The podcast episodes provided explore the origins and development of psychoanalysis, a field that emerged from the study of hysteria. The first episode discusses how Freud's early work on repressed emotions and their role in the development of hysterical symptoms was a key driver in the emergence of psychoanalysis.

The second episode further explores the historical context of hysteria, focusing on the phenomenon of mesmerism and its connection to societal anxieties around unexplained illnesses, particularly those affecting women.

These episodes highlight how the understanding and treatment of hysteria was a significant area of inquiry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and how it laid the groundwork for the development of modern psychoanalytic theory and practice.