60: An Iron Rod Through the Head (Patreon Bonus)

An Old Timey Podcast

True Crime, History, Comedy

4.9 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 June 2025

⏱️ 110 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Here’s a true story: In 1848, an iron rod shot through a man’s head. It smashed up under his cheekbone and came out the top of his skull.

Ready for the wild part? Despite the fact that the iron rod destroyed much of his brain’s left frontal lobe, he survived. Phineas Gage’s story baffled the medical community. His injury became one of the most talked-about medical events of the 19th century.

Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from:
Caulfield, Margo. “Cavendish Historical Society News: Phineas Gage Walking Tour.” Cavendish Historical Society News (blog), May 16, 2013. https://cavendishhistoricalsocietynews.blogspot.com/2013/05/phineas-gage-walking-tour.html. MacMillan, Malcom. An Odd Kind of Fame: Stories of Phineas Gage. MIT Press, 2002. “The Case of Phineas Gage (1823 - 1860) · Beyond the Bone Box,” n.d. https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/exhibits/show/beyond-the-bone-box/the-case-of-phineas-gage. The University of Akron, Ohio. “Anniversary at Cavendish,” n.d. https://www.uakron.edu/gage/anniversary.dot. Twomey, Steve. “Phineas Gage: Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient.” Smithsonian Magazine, n.d. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/phineas-gage-neurosciences-most-famous-patient-11390067/.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Missing minerals, 99% of us are. Concentrace daily mineral powder helps restore what your body's missing, naturally supporting mood, energy, and immunity. Get yours now at trace minerals.com.
0:15.1	Well, howdy folks. It's your favorite non-threatening boy, Normie C. here. And his wife.
0:21.3	Oh, you're just my wife.
0:23.2	You don't have a name.
0:24.3	I was kind of thinking about the Jetsons.
0:26.0	You know how it was like, Jane, his wife.
0:28.6	Yeah, she grabs his wall and goes shopping.
0:31.7	Is that how it goes?
0:32.7	Yeah.
0:33.1	God, what a sexist stupid.
0:34.9	I hate that I referenced it. And yet here we are. Let's talk about
0:38.3	something that's not sexist, Kristen. Okay. We're putting out our favorite bonus episodes in the
0:43.3	month of June while we're on break. No sexism is involved. This week we have one of my favorite
0:49.4	bonus episodes that I've done, an iron rod through the head. A fella named Phineas Gage gets into a horrible accident.
0:57.0	I do want to pause you, Norm, and just explain.
0:59.0	I giggled more because you look so excited about an iron rod through the head,
1:03.0	not because I find it funny that someone got an iron rod through the head.
1:07.0	Folks, this story is a lot lighter than it sounds, I will say.
1:16.5	It's an incredible tale of survival and how the human brain works.
1:18.1	We hope you enjoy it.
1:23.4	And if you really enjoy it, maybe you'll consider supporting us on patreon.com slash old-timey podcast.
1:25.6	And we have a hell of a deal going on right now, Chris. So why don't you tell the fine folks all about it?
	...

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