‘Bodies’ season 3 investigates STIs, drug addiction, environmental pollution and more

When someone has an ailment, they usually go to the doctor to receive a diagnosis. But sometimes there isn’t a clear answer, and people are left with mysteries. That’s the basic idea behind the KCRW podcast “Bodies.” There have been two seasons where people explore their own medical mysteries and try to cure them.

Season three premieres today, and it talks about the wider community of people who either have mysterious illnesses, who have been misdiagnosed, or who have suffered from a “cure” that wasn’t a cure at all.

Host Allison Behringer tells Press Play, “We’re coming off a year and a half of COVID, of really heavy stuff, how can we bring joy, levity to our stories? Also something that has always been a theme with ‘Bodies’ is community and … talking with other people is often the way that people figure out what their medical mystery is or find support. And I think that theme is especially true in this season.”

She points out that in much of season three, someone believes they’re fine, while society and the medical establishment are telling them that something’s wrong with them, that they need medicine, they need to change, and they should be ashamed of themselves.