Silence, stigma and survival: polio in postwar Australia

In the 1950s, Australia endured several dangerous outbreaks of polio - a highly infectious disease that threatened lifelong paralysis. Many aging survivors are still living with its impacts today, including the mother of Professor Catharine Coleborne, a historian of medicine at the University of Newcastle. Now, Catharine is surveying Australia's archival records to better understand the experiences of people who contracted polio in the postwar period. It's a story not just of physical debilitation, but also intense social stigma and fear.Guest: Catharine Coleborne, Professor of History at the University of Newcastle. Her project is called “My Mother’s Polio: Australian Experiences of Poliomyelitis, 1950s to 1960s”. Producer: Jack Schmidt