1955: The Cutter Incident

About this episode

This episode discusses the medical mystery surrounding Jonas Salk's polio vaccine in 1955.

Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine transformed America and the world in ways that seemed unimaginable. But in 1955, there was a moment when everything was in doubt. This week, Josh Levin talks with Dr. Paul Offit about the medical mystery that threatened to derail one of history’s most important scientific breakthroughs. Josh Levin is One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung. This episode was produced by Kelly Jones, Evan Chung, and Sophie Summergrad. It was edited by Josh Levin, Joel Meyer, and Derek John, Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. Join Slate Plus to get a bonus 1955 episode at the end of the season. Slate Plus members also get to listen to all Slate podcasts without any ads. Sign up now to support One Year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Josh Levin

Guest: Dr. Paul Offit

Topics covered

• polio vaccine
• medical mystery
• scientific breakthroughs
• history
• healthcare
• society

Keywords

• polio
• vaccine
• Jonas Salk
• medical mystery
• 1955
• Dr. Paul Offit
• scientific breakthroughs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Slate, Acast

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