This is the Mother Jones Podcast. I'm Jimmy Le King. This week I'm not in our

podcast studio in New York or in a studio at all, which may be why this sounds a little bit different than you're used to.

I'm recording this from a good friend's home in Oakland, California, where I'm wrapping up

2018 in the Bay Area with family and friends.

And as the calendar turns over to 2019,

the team here at the Mother Jones Podcast

is gearing up for a big year.

We've got a lot of stories in the works for you.

But while we work on those this week we'll revisit two segments from the past few months that sparked strong reactions from you, our listeners.

Back in September, we first brought you the incredible rage-inducing inside tale of America's

student debt machine, where you can do everything right and still get screwed.

But first, a love story,

wrapped in a medical mystery with a Cold War twist.

As her husband was dying from a seemingly unstoppable superbug infection,

Stephanie Strathie, an epidemiologist, began considering an unconventional and forgotten treatment.

I spoke with Stephanie, her husband Tom, and science journalist Marin McKenna about Tom's incredible journey from the brink of death and back.

How are you all doing today?

Right, so you're gonna have a conversation with me for about half an hour. Meet Stephanie Strathie and her husband Tom Patterson.

All right.

Tom is a psychologist.

Stephanie, an infectious disease epidemiologist.

When we were on vacation in Egypt over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2015, I just thought he had food poisoning. I mean, you know, this isn't a big deal, but he didn't get better.

...