00:00 John Brinkley was a famous and wealthy quack in the 1920s and 30s who practiced xenotransplantation, specifically the goat gland procedure.

05:12 Different parts of different animals have long been believed to have rejuvenating and vitality-boosting properties, leading to various practices such as eating bull's testicles, injecting serum from dog and guinea pig testicles, and transplanting monkey testicles, all of which predate John Brinkley's infamous goat gland procedure.

10:13 John Brinkley was a notorious quack who started his career with a medicine show and later attended an eclectic medical school before the AMA discredited it, but he still learned about glandular extracts and began to use them in his practice.

15:00 John Brinkley and his second wife moved to a small town in Kansas in 1917 and became the town doctors, providing legitimate care until a farmer suggested the idea of transplanting goat glands, which Brinkley eventually agreed to and performed the procedure on the farmer and a second patient.

20:03 John Brinkley's procedure of transplanting goat glands into patients did not involve surgically attaching testicles to blood vessels, but rather involved inserting sliced testicles into the scrotum, which had no biological effect and only increased the risk of infection and genetic chimerism.

25:21 John Brinkley gained fame and notoriety for his goat gland procedure, attracting prominent patients and becoming a global superstar in the world of quackery, while also making a fortune from selling patent medicines and pioneering innovative advertising techniques such as making a film and creating a radio station.

30:36 John Brinkley's radio show gained popularity and he would diagnose people on the air, recommend his own patent medicines, and receive a cut from the pharmacists who sold them, but as the medical establishment cracked down on quackery, investigations were launched into Brinkley's practices and his medical license was eventually revoked.

35:29 John Brinkley's competitor, Owensby, had a terrible reputation for violence and questionable medical practices, which led Brinkley to believe that he could successfully run for governor based on his own dubious ideas about modern medicine.

40:29 John Brinkley ran for governor in 1930 on a platform that included good pay for workers, pensions, and free medical care, and although he lost, he received a significant number of votes as a write-in candidate.

46:13 John Brinkley's downfall began when his old nemesis, Fishbine, published an article denouncing him, leading to a libel lawsuit where Brinkley had to admit that the goat gland surgery was a fraud, resulting in his reputation being further tarnished and opening him up to malpractice suits, bankruptcy, and eventually being indicted for mail fraud.

51:28 John Brinkley died before he could be convicted of mail fraud, bringing an end to his controversial career as a quack doctor.