Episode 30 – Smallpox, Slavery, and Vaccinations with Elise Mitchell
Elise Mitchell (NYU) talks about her work on smallpox vaccinations and forced inoculations for enslaved people in the Caribbean during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Infectious Historians
Thanks for stopping by our website! We encourage you to listen to our podcast episodes, where we’ve included further information and readings on the topic. Feel free to check our blog, with posts written by ourselves as well as our guests to the podcast. You can find more information on infamous historical pandemics in the Further Reading tab. We’d love to hear more from you – feedback on previous episodes, suggestions for future episodes, or questions about specific historical pandemics. Let’s stay in touch!
Tara Malanga (Rutgers University) joins Merle and Lee to discuss indigenous perceptions of disease in the context of post-Contact Mexico.
Recent Episodes
Episode 29 – Vaccinations and anti-Vaxxers with Jim Harris
Jim Harris (Ohio State University) discusses the development of vaccinations and anti-vaccination sentiments since the 18th century.
Episode 28 – The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt with Michael Vann
Michael Vann (California State University, Sacramento) joins Merle and Lee to talk about the rat hunt following a plague outbreak in colonial Vietnam.
Episode 27 – Sleeping Sickness in East Africa with Mari Webel
Mari Webel (University of Pittsburgh) talks to Merle and Lee about sleeping sickness and the impact of colonization in East Africa.
Episode 26 – Playing Pandemic: Infectious Diseases in Games
Merle and Lee discuss the late antique Justinianic Plague (c. 541-750), their current topic of research.
Episode 25 – Germ Theory and Popular Culture with Nancy Tomes
Nancy Tomes (Stony Brook) discusses the development of Germ Theory and how its ideas spread through advertising and other popular media.
Episode 24 – The Outbreak Narrative with Priscilla Wald
Priscilla Wald (Duke University) comes on the podcast to discuss the outbreak narrative, a common way through which we understand infectious diseases.
Episode 23 – Myths and Legends about the Black Death
Merle and Lee discuss the late antique Justinianic Plague (c. 541-750), their current topic of research.
Recent Posts
COVID-19 mortality
The media visibility of COVID-19 mortality Lee Mordechai / April 13, 2020 The current pandemic, like other disasters, reveals much about the workings of different societies. Mortality – the most…
Responses to a Pandemic: Past and Present
Responses to a Pandemic: Past and Present Abigail Agresta / April 9, 2020 “…Some people were of the opinion that a sober and abstemious mode of living considerably reduced the…
Quarantine in the 19th Century Mediterranean and Self-Isolation Today
Quarantine in the 19th Century Mediterranean and Self-Isolation Today Alex Chase-Levenson / April 3, 2020 Quarantines, in response to epidemic disease, were first set up in the wake of…
Gardening, Baking, and Cooking
Gardening, Baking, and Cooking Merle Eisenberg / March 30, 2020 I wanted to start off on a lighter note for this first blog post as a way to introduce you…