The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean · Sam Kean, Bleav
The Corny, Cringy, Very Bad Television Show that Just Might Save Your Life
December 2, 2025·18 min·1 clip
Ronald Reagan reversed his veto on paramedics after recalling how his own father died because an ambulance couldn't cross city lines.
As heard by us
A cheesy TV show helped make modern paramedics feel normal.
The episode shows that modern paramedic care did not start as a given. It follows how a public-safety problem became a narrow California law, then moved into Hollywood, where a cheesy TV show helped turn paramedics into something ordinary for the rest of the country and, in…
Why you'd press play
The backstory behind paramedics becoming legal, with Hollywood in the middle.
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