Infectious Historians podcast

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A tartalmat a InfectiousHistorians biztosítja. Az összes podcast-tartalmat, beleértve az epizódokat, grafikákat és podcast-leírásokat, közvetlenül a InfectiousHistorians vagy a podcast platform partnere tölti fel és biztosítja. Ha úgy gondolja, hogy valaki az Ön engedélye nélkül használja fel a szerzői joggal védett művét, kövesse az itt leírt folyamatot https://hu.player.fm/legal.

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Infectious Historians

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Covering infectious diseases through history from plague to COVID-19.

135 epizódok

#History #InfectiousHistorians

Infectious Historians

48 subscribers

updated 27 napja

Megosztás

Sorozat kép•Feed

Covering infectious diseases through history from plague to COVID-19.

135 epizódok

#History #InfectiousHistorians

Wszystkie odcinki

1
Episode 134 - Marian Devotion and Plague in Late Medieval Italy with Bianca Lopez 1:07:12

27 napja1:07:12

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Bianca Lopez (Southern Methodist University) joins the Infectious Historians to discuss her recent book on plague, piety and power in late medieval Italy. Lopez begins with a survey of the impact of the Black Death and subsequent second pandemic outbreaks on Italy and moves on to talk about the specific area she studies - Santa Maria di Loreto. She examines the indirect impacts of plague on the rural area while using some of the surviving testaments to better understand mortality in the area in the late 14th century and early 15th century. The discussion covers the physicality of the site as well as the challenges in making causal connections. Before wrapping up, Lopez also touches upon her experience writing a history of disease during Covid, and reflects on how her pandemic work might help researchers working on other pandemics.…

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Episode 133 - Cholera in 20th Century China with Xiaoping Fang 56:10

6 weeks56:10

56:10

Xiaoping Fang (Monash University) comes on the podcast to discuss his recent book about cholera’s role in mid-20th century China. Fang begins by discussing cholera broadly before moving to focus on its role in China, primarily through examining it as a public health event. Although the mortality of the cholera epidemic was not very high, it was more important in restructuring the Chinese sociopolitical system while also restablishing its legitimacy. Fang touches upon the differential impact of the pandemic and state response on urban and rural Chinese populations. Finally, the conversation moves to Covid and potential linkages between both disease events.…

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Episode 132 - Plague in the Ottoman Empire with Einar Wigen 59:56

9 weeks59:56

59:56

Einar Wigen (University of Oslo) joins the Infectious Historians to talk about the Ottoman experience of plague. The conversation begins with a reflection on the beginning and end of epidemics, as well as the purpose of such discussions - as people bestow importance upon epidemics. It then transitions to plague in the Ottoman Empire - covering its impact as well as how the Ottomans themselves thought about the plague. Einar points out some of the (few) sources and their nature, discusses the differences between impacts on the hinterland and rural areas, and connects the discussion to orientalist stereotypes about the Ottomans. Finally, Einar reflects on his historical work within the context of Covid.…

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Episode 131 - Pandemic Ends with Erica Charters 1:05:59

12 weeks1:05:59

1:05:59

Erica Charters (University of Oxford) comes on the podcast to discuss how pandemics end. Erica begins by pointing out that we tend to pay far less attention to the end of pandemics, reflecting on the ending of Covid in public discourse. Erica then discusses a large project she ran which brought together over 40 international scholars on the end of pandemics which also examined the same issue. The conversation then moves to discuss endemic diseases, as well as the possibility that an epidemic disappears in a sense by becoming endemic and therefore less noticeable as an exception. Erica also notes the role of endemic diseases, for example in the early modern period.…

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Episode 130 - Reading and Caregiving during Covid with Robert Zaretsky 1:12:20

15 weeks1:12:20

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Robert Zaretsky (University of Houston) joins the Infectious Historians to reflect on his experiences during Covid as he read “plague literature” and volunteered as an aide at a nursing home. The interview begins with Robert reflecting on his thinking during Covid and how he moved from reading history to literature. The conversation continues by moving between Robert’s voluntary work at the nursing home and the books he read upon during Covid. Robert reflects on how he read Camus differently during Covid, drawing parallels between the novel and his own personal experiences. He proceeds to raise some of the existential questions from the book, and recounts how he left the nursing home and what happened afterwards.…

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Episode 129 - Modern Flu with Michael Bresalier 1:11:11

18 weeks1:11:11

1:11:11

Michael Bresalier (Swansea University) discusses his work on the modern flu with Merle and Lee. Michael begins with talking about influenza in general and how the virus is constantly changing. The conversation then moves to focus on the annual flu shot - including its composition and how it is manufactured. Michael answers questions about a few other topics - including the impact of the 1918 pandemic on the knowledge of the flu in medical thinking, and the classic story of how the flu virus was discovered - where he highlights the invisible institutional framework that enabled the discovery to happen. The interview concludes with a reflection on the work needed to control a disease and the necessary multi-species approach required to do so.…

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Episode 128 - Medieval Recipes with Claire Burridge 1:05:24

20 weeks1:05:24

1:05:24

Claire Burridge (University of Oslo) comes on the podcast to discuss her work on “medical minitexts” such as recipe added to medieval manuscripts otherwise unrelated to medicine. The conversation begins with a broad framing of the period of and the genre of medical manuscripts before zooming into some of the recipes that address a variety of health issues. Claire reflects on the ingredients for the recipes, the ways in which they changed over time, whether or not they work, and the extent to which they circulated in and beyond regions. She also draws some of the new connections between some recipes and osteological research.…

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Episode 127 - Infectious Diseases and Podcasting with Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke 1:10:14

34 weeks1:10:14

1:10:14

Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke, hosts of This Podcast Will Kill You , probably the first podcast on diseases - join Merle and Lee to reflect on podcasting and infectious diseases over the past several years. The conversation traces the beginnings of Erin and Erin’s podcast and the reason why they decided to launch it. Erin and Erin talk about how things changed since the beginning of their podcast, their listeners and their expectations, and academia and science communication. They reflect about what worked (and what didn’t) in their podcast, and about keeping a balance between the podcast and their life. Throughout the conversation, Merle and Lee point to the similarities and differences between the two podcasts their formation, and their development.…

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Episode 126 - South Asian Medicine with Anthony Cerulli 1:05:54

36 weeks1:05:54

1:05:54

Anthony Cerulli (University of Wisconsin - Madison) joins the podcast to discuss his work on medicine in South Asia, focusing on ayurvedic medicine in premodernity. After some basic background contextualizing south Asian medicine, Anthony provides an overview of the three foundational texts for it. The conversations touches upon subjects such as the role of the patients, how healing is achieved in south Asian medicine, and similarities between south Asian medicine and Greek/Arabic medicine. Although most of the conversation focuses on the premodern past, Anthony also draws connections with the present, including with Covid. The interview ends with some reflections on the broader theme of health and the humanities in academia.…

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Episode 125 - Pandemic Politics during Covid-19 with Shana Gadarian 1:08:13

45 weeks1:08:13

1:08:13

Shana Gadarian (Syracuse University) joins the infectious historians to discuss her book on politics and their influence on behavior during Covid-19. The conversation begins with Shana’s decision to work on the behavior of Americans during Covid-19 early in the pandemic and she reflects on the process of writing the book as events were still unfolding. She explains the methodology she and her co-authors used for their analysis, and talks about their findings - a key one being that partisanship was a major determinant in Americans’ risk-taking and Covid-related behavior. Things changed after Biden won the 2020 election. Shana continues by discussing other potential avenues she could have expanded her research to, and concludes with a reflection about whether Americans have learned from Covid.…

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Episode 124 - Emotions and Plague with Philippa Nicole Barr 1:14:06

48 weeks1:14:06

1:14:06

Philippa Nicole Barr (Australia National University) speaks to the Infectious Historians about her work on the public emotions surrounding the outbreak of the third plague pandemic in Australia. Philippa frames the discussion by providing some background about Australia at the turn of the 20th century and how plague reached Australia and led to the 1900 outbreak. She then explains the methods she used writing her book, looking at the history of emotions. The conversation them moves to examine the strategic mobilization of emotion in 1900 - especially in context of the confusion with how plague worked. Philipa speaks specifically about disgust, often through describing things, places and people as disgusting by being ‘dirty’ or associated with ‘dirt’. The invocation of something as dirty could lead to attempts to ameliorate this condition, for example by big sanitation campaigns. Plague, Philippa argues, catalyzed emotional and political responses at the time.…

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Episode 123 - Plague and Astrology with Michelle Pfeffer 1:16:24

51 weeks1:16:24

1:16:24

Michelle Pfeffer (University of Oxford) comes on the podcast to present her work on astrology in the context of the second plague pandemic. The conversation begins with a brief discussion of the second plague pandemic and some of the cultural reactions to it. Michelle then speaks about public health and the question of its origins, before moving into astrology as a complex body of theory. She points out that astrology and medicine were quite close in both theory and practice. Michelle also discusses how in the early modern period astrology moved from being an elite product to a more democratic process, and draws some similarities between astrology and data gathering and epidemiology. The final part of the conversation covers Michelle’s exhibition as a form of outreach. Michelle recounts how she put it together and about some of the responses that she had received.…

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Episode 122 - Smallpox and Virgin Soil Epidemics with Jason Opal 1:07:48

1 year1:07:48

1:07:48

Jason Opal (McGill University) joins the Infectious Historians. Jason begins by discussing the massive impact of disease on the Americas between the 15th and 18th centuries, while also acknowledging the realization of this history in the 1970s. He also touches upon the concept of “virgin soil” epidemics. The second part of the episode focuses on inoculation against smallpox in Europe, the colonies and elsewhere. Jason discusses how inoculation was done and the different ways in which it was adopted. He also touches upon the relevance of measles to this story. The last part of the interview discusses teaching epidemics, as Jason shares with Merle and Lee how he teaches disease.…

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Episode 121 - A Special Journal Issue on Pandemics with Neeraja Sankaran and Stephen Weldon 1:13:44

1 year1:13:44

1:13:44

Neeraja Sankaran (National Centre for Biological Sciences-TIFR) and Stephen Weldon (University of Oklahoma) join the Infectious Historians to discuss a recent special journal issue they edited. The issue includes many studies about histories of disease, pandemics and their impact around the world and across time, and reflections on how people have studies these events in the past. Neeraja and Stephen begin by telling the story of how they decided to put out the special issue, and reflect on some of their early choices and how those determined the shape of the final outcome. They discuss the question of how to measure the impact of this issue, and share how the editing work has influenced their own thinking on these issues. The conversation then moves on to discuss teaching courses on pandemics, before wrapping up with another reflection, this time on the impacts of Covid on how people write about disease.…

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Episode 120 - Genomic & genetic research and racialized communities with Arafaat Valiani 1:07:39

1 year1:07:39

1:07:39

Arafaat Valiani (University of Oregon) has a conversation with the Infectious Historians about genomic and genetic research with indigenous communities. Arafaat goes over what is genomic research, then describes how tests work and the bioethical debate surrounding them. He describes some of the different approaches among biomedical researchers that approach marginalized communities. The conversation moves on to discuss some of the practicalities of working with and within these communities, followed by a reflection about whether other communities should adopt similar practices as well. The interview finishes with a discussion of the role of AI within genomic research.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 119 - Yellow Fever and Climate with Keith Pluymers 1:13:49

1 year1:13:49

1:13:49

Keith Pluymers (Illinois State University) comes on the show to talk about his work on late 18th century Philadelphia in the context of yellow fever and climate. After the introductory remarks and the personal updates, Keith begins with a discussion of the Anthropocene and its broader relevance as well as its connection to his field of studies. He continues to discuss climate and disease in the New World, as well as in the context of how science and empirical measurements were done in the past. Keith provides several examples that demonstrate how 18th century people believed they could exert some influence over the weather, atmosphere or even climate. This then ties into the yellow fever discussion, which he contextualizes within the broader discourse in Philadelphia but also broader trans-Atlantic discourse.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 118 - Diseased Cinema: Plagues, Pandemics, and Zombies in American Film with Robert Alpert 1:05:32

1 year1:05:32

1:05:32

Robert Alpert (Fordham University) joins the Infectious Historians to discuss the book they wrote together on disease in film. The conversation begins with a survey of the book and its argument. The three co-authors speak about the movies that are covered in the book, reflect upon the experience of co-writing a book (and its troubles) alongside each author’s contribution to the trio, and expand the book’s argument and some of its chapters - especially the chapters on the five remakes of the Body Snatcher movies and the six movies of the Resident Evil franchise. The three authors mention some of the movies they have covered in the book, as well as discuss how Covid changed the book. The episode ends off with a special reveal(!).…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 117 - The Prescription to Prison Pipeline with Michelle Smirnova 1:11:44

1 year1:11:44

1:11:44

Michelle Smirnova (University of Missouri-Kansas City) returns to the podcast to discuss her new book on drugs and prison in the United States, The Prescription to Prison Pipeline.The interview begins with a discussion of medicalization, and then generally follows the title of her book. The first part focuses on prescription drugs, touching also on subjects such as biomedicalization. The opioid epidemic and the so-called War on Drugs are linked to imprisonment in the United States. Finally, the pipline section reflects upon structural issues that link drugs to imprisonment. Michelle also discusses some of the ethical concerns in working with incarcerated individuals.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 116 - Smallpox with Ana Duggan and Tim Newfield 1:02:58

1 year1:02:58

1:02:58

Ana Duggan (McMaster) and Tim Newfield (Georgetown) join the Infectious Historians to discuss smallpox. The conversation begins as always with a survey of what smallpox actually is as well as its broad history. After Ana and Tim share the reasons they chose to research smallpox, they move on to speak about recent research about historical smallpox, particularly through the study of the virus’ ancient DNA samples. Ana and Tim also discuss the differences which make the study of smallpox more difficult compared to other pathogens, and reflect upon where the field might be heading, particularly in the context of the Antonine Plague.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 115 - Medieval Music and Disease with Karen Cook 1:02:30

2 years1:02:30

1:02:30

Karen Cook (University of Hartford) joins the Infectious Historians to discuss some of her work on medieval music. Karen begins with an overview of medieval music - its purposes, context, instruments and the people who made it. She then moves on to speak about music related to epidemics - which is generally identified through its lyrics - with some analogies to Covid. The conversation then expands to include reception and medievalism, singling out a few video games that have used medieval or medieval-like music, as well as establishing new genres where contemporary pop music receives a “medieval” cover. Visit our website for links to the many music pieces Karen mentioned!…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 114 - The 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic from a translocal and comparative perspective with John Eicher 1:07:14

2 years1:07:14

1:07:14

John Eicher (Penn State Altoona) joins the Infectious Historians to discuss his project on the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic that examines the pandemic from a translocal and comparative perspective. John begins by describing the broad contours of the pandemic and reflects upon the different approaches scholars have adopted in telling the story of the pandemic so far. John’s own project builds upon a digitized collection of over a thousand letters describing memories and stories from the influenza pandemic, offering him a unique understanding of what the pandemic did in a variety of locales. Throughout the interview John shares some of the stories that appear in the letters, and jumps between trying to think about the pandemic as a whole and focusing on the individual experience that the sources provide. Among the topics that are discussed in the interview are the features that appear (e.g. war) or do not appear (e.g. blame) in the letters, and attempts to compare different understandings of the pandemic - for example in the United States and in Europe. Near the end the conversation moves to a discussion of Rosenberg’s understanding of an epidemic as well as a comparison to Covid.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 113 - Famine in Lebanon during World War I with Tylor Brand 1:04:56

2 years1:04:56

1:04:56

Tylor Brand (Trinity College Dublin) comes on the podcast to talk about his recent book, Famine Worlds: Life at the Edge of Suffering in Lebanon’s Great War . After the standard opening and welcome, the discussion begins with a survey of the Ottoman Middle East in the early 20th century, which quickly moves to examine the case of Lebanon during World War I. Tylor explains the reasons for the famine, then moves on to distinguish between different war and famine experiences within Lebanon, covering its effects on different groups during the war. Tylor also discusses the sources he used for the project, as well as the contemporaneous diseases that affected the country.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 112 - The Third Plague Pandemic in Java with Maurits Meerwijk 1:01:55

2 years1:01:55

1:01:55

Maurits Meerwijk (Leiden University) joins the Infectious Historians to discuss his book on the effects of the third plague pandemic in Java in the first half of the 20th century. The conversation begins with a survey of Java, its location and politics as under Dutch colonialism. Plague reached Java relatively late during the pandemic (1910/1), but resulted in a large number of deaths. The interview focuses in particular on a large-scale program of home improvement that the Dutch initiated as a response to the plague - a project that lasted 30 years and resulted in the improvement of some 1.6 million local houses. The end of the conversation reflects upon Java as a third pandemic case study and considers the (lack of) historical memory of this episode.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 111 - Epidemic Orientalism with Alexandre White 1:02:54

2 years1:02:54

1:02:54

Alexandre White (Johns Hopkins University) joins Merle and Lee to discuss his recent book on Epidemic Orientalism. Alexandre begins by defining epidemic orientalism, focusing on why particular diseases - cholera, plague and yellow fever - (but not others) have been regulated. The conversation continues to examine the role of the West in placing these diseases and the East within the same frame, and Alexandre provides historical background to the beginnings of what we understand today as global public health - international sanitary conferences in the mid-19th century which served health purposes but were also inherently political and colonial in nature. In addition, Alexandre surveys the roles and activities of the WHO as the contemporary manifestation, also through the role it played in the recent Covid pandemic.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 110 - Late Antique Disasters with Kristina Sessa 1:15:02

2 years1:15:02

1:15:02

Kristina Sessa (Ohio State University) comes on the podcast to discuss her work on late antique historical disasters. After a brief overview of late antiquity and its importance in global history, Tina discusses her categorization of disasters and how it relates to broader disaster studies. The conversation zooms out to consider broader environmental history and environmental determinism before zooming back in to reflect upon the meaning of disaster for modern observers-historians compared to contemporaries who experienced the disaster at the time. Tina also discusses the sources she uses in her research, the role of numbers in disaster reports, as well as how contemporaries conceived of disasters.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 109 - Interdisciplinary Studies of Disease before 1000 (a recent conference Merle and Lee attended) 44:11

2 years44:11

44:11

Merle and Lee discuss a recent conference on epidemics in the first millennium of the common era they both participated in at Georgetown University (in Washington DC). They begin with an overview of the conference itself - its topic and structure - as well as the people they met, include quite a few who were already guests on the show (and a few others who will be guests on the show in the next few episodes). They discuss some of the topics of the talks in the conference and how the many scholars who work on mostly premodern diseases from different disciplines in certain times and places who came together and demonstrated the diverse approaches in this dynamic field of studies. They finish the episode with a brief outline of some of the future topics the podcast will cover.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 108 - The Russian Flu with Tom Ewing 1:07:33

2 years1:07:33

1:07:33

Tom Ewing (Virginia Tech) joins the Infectious Historians to discuss his work on the Russian Flu, a late 19th century influenza pandemic that resonates with the early 20th century Spanish Flu. After setting the stage and touching upon the name of the pandemic as well as its reasoning and implications, the conversation moves to reflect upon the interest (or lack thereof) in the Russian Flu, followed by moving into the topic of mortality counts - covering both their attraction to observers and the difficulties in actually reaching reliable numbers. The next part of the conversation examines the comparison between the Russian and Spanish Flus as well as how the memory of the Russian Flu influenced expectations and behaviors during the Spanish Flu. This soon leads towards Covid within the broader context of earlier pandemics.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 107 - Jews and Plague in Early Modern Europe with Joshua Teplitsky 1:06:09

2 years1:06:09

1:06:09

Joshua Teplitsky (University of Pennsylvania) comes on the podcast to discuss his work on plague and its effects on Jewish communities in early modern Europe and particularly during the 18th century. Joshua offers an overview of some of the rich sources he uses for his research, including both the sources for mortality at the time and sources that describe how local Jewish communities perceived and reacted to plague - ranging from rabbinic responsa to epic Yiddish poems. He then focuses on a single case study - the plague outbreak in Prague in 1713 to offer a more concrete interpretation. The conversation subsequently moves to a deeper discussion of the myth that Jews were somehow more immune or resistant to plague, based on Joshua’s research who explored both the evidence and the origins of the idea. Joshua further connects this myth to broader myths surrounding diseases.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 106 - Knowledge, Science and Health in the Early Modern Caribbean 1:01:52

2 years1:01:52

1:01:52

Pablo Gomez (University of Wisconsin, Madison) comes on the podcast to talk about knowledge, science and health in the early modern Caribbean. The conversation begins with the basics and how the region does not fall into the tropes of modernity, then focuses on Pablo’s interest in how people of African descent navigated the area and period. Pablo speaks specifically about a group of Black ritual practitioners and covers some of the ways in which he learns about them in sources (mostly inquisitional records). The conversation continues to discuss topics such as the transmission of specialized knowledge, memory of earlier societies in the area and the partial presence of the Caribbean in standard narratives of epidemics and pandemics. A brief reflection on Covid wraps up the interview.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 105 - Disease and Healing in Ancient Mesopotamia with Troels Arboll 1:10:07

2 years1:10:07

1:10:07

Troels Arboll (University of Copenhagen) joins the show to discuss his work on disease and healing in ancient Mesopotamia. Troels first defines ancient Mesopotamia both temporally and spatially and points out some of the sources we have for the period and their issues. The conversation soon reaches infectious diseases and how they were perceived and recorded by the inhabitants of Ancient Mesopotamia. This sets the stage for an overview of the difficulties of terminology in the surviving primary sources as well as the uncertainties of retrospective diagnosis that forces ambiguous ancient terms into modern-day categories. Troels subsequently surveys how the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia responded to infectious diseases, and touches upon the questions of healing. Finally, the conversation moves to Covid and its effects on discussions in the field.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 104 - Disease, illness and religion in early modern French Canada with Mary Dunn 1:13:07

2 years1:13:07

1:13:07

Mary Dunn (St. Louis University) discusses her recent book on disease, illness and religion in French Canada over the 17th and 18th centuries. Mary begins with some background on Canada in the period, then moves to discuss some of the main sources from the period and their authors - the Jesuits. The main part of the interview examines some of the illness narratives Mary found in the sources and some of the stories they told about healing. Mary also shares some of her thoughts of how disability studies can contribute to our thinking about the past, and about her personal connection with her sources based on her own life experiences.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 103 - The National Library of Medicine with Jeffrey Reznick 1:08:49

2 years1:08:49

1:08:49

Jeffrey Reznick (The National Library of Medicine) comes on the podcast to discuss his work as Chief of the History of Medicine Division at the National Library of Medicine and his research, particularly on the 1918 influenza pandemic. The conversation begins with a survey of the National Library of Medicine, and Jeffrey briefly outlines his normal work there before moving on to the Library’s multifaceted responses to Covid - including the preservation of information and ephemera. Jeffrey reflects on the connections between Covid and the 1918 influenza pandemic on multiple levels. The conversation includes multiple references to resources and tools that the Library of Medicine has been working on and making available to online users. Before wrapping up, the conversation touches upon some of the future directions for the Library of Medicine.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 102 - DDT with Elena Conis 1:10:46

2 years1:10:46

1:10:46

Elena Conis joins the Infectious Historians to discuss her recent book on the history of DDT and its use. The conversation begins with a brief overview of the early history of DDT up to and around its entry into mass production in the 1940s and 1950s. In parallel to the discussion of the commercial and industrial aspects of its use, Elena points out some of the cultural reasons why DDT was so popular. The next part of the conversation examines the changing attitude to DDT and its eventual decline, centered around Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) although earlier voices had similarly critiqued DDT and its massive use. The discussion covers the period until the 21st century, as DDT remains in use, albeit limited, today.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 101 - HIV-AIDS in Kenya with Alex Otieno 1:09:17

2 years1:09:17

1:09:17

Alex Otieno (Arcadia University) joins Merle and Lee to discuss HIV-AIDS in Kenya. After a broad overview of the AIDS pandemic from the 1980s until today, including the issues of mortality and treatment, the conversation moves to Africa and Kenya. Alex discusses the early failure of Kenya to deal with the pandemic, and the rapid evolution of its response since the late 1990s, which has resulted in considerable success. Among the topics covered is the international aid that Kenya receives, the rise of circumcision among males in Kenya, and how the country lives with HIV-AIDS at the present, and both top-down and bottom-up responses to HIV. The conversation concludes with a discussion of the future.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 100 - The Infectious Historians’ 100th Anniversary 54:30

2 years54:30

54:30

Merle and Lee reflect on the past 100 episodes of the podcast. They outline some of their plans for the podcast moving forward, share some of their own research projects, consider how Covid has affected academic life (and the podcast’s development), and discuss their respective disease courses this semester and how those relate to the podcast so far.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 99 - Health and Illness in the Ancient World with Helen Rhee 1:00:59

2 years1:00:59

1:00:59

Helen Rhee (Westmont College) joins the Infectious Historians to discuss her work on illness, pain and healthcare in early Christianity. The conversation begins with an overview of medicine in Greco-Roman antiquity, and transitions from there to survey health and illness in the Hebrew Bible before moving on to early Christian times. The topics covered include changes over time in the association between the divine and health (or disease), asceticism, pain, and the new idea of Christian health through hospitals in cities.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 98 - Anti-Vaccination movements with Paula Larsson 1:05:43

3 years1:05:43

1:05:43

Paula Larsson (University of Oxford) comes on the new Infectious Historians episode to talk about her work on anti-vaccination movements. The conversation begins with an overview of vaccines before moving into vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccination. Paula explores the similarities in anti-vaccination movements and their arguments over the past two centuries, while drawing parallels to famous recent cases such as the MMR vaccine and its false links to autism and the Covid vaccine. Near the end, Paula discusses her public engagement work, which she has pursued through multiple pathways.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 97 - Empire and the Development of Medicine with Jim Downs 1:16:17

3 years1:16:17

1:16:17

Jim Downs (Gettysburg College) joins the Infectious Historians to talk about his recent book. The conversation begins with epidemiology and its origins, focusing on the 18th century military bureaucracy and the production of scientific knowledge in venues associated with slavery, prisons, the colonies and war. Jim follows the people who produced this knowledge - but emphasizes the voices of the marginalized groups who are an inherent part of this story. The last part of the interview is a discussion of Jim’s public-facing work and some of the issues that such work might encounter.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 96 - Diseases and Urban Space with Sara Carr 1:13:11

3 years1:13:11

1:13:11

Sara Carr (Northeastern University) joins the Infectious Historians for a conversation about her work on redesigning urban space in response to a pandemic. The discussion begins with a survey of the major changes in urban landscapes in the US over the past two centuries. Sara presents the epidemics she covers - ranging from cholera to urban blight - and talks about the speed in which changes might be expected to occur. The differential impact of diseases among class and residency status comes up in several contexts, and Sara discusses what changes might happen in urban space as a result of the Covid pandemic.…

Infectious Historians

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Episode 95 - New Research on the Source of the Black Death with Maria Spyrou and Phil Slavin 1:11:40

3 years1:11:40

1:11:40

Maria Spyrou (University of Tübingen) and Phil Slavin (University of Stirling) join Merle and Lee to discuss their recent Nature publication on the source of the Black Death. After quickly covering the basics of paleogenetics and the history of the Black Death(!), the conversation moves on to the article itself and highlights its importance while also offering a “behind-the-scenes” look at how the research was planned and conducted. In the later part of the episode, Maria and Phil reflect on their collaboration over the past several years as well as on interdisciplinarity, its challenges and its potential.…

Infectious Historians

1
Episode 94 - Epidemic Empire and Colonialism with Anjuli Raza Kolb 1:11:07

3 years1:11:07

1:11:07

Anjuli Raza Kolb (University of Toronto) joins Merle and Lee to discuss “Epidemic Empire”, her recent book on the history behind the metaphor of the “terrorism epidemic”. The conversation covers the development of the idea of insurgent violence as an epidemic in the nineteenth century, touching on imperialism and colonialism, particularly from a British perspective. Anjuli traces the development of the metaphor chronologically, with several stops along the way, until Covid. Among others, Anjuli examines discourse about Muslims and infectious disease, and several transition points - such as the Haiti Revolution and the Algerian Independence Movement, as well as AIDS and 9/11.…

Infectious Historians

1
Episode 93 - Pollen, infectious disease and the Black Death with Adam Izdebski 1:03:19

3 years1:03:19

1:03:19

Adam Izdebski (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History) joins the Infectious Historians to discuss his work at the frontier between pollen and disease, and in particular in light of his recent work analyzing pollen from the time of the Black Death. The conversation begins with an introduction to palynology (pollen analysis) and its limitations. Adam discusses fieldwork as well as a few examples for what pollen can offer us before turning to his research and what his large meta-analysis of pollen sites across Europe found about the Black Death. Adam also touches upon the potential of interdisciplinary work as well as his outreach initiatives, including his project of getting involved with policymaking.…

Infectious Historians

1
Episode 92 - Tropical Disease & Medicine with Suman Seth 1:03:53

3 years1:03:53

1:03:53

Suman Seth [ https://sts.cornell.edu/suman-seth ] joins Merle and Lee to talk about his work on medicine in the British colonies during the 18th century and how it changed as people learned about tropical diseases. Suman begins by providing background on how medicine was practiced in Britain and in the colonies, alongside how new generations learned about tropical diseases over time. He then discusses how people new to colonies were “seasoned” to acclimate them to tropical diseases along with differences in this impact on colonizers, soldiers, and the enslaved among others. At the end, Suman describes how these changes shaped the development of ideas of race and racial thinking.…

Infectious Historians

1
Episode 91 - The Mexican Church and Disease in the 16th century with Jennifer Hughes 1:05:59

3 years1:05:59

1:05:59

Jennifer Hughes joins Merle and Lee to discuss her work on empire, society and church in 16th century Mexico. After Jennifer sets up the conversation with some background, the discussion focuses on the growth of the Catholic church in Mexico through the Spanish Empire against a backdrop of periodic epidemic disease, examining changes through both imperial and indigenous perspectives. The discussion covers themes such as the economic impact of disease, conversion to Christianity, and the indigenous response to cataclysmic epidemics. Jennifer also presents the range of attitudes and responses on the Spanish side.…

Infectious Historians

1
Episode 90 - Public Health Labs in History and during Covid with Claas Kirchhelle and Samantha Vanderslott 1:22:49

3 years1:22:49

1:22:49

Claas Kirchhelle (University College Dublin) and Samantha Vanderslott (Oxford University) talk to Merle and Lee about the development and history of public health laboratories and how they worked (or didn’t) during Covid. After first discussing what a public health lab is and how they work, they speak about when they were created in a few countries around the world and how they have developed historically. Claas and Sam note the role of public and private labs together and the key role of Swine Flu in 2009 in how this shaped public health then and during Covid. They also point out the tensions between centralized big data goals and the need for local public health facilities and aims. At the end, Claas and Sam suggest how Covid might be used to shape better outcomes in the future with a greater place for social scientists in future planning.…

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