Strange Country Ep. 301: Dr. Feelgood

What do you do when you need a little pick-me-up? Exercise? Drink some coffee? Laugh uproariously at Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly? For some, like politicians and celebs that didn’t cut it so instead they went to Dr. Max Jacobson to get a concoction of vitamins, monkey gonads and amphetamines injected into their necks and arms. Jacobson, known as Dr. Feelgood, had the ability to cure any ailment merely by making you so high you couldn’t feel anything. Until he got his medical license revoked in the 1970s and the party was over.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Brody, Jane E. “Patient and His Physician: Quandary for Medicine.” The New York Times, 16 January 1973, p. 81, https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/16/archives/patient-and-his-doctor-quandary-for-medicine.html. Accessed 20 June 2025.

Carlson, Peter. "Synthetic Vigor." American History, vol. 46, no. 2, June, 2011, pp. 29-37. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/synthetic-vigor/docview/863238837/se-2.

Lertzman, Richard A., and William J. Birnes. Dr. Feelgood: The Shocking Story of the Doctor Who May Have Changed History by Treating and Drugging JFK, Marilyn, Elvis, and Other Prominent Figures. Skyhorse, 2014.

Markel, Howard. “John F. Kennedy Kept These Medical Struggles Private.” PBS News, 22 Nov. 2019, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/john-f-kennedy-kept-these-medical-struggles-private.

Smith, Benedict. "Ex-White House doctor known as the 'candyman' dispensed pills without prescriptions; Reports that Ronny Jackson courted influence in Obama and Trump administrations by giving staff drugs while ignoring medical procedures." Telegraph Online, 19 Feb. 2024. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A783037514/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=bd49799b. Accessed 22 June 2025.

“The Power and the Fraility.” The Washington Post, 14 June 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2003/06/15/the-power-and-the-frailty/0c817a9c-2294-4218-ab4a-9b67a985fbf9/. Accessed 18 June 2025.

Reeves, Richard. “Opinion | Kennedy's Private Ills.” The New York Times, 21 November 2002, https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/21/opinion/kennedy-s-private-ills.html. Accessed 18 June 2025.

Rensberger, Boyce (December 4, 1972). "Amphetamines Used by a Physician To Lift Moods of Famous Patients". New York Times. 

Shachtman, Noah, et al. “Trump's White House Was 'Awash in Speed' -- and Xanax.” Rolling Stone, 3 March 2024, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-white-house-drugs-speed-xanax-1234979503/. Accessed 22 June 2025.

Twohey, Megan. “On the Campaign Trail, Elon Musk Juggled Drugs and Family Drama.” The New York Times, 31 May 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/us/elon-musk-drugs-children-trump.html. Accessed 22 June 2025.