PODCAST · history
Infectious Historians
by InfectiousHistorians
Covering infectious diseases through history from plague to COVID-19.
Episodes
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Episode 147 - Primary Care with Troyen Brennan
Troyen Brennan (Harvard University) joins the Infectious Historians to chat about his recent book which reflects on primary care in the United States. The conversation begins with an historical perspective, tracing the development of specializations within the practice of medicine from the…
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Episode 146 - Pandemic India with David Arnold
David Arnold (Warwick University, emeritus) joins Merle and Lee to chat about his recent book on pandemics in India since the 19th century. After the standard introductions, David reflects on the definition of pandemic and how it began to be used in the 1860s, with discussions of the role of…
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Episode 145 - Vampire Epidemics with John Blair
John Blair (Oxford University) joins Merle and Lee on the podcast in a discussion about his new book, Vampire Epidemics. The episode begins, as usual, with a definition of a vampire, followed by a survey of where and when these supernatural creatures appear in writings. John then discusses the...
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Episode 144 - Entomology with Bruce Noden
Bruce Noden (Oklahoma State University) joins the podcast to talk about his research on entomology (the study of insects). Bruce introduces his field of study and the particular context of his work on insect-borne diseases in Oklahoma looking at ticks and mosquitoes. He discusses the impacts of...
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Episode 143 - The History of Masks with Bruno Strasser and Thomas Schlich
Bruno Strasser (University of Geneva) and Thomas Schlich (McGill University) come on the Infectious Historians podcast to discuss their recent book on the history of masks. As usual, the episode begins with definitions, then moves to discuss some of the commonly known kinds of masks in history -...
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Episode 142 - Capitalism and Vector-Borne Disease with Brent Kaup and Kelly Austin
Brent Kaup (William & Mary University) and Kelly Austin (Lehigh University) come on the podcast to discuss their new book connecting disease and capitalism. They begin by discussing the financialization of America and link it as a cause of climate change. Financialization is also linked to…
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Episode 141 - Foreign Healthcare Workers with Eram Alam
Eran Alam (Harvard University) speaks to the Infectious Historians about foreign healthcare workers in the US. The conversation begins with an examination of doctors in the US - how many are trained (and retire), different fields and different parts of the country. Historically, immigration has...
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Episode 140 - Tuberculosis in World War I with Eric Story
In this episode Merle and Lee speak with Eric Story (Western University) about his work on tuberculosis in the Canadian army during World War I. Eric begins by discussing disability studies and tuberculosis before focusing on the Canadian military during the war. As a social historian, Story...
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Episode 139 - Risk in Late Antiquity with Cam Grey
Cam Grey (University of Pennsylvania) comes on the podcast to discuss his book on risk in the late Roman world. The conversation begins with a discussion of how to define disasters and risk, before moving on to examine the ways in which risk was conceived and mitigated in the past. Cam speaks…
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Episode 138 - Tuberculosis in Tanzania with Christoph Gradmann
Christoph Gradmann (University of Oslo) joins Merle and Lee to discuss his new book on 20th century tuberculosis in Tanzania seen through the records of Kibong'oto hospital, the main hospital that treated the disease in the region. The conversation begins with some context about Tanzania and its...
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Episode 137 - Covid in Taiwan with Wayne Soon
Wayne Soon (University of Minnesota) joins the Infectious Historians to chat about his work on Taiwan. Wayne begins with a survey of Covid in Taiwan, highlighting state responses and how other countries featured in Taiwan during the pandemic. The conversation then moves back to examine the…
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Episode 136 - Bioarchaeology with Jordan Wilson and Janet Kay
Jordan Wilson (Georgetown University) and Janet Kay (Independent Scholar) join Merle and Lee to talk about bioarchaeology in light of an article they wrote on the bioarchaeology of the first plague pandemic. The conversation starts off with an explanation of bioarchaeology, its methodologies...
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Episode 135 - Avian Flu with Natalie Porter
Natalie Porter (independent scholar) joins Merle and Lee to discuss her work on Avian Flu in Vietnam. Natalie begins with an explanation of what Avian (Bird) Flu is, alongside a survey of the culling that happens when epidemics occur among birds. Natalie explains how she came to work on this…
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Episode 134 - Marian Devotion and Plague in Late Medieval Italy with Bianca Lopez
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...
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Episode 133 - Cholera in 20th Century China with Xiaoping Fang
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…
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Episode 132 - Plague in the Ottoman Empire with Einar Wigen
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...
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Episode 131 - Pandemic Ends with Erica Charters
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...
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Episode 130 - Reading and Caregiving during Covid with Robert Zaretsky
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...
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Episode 129 - Modern Flu with Michael Bresalier
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...
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Episode 128 - Medieval Recipes with Claire Burridge
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...
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Episode 127 - Infectious Diseases and Podcasting with Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke
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...
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Episode 126 - South Asian Medicine with Anthony Cerulli
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…
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Episode 125 - Pandemic Politics during Covid-19 with Shana Gadarian
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...
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Episode 124 - Emotions and Plague with Philippa Nicole Barr
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...
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Episode 123 - Plague and Astrology with Michelle Pfeffer
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...
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Episode 122 - Smallpox and Virgin Soil Epidemics with Jason Opal
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”...
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Episode 121 - A Special Journal Issue on Pandemics with Neeraja Sankaran and Stephen Weldon
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...
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Episode 120 - Genomic & genetic research and racialized communities with Arafaat Valiani
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...
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Episode 119 - Yellow Fever and Climate with Keith Pluymers
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…
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Episode 118 - Diseased Cinema: Plagues, Pandemics, and Zombies in American Film with Robert Alpert
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…
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Episode 117 - The Prescription to Prison Pipeline with Michelle Smirnova
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...
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Episode 116 - Smallpox with Ana Duggan and Tim Newfield
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...
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Episode 115 - Medieval Music and Disease with Karen Cook
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…
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Episode 114 - The 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic from a translocal and comparative perspective with John Eicher
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...
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Episode 113 - Famine in Lebanon during World War I with Tylor Brand
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...
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Episode 112 - The Third Plague Pandemic in Java with Maurits Meerwijk
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...
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Episode 111 - Epidemic Orientalism with Alexandre White
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...
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Episode 110 - Late Antique Disasters with Kristina Sessa
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...
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Episode 109 - Interdisciplinary Studies of Disease before 1000 (a recent conference Merle and Lee attended)
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...
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Episode 108 - The Russian Flu with Tom Ewing
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...
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Episode 107 - Jews and Plague in Early Modern Europe with Joshua Teplitsky
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…
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Episode 106 - Knowledge, Science and Health in the Early Modern Caribbean
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...
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Episode 105 - Disease and Healing in Ancient Mesopotamia with Troels Arboll
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…
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Episode 104 - Disease, illness and religion in early modern French Canada with Mary Dunn
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....
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Episode 103 - The National Library of Medicine with Jeffrey Reznick
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...
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Episode 102 - DDT with Elena Conis
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…
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Episode 101 - HIV-AIDS in Kenya with Alex Otieno
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...
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Episode 100 - The Infectious Historians’ 100th Anniversary
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…
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Episode 99 - Health and Illness in the Ancient World with Helen Rhee
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…
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Episode 98 - Anti-Vaccination movements with Paula Larsson
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...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Covering infectious diseases through history from plague to COVID-19.
HOSTED BY
InfectiousHistorians
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Infectious Historians have?
Infectious Historians currently has 148 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Infectious Historians about?
Covering infectious diseases through history from plague to COVID-19.
How often does Infectious Historians release new episodes?
Infectious Historians publishes regularly with 148 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Infectious Historians?
You can listen to Infectious Historians on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Infectious Historians?
Infectious Historians is created and hosted by InfectiousHistorians.
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