with Dr. Jonathan Reisman

Apr 19 2022 | 00:45:16

/

Hosted By

Rolf Potts

Show Notes

“Once I started medical school and my scalpel met the cadaver’s skin, I discovered that exploring the body felt quite similar to exploring the outside world.”  –Jonathan Reisman

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Jonathan talk about how doctors and travel writers and both be generalists, and how travel puts can put us into a new relationship with our bodies (1:30); what travel to a place like India can teach you about toilet hygiene (7:00); what eating unfamiliar or strange-seeming food on a journey can teach you about the body (15:00); culturally specific ideas about fat, eating fat, and the idea of being fat (21:00); what Americans are getting wrong about health, nutrition, technology, and the human body (31:00); how the pineal gland regulates sleep, and what we know about it (35:00); and how travel helps us understand how our bodies work (42:00).

Dr. Jonathan Reisman (@jonreismanMD) is an internist, pediatrician and ER physician, and author of The Unseen Body: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy.

Notable Links:

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

Other Episodes

Episode 156

March 09, 2021 00:47:56
Episode Cover

Pam Houston on home, and the beauty of our pared-down lives [encore]

“How do we become who we are in the world? We ask the world to teach us.” – Pam Houston In this episode of ...

Listen

Episode 0

May 07, 2019 02:39:18
Episode Cover

Ari Shaffir unpacks Rolf’s experience of doing psychedelics for the first time

“In the end, you’ll have this [psychedelic] experience that people paint about, people write about, and musicians compose songs about.” – Ari Shaffir Ari...

Listen

Episode 252

March 04, 2025 00:37:07
Episode Cover

Travel memoir lab: On blending travel narrative with a broader memoiristic life-narrative

“We do a lot of writing alone, in our own space. But writing is not a solitary practice. The business of writing requires a...

Listen