Special Episode: Mary Roach & Replaceable You

This Podcast Will Kill You

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

Health & Fitness, Science

4.8 • 17.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When your car breaks down or your fridge goes on the fritz, you can order a replacement part and get things back up and running in no time. The same cannot always be said for another intricate machine: the human body. For centuries, scientists have grappled with making or transplanting suitable replacements for nearly every body part, from hearts to hair and from legs to lungs. We’ve come quite a long way in that quest, so that at times, it feels as though we’re living in a sci-fi novel, where skin cells are printed and we can grow a customized heart. Yet we still have further to go, thanks to our magnificent immune system, who proves to be quite a worthy opponent. Here to tell you all about the weird and wonderful world of regenerative medicine is the one and only Mary Roach, who joins us this week to chat about her latest book Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy. As with any Mary Roach production, this is the perfect combination of informative, fascinating, and fun. Tune in today!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is exactly right. This is exactly right. The The
0:23.6	The Hi, I'm Erin Welsh, and this is, Podcast Will Kill You. You're listening to the latest
0:56.2	episode in our TPWKY Book Club series, where I get to interview authors of popular science and
1:03.0	medicine books about their latest work. We have featured some excellent books so far this
1:08.4	season and have a great lineup for the rest of the year.
1:12.2	If you'd like to sneak a peek at the books that we'll be reading later this season,
1:15.8	as well as check out the ones we've already covered, head over to our website.
1:19.6	This podcast will kill you.com.
1:21.7	There, under the extras tab, you'll find a link to our bookshop.org affiliate page,
1:26.6	which has a bunch of podcast-related lists,
1:29.7	including one for this book club series. I am always updating this list, so check back in regularly
1:35.7	to see what's coming up later this season. As always, we love hearing from you all about
1:41.1	these book club episodes, as well as our regular episodes. So if you have
1:45.3	anything you'd like to share, reach out through the contact us form on our website. Some of you have
1:50.7	sent in some great book recommendations, which I always appreciate. Two last things before
1:56.0	moving on to this week's book, and that is to please rate, review, and subscribe if you haven't already. It really
2:02.1	does help us out. And you can now find full video versions of most of our newer episodes on
2:08.0	YouTube. Make sure you're subscribed to Exactly Right Media's YouTube channel so you never
2:12.2	miss a new episode drop. Our human bodies are astoundingly complex, intricate machines that allow us to interact with,
2:23.2	exist within, and move about this world. Even at this moment, whether you're driving home from work,
2:30.0	out for a walk, cross-stitching on the couch, or just sitting meditatively, your body is performing
2:36.4	a whole host of functions, some of which you might be aware of, like listening to what I'm saying,
	...

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