The Hard Truth About Viagra

Everybody knows what Viagra does, but few know how it started. On this episode of I Didn't Know Maybe You Didn't Either uncovers the hilarious twist that turned a failed heart drug into a global phenomenon. Because sometimes, a mistake can become your biggest rise to fame.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back Know It All to another episode of the
most anticipated podcast on the Black Effect Podcast Network. I
didn't know, maybe you didn't either, And I'm your host,
b Dot aka King Dot Winston Salem State University, mister
alumni twenty twenty five. And if you're new to the podcast,

(00:23):
we call our listeners know it Alls, not could we
know it all? But because we want to know it all?
That why we listen to this podcast. It's a podcast
where we learn together, we laugh together, and sometimes we
wonder where if that erectile dysfunction medicine come from? You
feel me. We do have content on YouTube IDK myde.

(00:45):
Just search those letters and you can reach us a
lot more direct on Instagram. That's IDK myde with an
underscore before it and after it. And please remember, starting
February first, we are giving you twenty eight episodes of
black history that I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either.

(01:05):
And if you're a teacher or professor that could use
it as a curriculum for your school, please get in
contact with me when we got curriculums and exercises already
typed up for you. And before I give you three
of the most useless facts you'll never need a day
in life. I want to say, pay them TSA agents.
I just flew from Charlotte to Dallas, Texas. I'm gonna

(01:25):
tell you right now, the TSA agents weren't they normal,
annoying selves. Take your shoes all, take your belts off,
put it in the band. Please take any laptop for
our pads out and put those in separate beings. It
was none of that. Them TSA agents didn't look like
they gave a damn who came through there. I walked
through security with a water bottle, a big bottle of
user and lotion and an attitude stuff. Just going through

(01:49):
the scanners. It's beeping like a hospital room. They just
wave you right on through. Go ahead, bro, we're all
trying to get somewhere. So of course I make it
through the TSA. I get to my gate and I'm
on a buddy pad. Now, I ain't flew on a
buddy pass since Barack Obama was in his first turn.
And if you ever flown stand by, you know that's
not a ticket, that's a hope and a prayer. I

(02:09):
look at the screen, it's twelve people on the list.
I'm number thirteen. They get on the intercom.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
This is a full flight. There will be very limited
overhead bend space. We will allow you to check your
bag for absolutely free. And if you're flying standby, you
may want to check for alternative routes because, as we've stated,
this flight has to capacity. You are short, my friend,
shorter than a good nap.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
And because I was flying stand by thirteenth on the
list of twelve, I felt like they were talking to me.
They renamed one, three, eleven. Everybody present. They get the
number twelve. There's no answer. They say the name of
number twelve again. You could hear a caterpillar piss on
cot nothing. I sit up in my seat. They say

(03:01):
no answer from twelve. She looks at me. Brian McLoughlin, Man,
it was like Rafiki holding up symbol over that cliff.
It's the serf color life. I just started hearing gospel music.
So glad I'm made that. Nothing makes you feel more
accomplished than catching a flight on a buddy pass. So

(03:25):
I slide in last row, middle seat, needs touching both
strangers like we had a family reunion. Pass the big Chicken.
My boy. Hell, I'm just happy to be here. I
will sleep before the plane even took off, because that's
exactly what you do when you know you're not really
supposed to be in that seat. I felt like at
any moment twelve would run up like I'm twelve, I'm twelve,
and if I was sleep they just let me keep going.

(03:47):
But on today's episode, if I didn't know, maybe you
didn't either. Of course, we kick it off with three
of the most useless facts you'll never need a day
in life. Up first, the average human heart beats about
one hundred thousand times a day one hundred thousand times.

(04:07):
Your second useless fact, the word testify comes from ancient
Rome where men would swear oaths by grabbing their testicles,
because apparently that's how you proved you were serious. And
your third and final useless fact, viagra, Yeah, that was

(04:28):
supposed to be a heart medicine, not a bedroom booster.
Those would be your three useless facts. The average human
heart beats about one hundred thousand times a day. The
word testify comes from ancient Rome where men would swear
oaths by grabbing on their testicles, And viagra was supposed
to be a heart medicine, not an erectile dysfunction. One

(04:51):
and that will actually transition us perfectly to today's episode.
Have you ever erected the thought of who's the first
person to use via? Where did it come from?

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Like?

Speaker 1 (05:04):
Do you know how hard it was to create viagra?
Because I didn't.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know. I
didn't know.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
I didn't know. So boom. It's the late nineteen eighties, right,
and Pfiser scientists cooking up this new drug called sildentifield sitrates.
Now the plan is to help with chest pain, specifically
and gina. And and gina is a chest pain or
discomfort that's caused by a reduced blood flow to the heart,

(05:44):
so a heart condition. Well, this sildenti field citrate was
going to improve the blood flow to the heart. My mom,
she had congested heart failure. She would have been a
prime candidate to try this Sildenti field sitrade. Sounds nice, right,
save some lives, helped some hearts. But here's where it
gets wild. During the clinical trials, the researchers noticed something different.

(06:08):
The drug wasn't really doing much for the chest pain,
but the men in the study or they started reporting
a whole new kind of improvement. And I ain't talking
about lower stress levels. Let's just say the blood flow
was redirected. Yeah, yeah, it wasn't going to the pulmonary
veins in the heart. But you know that vein. You
ever had a Snicker's Never mind, imagine being in that lab,

(06:34):
you expecting to get some heart data, and suddenly every
one of your test subjects is like, doctor, I don't
really know what this pill is, but my wife says,
she demands I signed up for the next round. Two
them files of scientists was like, wait a minute, this
ain't fixing hearts, but it is fixing weekends. So they
did what any smart business would do. Sometimes in life,

(06:57):
you got a pivot, and in nineteen ninety eight, the
FDA approved the first oral treatment for erectile dysfunction by
the name of Viagra, and that little pill went crazy.
I mean it didn't just change medicine, it changed marketing relationships,
confidence and let's be real, Saturday nights for some of

(07:18):
the ogs. What started as herd medicine became a billion
dollar blockbusters by beating brawls. I'm talking about taking them
through their taking them through there through the mattress. Huh.
Today's episode is brought to you by Try Hard Vitamins.
Try Hard Vitamins the daily supplement for people who refuse

(07:39):
to give up easy. Whether it's your workouts, your work ethic,
or you're a woman on the weekend. Just remember, don't
try soft, try hard, Try hard vitamins Back to.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
You, Dot.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
It's just a prime example that sometimes the side effect
is the success story. Cause think about it. Viagar was
supposed to help your heart, but my God had ended
up helping men's spirit and maybe even a couple of marriages.
And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either. I