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MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries

Ep. 81 | Unraveling Bolero/Crossing Over

MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries

Wondery | Ballen Studios

True Crime

4.71.9K Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“Unraveling Bolero”: When a middle-aged scientist experiences unexpected success as an artist, it seems like little more than a surprising career change. But then, she becomes obsessed with interpreting a repetitive orchestral piece called “Bolero.” As her obsession deepens, her health takes a turn for the worse – and the cause has a surprising connection to her favorite piece of music.

“Crossing Over”: A few days after arriving in Boston, an immigrant from Mexico starts coughing up blood and experiencing horrible stomach pain. As doctors scramble to save his life, they have to contend with their patients’ reluctance to share his background. But when they finally learn the truth, it unlocks the key to everything.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

In medicine, as in life, communication is extremely important.

0:12.7

Whether it's a doctor breaking things down for a patient or a patient describing their symptoms,

0:17.1

it's crucial that everyone is on the same page.

0:20.0

Otherwise, things could fall through the cracks,

0:22.2

and people's lives could be at risk.

0:24.7

Unfortunately, in today's two stories,

0:27.1

communication does break down,

0:29.0

but not for reasons you might expect.

0:31.5

In our first story,

0:32.6

a woman suddenly becomes obsessed

0:34.2

with painting the same thing over and over again.

0:37.0

As the years go by,

0:38.3

this obsession grows stronger. However, she can't explain why, because she's also losing the

0:44.4

ability to speak. And in our second story, a man who has just arrived in America is hospitalized

0:50.9

with life-threatening organ failure. However, his doctor struggled to figure out what's

0:55.6

wrong because he can't or won't tell them what they need to know.

1:05.2

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1:14.5

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1:19.5

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1:25.0

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1:29.8

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1:35.6

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...

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