We all know “the dose makes the poison;” we feature the saying in our professional associations, our merch and our inside jokes. What if that is actually not what Paracelsus said, and what does this 16th century physician and his experience as a healthcare provider practicing during the information explosion brought on by the printing press have to teach medical toxicologists living through the leading edge of the AI information revolution? This talk hopes to teach the listener a little bit more about the alchemist who has been claimed as a founder of toxicology and discuss how his approach to his era’s information deluge can teach us to face the fire hydrant of content in 2026.

This talk draws lessons about drug policy from the history of what Professor Herzberg calls “white markets,” i.e., legal psychoactive pharmaceuticals. America is famous for its drug wars, but from Bayer’s Heroin to Purdue’s OxyContin, white markets have always been far larger, and while they have caused three major public health catastrophes, they have also been a site of policy creativity that can serve as a model for maximizing the benefit, while reducing the harms, of these desirable but dangerous products.

Mercury has been used since before recorded history as a medicine, cosmetic, and poison. In this episode, we explore the liquid metal’s functions and forms in consumer products, from ancient alchemical potions to modern skin-whitening soaps.