Quarantine in the Past & Social Distancing Today
Episode 3 - April 3, 2020
Many of us are self-isolating and social distancing at home during the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic in a modern form of quarantine. Merle and Lee speak with the leading expert on historical quarantine in the 19th century, Alex Chase-Levenson to learn how quarantine developed, how it worked, and whether it was effective. They also discuss similarities and differences between the past and the present.
Further Reading
- Chase-Levenson’s new book, entitled The Yellow Flag: Quarantine and the British Mediterranean world, 1780-1860, will be available in May
- Peter Baldwin’s Contagion and the State in Europe offers an introduction to public health during the 19th and early 20th centuries
- Mark Harrison’s Contagion: How Commerce has Spread Disease discusses how public health, medicine, and commerce are all linked to the spread of disease
- An edited volume, Mediterranean Quarantines, 1750-1914
Our Guest
Alex Chase-Levenson
Assistant Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania
