The mouth is the gateway to the body – so what better way to understand what is happening inside you, than to examine and explore the inside of your mouth. In this episode we explore the history of the mouth’s lumps and bumps – from syphilitic lesions to indications of melancholy.
We also uncover the strange and varied history of lipstick – from a mark of warriors in battle, to an illegal practice, to the illicit trade in beauty products.
Historical clip: Frank Rowntree compilation recordings. Part 6, Track 2. Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)