Autopsy know-how and gallows humor from two forensic trainees.
Dead Men Do Tell Tales puts two forensic pathology trainees, Jordan Taylor and Nicole Croom, in conversation with a stack of statistics and a dark sense of humor. One episode explains how X-rays help find a stray bullet, and another asks what a chimney could do to Santa.
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Dead Men Do Tell Tales is a running conversation between Jordan Taylor and Nicole Croom, who introduce themselves both as pathology residents going into forensic pathology and as forensic pathology fellows. The subject is death as the autopsy sees it. The approach is two people with notes, statistics and a fast, dark sense of humor. The heaviest material is on guns. The pair call the topic complicated enough to split across at least four episodes, two of which are titled 'Pew: Gunatomy 101' and 'Pew Pew: Guntopsy'. Across that run, the talk moves from national figures, such as the share of homicides and suicides involving a firearm, to their own cases, where guns dominate. It also gets practical. Front-to-back and side-view X-rays help pin down where a bullet has come to rest, which is easy in a head and much harder in a pelvis, and the count of holes plus recovered bullets is expected to add up. When the numbers turn to children, the response is short: 'too many.' Even here the humor holds. One gun episode signs off by asking listeners not to get shot, since the pair already have enough work. Elsewhere the hooks are seasonal and strange. 'Clauses of Death: The Autopsy of St. Nick' weighs the asphyxia risks of a trip down a chimney and points back to an earlier conversation on strangulation, hanging, smothering and other asphyxias. 'Sledging and Snurfing: Winter Sports Deaths' draws on an Austrian study of sledging fatalities in the Alps and mentions deaths involving grooming machines, and one of the pair remembers the single snowfall in Stockton that melted on contact. 'Forensics Finale: Five Fun Fables (Each)' covers starched detachable collars nicknamed 'father killers', which could choke a man who slumped forward, as well as the steel-caged skirts of crinolinomania, and its closing moments drift into speculation about how Yetis reproduce. Definitions get care. 'Honoring Our Vets: In Life and Death', tied to Veterans Day, separates the everyday sense of a veteran, as in a veteran of rugby, from military and war veterans. A standing disclaimer notes that the views are Jordan and Nicole's own rather than their training program's. One episode also carries a statement from the pair on the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Sign-offs invite questions and credit the theme music, 'Introducing the Pre-Roll' by Leigh Rosevear. What a listener takes away is a practical feel for how an autopsy reads a body, from bullet paths to asphyxia, delivered with far more laughter than the subject might suggest.
Made for: Suits a listener who is curious about what an autopsy actually involves, from locating bullets to recognizing asphyxia, and is comfortable with dark jokes alongside hard statistics. It also suits someone drawn to medicine who wants to hear trainees talk shop about their own cases.
What sets it apart: Two people training in the field tie seasonal and offbeat hooks, from Santa's chimney to sledging and deadly collars, to real autopsy technique and their own casework. The banter stays playful, and the pair stay plainly serious when the numbers call for it.
Dead Men Do Tell Tales is a bimonthly podcast produced by two pathology residents interested in becoming forensic pathologists, Drs. Jordan Taylor (JET) and Nicole Croom (Nic). Forensic pathology is a medical subspecialty that focuses on determining the cause, manner, and mechanism of death. Forensic pathologists help organize and work closely with death investigators to piece together a person’s final moments. Each episode, JET and Nic engage in an in-depth conversation about a forensics-related topic with the aims of: (1) de-mythifying the field of forensic pathology for the general public and (2) increasing interest in the pursuit of forensic medicine as a career.
Santa gets stuck in a chimney, and suddenly you're learning the mechanics of asphyxia.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A darkly funny forensic look at collars, crinolines, and fashion that turns fatal.
Dead Men Do Tell Tales finds a grimly funny angle on fashion as a hazard. Jordan Taylor and Nicole Krum follow stiff collars and sweeping crinolines into cases where clothing is not just decoration, but part of how disaster happens.
A grounded look at how forensic pathologists use wounds, X-rays, bullets, and bone damage to trace gunshot injuries.
Gunshot wound examination gets a clear, practical treatment, centered on how forensic pathologists turn injuries, imaging, and recovered evidence into a traceable account of what happened.
A grounded forensic primer linking firearm anatomy and U.S. death statistics to investigative practice.
Firearms are treated here as matters of anatomy, epidemiology, and forensic practice, with forensic pathology fellows Nicole Kroon and Jordan Taylor setting the groundwork for a larger discussion.
A holiday chimney route becomes a crisp forensic look at how Santa could run out of oxygen.
Santa's chimney route turns into a forensic-pathology case study, with Nicole Crew and Jordan Dehler walking through how a festive delivery could become medically dangerous.
Clinical neuroscience lectures, with the room left in
Particle accelerators, compost piles and Queen's guitarist, all explained.
Steven Novella and a rotating panel dissect weekly science news and debunk pseudoscience claims.
The episode opens with the 1814 Horseshoe Brewery rupture, where more than 320,000 gallons of beer flooded St.
Dead Men Do Tell Tales uses "Pew Pew: Guntopsy" to walk through a gunshot-wound autopsy with Nicole Krum and Jordan Taylor, both forensic pathology fellows.
["Dead Men Do Tell Tales' \u201cPew: Gunatomy 101\u201d moves from ninth-century Chinese gunpowder to the 2017 U.S.
Nicole Crew and Jordan Dehler, both forensic pathology fellows on Dead Men Do Tell Tales, turn a Christmas special into an autopsy of Santa Claus for a King County Medical Examiner's office presentation.
Sherman Poppen turned surfing into snowboarding by building a snow surfboard called the “snurfer.”
Two pathology residents discuss forensic pathology topics, starting with veterans' deaths and the definition of a veteran.
Two pathology residents discuss cases where dead bodies were mistaken for Halloween decorations.
Two pathology residents discuss Child Death Review, a multidisciplinary process to understand and prevent child deaths.
Two pathology residents discuss poisonous plants, explaining the difference between poison and venom in a lighthearted forensic science episode.
Two pathology residents discuss the increase in intimate partner violence during COVID-19 lockdowns from a forensic perspective.
Two pathology residents discuss the role of medical examiners during the COVID-19 crisis, blending general information with forensic pathology insights.
Two pathology residents discuss the categories and characteristics of sharp force injuries in forensic pathology.