Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
Episodes
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America is in the midst of a cardiac health crisis. It’s the height of the Baby Boom, and American children are dying from heart disease in greater numbers than ever before in history. The doctor who sets out to solve this problem may just be the most fascinating man you've never heard of. Racing against his own terminal cancer diagnosis, Dr. Walt Lillehei embarks on an impossible mission: curing congenital heart defects in k...
Two of the country’s most ambitious surgeons join forces to make Houston, Texas the new cardiovascular capital of the world. Dr. Michael DeBakey and Dr. Denton Cooley’s complementary talents make them a surgical dream team. But a friendly rivalry turns them from close colleagues to fierce competitors.
For more information on the first cardiac surgeons, check out Dr. Gerald Imber's book "CARDIAC COWBOYS: The Heroi...
A devastating turn of events forces Walt Lillehei to re-think his approach to open heart surgery. In Houston, Denton Cooley’s swift rise plunges him into a battle of egos with his boss and mentor, Michael DeBakey.
For more information on the first cardiac surgeons, check out Dr. Gerald Imber's book "CARDIAC COWBOYS: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery," published by Post Hill Press in 2024.
Presented by: Chris...
Surgeons across the country race to transplant the human heart. The stakes are unimaginably high, rivalries turn vicious, and the first surgeon to cross the finish line shocks the world.
For more information on the first cardiac surgeons, check out Dr. Gerald Imber's book "CARDIAC COWBOYS: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery," published by Post Hill Press in 2024.
Presented by: Chris Pine
Written and Narrated by:...
An ingenious medical device promises to eliminate the need for heart donors entirely. But when accusations of a stolen heart emerge, the simmering tension between Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley boils over, playing out in courtrooms and headlines across the country.
For more information on the first cardiac surgeons, check out Dr. Gerald Imber's book "CARDIAC COWBOYS: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery," published by Po...
Walt Lillehei’s years of living and operating on the edge finally catch up with him. In Houston, rival surgeons attempt to resolve four decades of bad blood.
For more information on the first cardiac surgeons, check out Dr. Gerald Imber's book "CARDIAC COWBOYS: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery," published by Post Hill Press in 2024.
Presented by: Chris Pine
Written and Narrated by: Jamie Napoli
Eric A. Rose, MD is a world leader in cardiac surgery and cardiovascular research who performed the first successful pediatric heart transplant.
Gerald Imber, MD is a plastic surgeon and author whose medical history books include Genius on the Edge: The Bizarre Double Life of Dr. William Halsted and Cardiac Cowboys: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery.
They join host Jamie Napoli to discuss the challenge...
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