CLASSIC: How Robert "The Fastest Knife In The West End" Liston Conducted A Surgery With A 300% Mortality Rate
Ridiculous History
iHeartPodcasts
4.2 • 4.7K Ratings
🗓️ 23 May 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
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Summary
In this week's Classic episode: It's no secret that hospitals can be intimidating, scary places -- but the medical operations of the modern day can't hold a candle to the grisly procedures of the 1800s. Back then, even some of the best surgeons still had about a one in ten chance of their patients dying during or shortly after a procedure. And Robert Liston was no exception. Listen in to learn how this otherwise top-notch surgeon managed to kill not only his patient, but also his assistant and some guy just standing nearby all in the course of one procedure gone horribly wrong.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Fellow ridiculous historians, first off, our hearts go out to anybody who has to endure a surgical procedure even in the modern day. |
| 0:10.4 | It can be dicey. This one takes us back to the 1800s with a guy named Robert Liston, who is known as the, |
| 0:24.6 | this is a quote, fastest knife in the West End. |
| 0:25.3 | Right. |
| 0:31.3 | Back then, even some of the best surgeons around had pretty slim chances of their patients surviving these procedures, around one in ten of these patients dying during or shortly |
| 0:37.1 | after a surgery. |
| 0:39.2 | And while Liston was no exception, he was real zippy with his blade. |
| 0:44.3 | Yeah, this is the true story of a surgery with a 300% mortality rate. |
| 0:52.3 | The surgeon, the fastest knife in the West End, turns out to be not the best |
| 0:57.5 | knife in the area because he kills his patient, then he kills his assistant, and he also |
| 1:03.7 | kills some guy who was just standing around. Yikes. Let's roll the tape. This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 1:12.8 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 1:16.4 | Ridiculous History is a production of IHeart Radio. |
| 1:19.7 | Ridiculous History is a production of IHeart Radio. |
| 1:22.3 | I'm a production of IHeart Radio. |
| 1:48.7 | Yeah. Hello, thank you for tuning in. |
| 1:54.0 | Today's question, did you ever want to be a doctor when you grew up? |
| 1:56.1 | Are you a doctor listening now? |
| 1:58.1 | If so, what kind? |
| 2:01.0 | I'd especially love to hear from some surgeons. |
| 2:02.1 | Hi, I'm Ben. |
| 2:03.1 | Hi, I'm Noel. |
... |
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