Head Number 7

Introducing: Head Number Seven

In June 2023 over a hundred people got a letter from Harvard Medical School, what it said changed their lives forever. Head Number 7 tells a story about an FBI investigation, an underground network, and human remains being sold on social media.Join geneticist and ancient DNA specialist Dr Turi King as she investigates the buying and selling of body parts, finds out what it really means to donate your body to science and asks who really owns our bodies once we're gone? Listen to episodes of Head Number 7 exclusively and ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App or Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/head-number-sevenSee Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Donating your body to science is a final, noble act. If you’re donating it to one of the world’s most prestigious medical schools you might even hope you will contribute to a scientific breakthrough. But at Harvard Medical School something went wrong…the head of their mortuary had gone rogue and in 2019 a shocking discovery led to the realisation that body parts were being sold online.  So how did Cedric Lodge go from respected member of the Harvard community to running a network of human oddity collectors, and making huge profits? And what were their customers doing with the body parts?In Head Number 7 geneticist and ancient DNA expert Professor Turi King, takes you inside Cedric’s descent into darkness, finds out more about the people who donated their bodies only to be sold for parts and asks, who owns your body after you die? Listen to episodes of Head Number 7 exclusively and ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App or Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/head-number-seven