MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries

MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries

The human body is a miracle. But when it’s not working, it can be the stuff of nightmares. On this new series from master storyteller MrBallen, we’re sharing medical horror stories and diagnostic mysteries that are surgically calibrated to make your blood run cold. From bizarre, unheard-of diseases and miraculous recoveries to strange medical mishaps and unexplainable deaths — you’ll never hear the phrase “heart-stopping” in the same way again. MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between MrBallen and Wondery, the award-winning company behind Dr. Death. Follow MrBallen's Medical Mysteries on Amazon Music, the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes publish for free every Tuesday. Prime members can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Or, you can listen episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Start your free trial in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or by visiting https://wondery.com/links/mrballens-medical-mysteries/ now.

Episodes

April 22, 2025 31 mins

“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 afte...

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When a little girl in Vietnam starts mysteriously bleeding from her scalp and hands, her doctors wonder if she’s faking it for attention – to make it seem like she’s experiencing stigmata, the wounds experienced by Jesus Christ in Christian scripture. The blood on the girl’s skin is real enough, but nobody is ever around when she starts to bleed.


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April 8, 2025 27 mins

In the early 1900s, a young woman gets a coveted job at a clock factory. But her work is interrupted when she feels terrible pain in her mouth. Soon, her whole jaw is rotting away. It’s up to her dentist to try and stop it. But his misguided moral judgements about the young woman’s life send him in the completely wrong direction.

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April 7, 2025 5 mins

Kat Torres has the insta-perfect life. She is rich, gorgeous and not ashamed to share it. Her posts about witchcraft and “alien baths” drew in over a million followers, all chasing the dream of a lifestyle like hers. But as she gathers more followers around her, the secrets beneath her fame grow darker and more dangerous.   


One woman sets out to bring back her best friend who has fallen under the spell o...

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April 1, 2025 29 mins

A recovering heroin addict wakes up one morning with an odd sensation on one side of her head: a nagging, constant itch. No matter what she tries, it won’t go away. And eventually it gets so bad… she literally starts to lose her mind.

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March 25, 2025 25 mins

“The Sliver”: After a man survives a terrible car accident with only a cracked vertebra, he feels grateful to have emerged relatively unscathed. But after undergoing surgery to fix the problem, his pain only grows worse – and soon, he’s on the verge of death. And there are only hours left to save him. 


“Killer Style”:  A young man in Turkey leaves his small village for the big city to chase his dream...

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March 18, 2025 26 mins

When a high-achieving teenager suddenly starts to freeze up in social situations and her grades plummet, her mother tries to get her help. But doctors can’t explain why the girl is suddenly struggling to do ordinary things like talk. Before long, she’s a shell of herself… and her mother fears that soon there may be nothing left.

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March 11, 2025 25 mins

In the town of Oakville, Washington, chaos erupts when mysterious blobs start falling from the sky – and anyone who touches them ends up in the hospital. As scientists struggle to understand what the blobs are, Oakville’s terrified residents are left to wonder if they’re the victims of a natural disaster… or a targeted attack.

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March 4, 2025 25 mins

When an elderly man in New Brunswick, Canada, dies from what seems to be rapid-onset dementia, his doctor believes he had a rare condition called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. But then, dozens of people around the area start experiencing the same awful symptoms, making the doctor fear he’s dealing with something entirely new… and completely terrifying.

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February 25, 2025 29 mins

In the 1940s, the people of Donora, Pennsylvania fall prey to a deadly epidemic that destroys their lungs. Doctors suspect it has something to do with the fog that is constantly blanketing their town… but why now? They need to find an answer fast – before the darkness claims more victims.

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February 18, 2025 20 mins

During the COVID pandemic, a boy starts experiencing sudden, inexplicable bursts of pain. At first, his symptoms seem psychological – but then doctors say he may need brain surgery to fix the problem. That’s when the boy’s mother turns to a cutting edge technology to help her figure out what’s wrong with her son.

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February 11, 2025 29 mins

“A Clean Break”

 When a night out in Nepal leaves a tourist weak and hungover, he figures he’ll feel better after some rest and rehydration. But his stomach pain becomes unbearable, and he heads to the hospital. That’s when a doctor discovers a secret that the man didn’t even know he had.


“Look, Don’t Touch”

When dozens of children contract salmonella after visiting the Denver Zoo, doctors assume something there caus...

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February 4, 2025 26 mins

For his entire adult life, a successful businessman deals with a bizarre problem: whenever he bends over, he throws up. On top of that, he struggles with asthma-like symptoms. But no matter what techniques he tries or medicine he takes, the man can’t shake his symptoms, sometimes with embarrassing results.


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January 28, 2025 23 mins

When a recovering alcoholic nearly dies after falling down his basement stairs, it seems like the tragic result of alcohol withdrawal symptoms. But when he starts seeing people who are not there at his bedside, doctors realize the man has even bigger problems.

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“Just Like the Movies”

A popcorn factory worker comes down with a painful, frightening rash on his arms – and then, he struggles to breathe. He and his wife are convinced something at his job is triggering these seemingly unconnected symptoms. But nobody believes them… until other workers start getting sick, too.


“Headache from Hell”

When a man in Orlando, Florida begins experiencing severe headaches, he figures it’s the ...

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January 14, 2025 26 mins

The parents and grandmother of an infant boy are beside themselves when the baby starts crying, and won’t stop for hours on end. They know something has to be wrong, and they’re skeptical when the doctor says it’s just gas. As the boy weakens by the day, doctors realize that something is putting the baby’s life in danger, but what?

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January 7, 2025 24 mins

Following the birth of her second child, a woman comes down with what appears to be a serious case of the flu. Though she gets better, the illness comes back every six months or so, like clockwork. The symptoms get worse over the years, but her doctors are no help, pushing the woman to the limits of her endurance. 

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December 31, 2024 25 mins

A heroin user wakes up one morning, feeling strangely stiff. At first, his symptoms are mistaken for drug intoxication. But within days, the man is completely unable to move – and completely terrified. His doctors realize they’re dealing with something much more serious than a bad trip, but they have no idea what.


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December 24, 2024 32 mins

No Reservations:

A Spanish marathon runner develops a mysterious obsession with gourmet food. But what seems like an innocent new passion may be more dangerous than he thinks.


The Game:

After going through her normal morning routine, an otherwise healthy woman finds herself at death’s door. In a mad rush to save the woman’s life, her doctors try to understand why her body is suddenly shutting down with no explanation.


...

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December 17, 2024 26 mins

A couple’s young sons both experience sudden reversals in their physical development, leaving doctors scratching their heads. Nobody understands what’s wrong, because on the surface, the boys seem perfectly fine. But to find the answer, they have to look much deeper.


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