“William Banting was a British funeral director who, at age 66, was obese, weighing 202 pounds at 5'5", and needed a truss to hold an umbilical rupture in place. His weight was so troublesome that he could not tie his shoes and had to walk down the stairs backwards to limit the pain of weight on his knees and ankles. He tried losing the weight but his efforts were in vain…”

So begins today’s story from Dr. Jaipreet Virdi.

For further reading:
Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History by Jaipreet Virdi (University of Chicago Press, 2020)

Episode transcript:
https://skymichaeljohnston.com/90secnarratives/