Syphilis has had such a long and storied history that you can read about it in Shakespeare’s works, and find out that it claimed the lives of historic figures like Edouard Manet, possibly Oscar Wilde and of course, Al Capone. Setting aside its horrific effects for a second, you kinda have to respect its place in history. But before you go thinking that syphilis is a disease of a bygone era, it’s actually still around affecting millions of people all over the world, closer to home than you might think. What is syphilis, and why has it made such a huge comeback lately? In this episode, I’ll give you the lowdown on this STD, and how it came to have such a prominent place in history.   It’s better to know that you have syphilis and to get tested right away because it is treatable. -Heather Bartos   3 Things We Learned From This Episode All the crazy ways people used to treat syphilis What’s behind the unexpected comeback of syphilis Why syphilis isn’t the death sentence it once was (if you get treated, that is)