Headache symptoms can strike sufferers without warning, disabling them for even days at a time.

There have been nearly 4,000 years of documented headache disorders — and virtually everyone has had headaches — yet their underlying neurological cause is still unknown.

This hour, a look at the long history of headaches and the current science around and treatments for headaches. Plus: headaches in our literature and popular culture.

GUESTS:

Kathleen O’Shea: The editor of So Much More Than a Headache: Understanding Migraine Through Literature
Tom Zeller Jr.: The author of The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Condition and the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Undark

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Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired July 30, 2025.

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‘A most confounding affliction’: A look at headaches