November 3, 2025 • 5 mins
Doctors Matt Barton and Mike Todorovic have turned science communication into an art form. Now, the much-loved duo are bringing their trademark humour and curiosity to the page with their family-friendly debut guide, 'The Body A-Z' - that explores the human body.
For more, Dr Matt Barton and Associate Professor Mike Todorovic join.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
They've made millions laugh, gasp, and rethink everything we know
about the human body. Doctors Matt Barton and Mike Todorovich
have turned science communication into an absolute art form. As
the brains behind the hugely popular Doctor Mike YouTube channel
and podcast, they spent years breaking down complex anatomy into
fascinating and totally relatable lessons.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
So we know that the heart is predominantly a muscle,
and that muscle functions as a pump. It contracts, it
squirts blood out, But that contraction happens because there's electrical
events happening inside the heart, reaching over.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
One point seven million people every month. Their videos are
also used by more than two hundred schools, universities, and
healthcare organizations.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Right around the world.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
And now the much loved Joe are bringing their trademark
humor and curiosity to the page with their debut book,
The Body. A is e A family friendly guy that
explores the weird, wonderful, and endlessly fascinating machine that is
the human body. And we welcome to Matt and Doctor
Mike here live in the studio. Thank you so much
for betting with us having I love this because it's
just simple concept. It's you guys, it's great information, it's
(01:09):
a whiteboard and you're bringing it to the people. It's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Thank you. How did it all start?
Speaker 5 (01:15):
Well, Mike and I about ten years ago we started
to teach together at Griffith University and we talked primarily
into first year nursing students and we found this was
before COVID. We used to deliver lectures and they were recorded,
and we found that a lot of the students didn't
watch the recordings all the way through, and we thought
that so we thought, oh, look, it's better if we
(01:37):
chop the videos into twenty minute blocks, which we did,
put it on YouTube, and we found not only our
students watched it, but people throughout the world, and that's
kind of how it started.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Millions of people all over the world.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
We're surprised by this enormous public interest.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah, blows that mind. All the time. We get emails
every day.
Speaker 6 (01:56):
Have videos are watched by learners from over one hundred
and eighty different country and like you said, over two
hundred and fifty universities, schools, and hospitals use our videos
to teach people.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
So it started, Matt with the videos. What inspired you
to turn it then into a book which is accessible
for all ages as well.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
Of course, yeah, well, I believe or not. Mike does
TikTok videos and the then diagram between his videos and
people who read books don't really overlap, so we thought
we could get a whole in new audience by going
into the book area. So that's what kind of stemmed
the idea for the book.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Doctor Mike big questions around trust at the moment and
what people can believe when they see it online.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
How do we cut through?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
How do you guys make sure you're cutting through and
getting the right message across and the important information.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
It can be tricky.
Speaker 6 (02:43):
We're in an attention economy, right, so we attention is
finite and we need to vi for a slice of
that pie. And to do that you need to be
engaging and entertaining and fun. But one thing that we
can do that chat GPT can't is be personable and
tell personal stories. And Matt that In one of the
chapters of the book, for example, he talks about his
dad getting heart disease and Matt needing to go get
(03:06):
screened for his risk and finds out his risk is
quite high and he talks about his lifestyle changes to
try and stave off getting cardiovascular disease himself.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
So, Mike with the videos on TikTok, particularly, what's the
thing you often have to debunk or perhaps what's the
most popular fascinating fact that people really are engaged with.
Speaker 6 (03:24):
Well, there's so many cool facts that I think are
amazing and interesting debunking. Probably vaccines are a big one
when it comes to just general the pseudo science and misinformation,
so things about how the human body works.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
People always get it wrong, always get it wrong.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Give us your favorite fact that you love.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Okay, So there's a lot, So I'll quick fire summer chang.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Okay.
Speaker 6 (03:49):
The longest somebody has gone without eating so fasting three
hundred and eighty two days. The longest somebody has hiccupped
for is sixty eight years. You have thirty trillion cells
of your body that belong to you and thirty trillion
cells in your body that don't belong to you. And
also there's something that some people do, which is they
take botox and inject it into their scrotum to get
(04:09):
rid of the wrinkles.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Wow, that was unexpected for you. Well, you'd have to
be a doctor.
Speaker 5 (04:15):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
It's called scrotos.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
By the way, thank you for doing a deep dive
on the botox scrated thing. We're kind of right out
of time, but we just want to leave everybody watching
with this little thing from you guys. So everyone goes
straight to the internet now when they're feeling unwell or
they've got a problem. What's your advice for people who
just go I've got a headache, do I have a
(04:39):
brain tumor what's the advice?
Speaker 5 (04:41):
I would say, go to your doctor primarily, So go
to the reputable sources first, and they will give you
the advice. They'll give you the direction, and they're the
ones with the training.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
And you don't know what you don't know.
Speaker 6 (04:52):
So it's very easy to type in certain prompts to
get certain answers, but it's very important that you see
your healthcare provider who knows your history. And if they
know your history, they might know what direction your health
is going in.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
And the other thing, Please don't google Wrinkley Scrote. Don't
do that.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Yeah, I mean I didn't know what I didn't know
before this segment, but now I do know a lot
more than I didn't know, and well, I'm well informed, Matt,
and my thank you for coming to the morning show.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
It's called The Body A Z.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
There is a chapter S or W. You'll find it
out w ors, but it's there.
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
They've made millions laugh, gasp, and rethink everything we know
about the human body. Doctors Matt Barton and Mike Todorovich
have turned science communication into an absolute art form. As
the brains behind the hugely popular Doctor Mike YouTube channel
and podcast, they spent years breaking down complex anatomy into
fascinating and totally relatable lessons.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
So we know that the heart is predominantly a muscle,
and that muscle functions as a pump. It contracts, it
squirts blood out, But that contraction happens because there's electrical
events happening inside the heart, reaching over.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
One point seven million people every month. Their videos are
also used by more than two hundred schools, universities, and
healthcare organizations.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Right around the world.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
And now the much loved Joe are bringing their trademark
humor and curiosity to the page with their debut book,
The Body. A is e A family friendly guy that
explores the weird, wonderful, and endlessly fascinating machine that is
the human body. And we welcome to Matt and Doctor
Mike here live in the studio. Thank you so much
for betting with us having I love this because it's
just simple concept. It's you guys, it's great information, it's
(01:09):
a whiteboard and you're bringing it to the people. It's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Thank you. How did it all start?
Speaker 5 (01:15):
Well, Mike and I about ten years ago we started
to teach together at Griffith University and we talked primarily
into first year nursing students and we found this was
before COVID. We used to deliver lectures and they were recorded,
and we found that a lot of the students didn't
watch the recordings all the way through, and we thought
that so we thought, oh, look, it's better if we
(01:37):
chop the videos into twenty minute blocks, which we did,
put it on YouTube, and we found not only our
students watched it, but people throughout the world, and that's
kind of how it started.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Millions of people all over the world.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
We're surprised by this enormous public interest.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah, blows that mind. All the time. We get emails
every day.
Speaker 6 (01:56):
Have videos are watched by learners from over one hundred
and eighty different country and like you said, over two
hundred and fifty universities, schools, and hospitals use our videos
to teach people.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
So it started, Matt with the videos. What inspired you
to turn it then into a book which is accessible
for all ages as well.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
Of course, yeah, well, I believe or not. Mike does
TikTok videos and the then diagram between his videos and
people who read books don't really overlap, so we thought
we could get a whole in new audience by going
into the book area. So that's what kind of stemmed
the idea for the book.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Doctor Mike big questions around trust at the moment and
what people can believe when they see it online.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
How do we cut through?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
How do you guys make sure you're cutting through and
getting the right message across and the important information.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
It can be tricky.
Speaker 6 (02:43):
We're in an attention economy, right, so we attention is
finite and we need to vi for a slice of
that pie. And to do that you need to be
engaging and entertaining and fun. But one thing that we
can do that chat GPT can't is be personable and
tell personal stories. And Matt that In one of the
chapters of the book, for example, he talks about his
dad getting heart disease and Matt needing to go get
(03:06):
screened for his risk and finds out his risk is
quite high and he talks about his lifestyle changes to
try and stave off getting cardiovascular disease himself.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
So, Mike with the videos on TikTok, particularly, what's the
thing you often have to debunk or perhaps what's the
most popular fascinating fact that people really are engaged with.
Speaker 6 (03:24):
Well, there's so many cool facts that I think are
amazing and interesting debunking. Probably vaccines are a big one
when it comes to just general the pseudo science and misinformation,
so things about how the human body works.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
People always get it wrong, always get it wrong.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Give us your favorite fact that you love.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Okay, So there's a lot, So I'll quick fire summer chang.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Okay.
Speaker 6 (03:49):
The longest somebody has gone without eating so fasting three
hundred and eighty two days. The longest somebody has hiccupped
for is sixty eight years. You have thirty trillion cells
of your body that belong to you and thirty trillion
cells in your body that don't belong to you. And
also there's something that some people do, which is they
take botox and inject it into their scrotum to get
(04:09):
rid of the wrinkles.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Wow, that was unexpected for you. Well, you'd have to
be a doctor.
Speaker 5 (04:15):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
It's called scrotos.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
By the way, thank you for doing a deep dive
on the botox scrated thing. We're kind of right out
of time, but we just want to leave everybody watching
with this little thing from you guys. So everyone goes
straight to the internet now when they're feeling unwell or
they've got a problem. What's your advice for people who
just go I've got a headache, do I have a
(04:39):
brain tumor what's the advice?
Speaker 5 (04:41):
I would say, go to your doctor primarily, So go
to the reputable sources first, and they will give you
the advice. They'll give you the direction, and they're the
ones with the training.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
And you don't know what you don't know.
Speaker 6 (04:52):
So it's very easy to type in certain prompts to
get certain answers, but it's very important that you see
your healthcare provider who knows your history. And if they
know your history, they might know what direction your health
is going in.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
And the other thing, Please don't google Wrinkley Scrote. Don't
do that.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Yeah, I mean I didn't know what I didn't know
before this segment, but now I do know a lot
more than I didn't know, and well, I'm well informed, Matt,
and my thank you for coming to the morning show.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
It's called The Body A Z.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
There is a chapter S or W. You'll find it
out w ors, but it's there.
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