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In SicknessAuthor: In Sickness
Two friends discuss episodes in the history of diseases past and present. We lay out the spread of diseases through history to the modern day, and how their history has affected our modern treatment of each illness. Language: en Genres: Health & Fitness, History, Medicine Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Yellow Fever
Episode 39
Friday, 21 August, 2026
After a brief reprieve, we are back to hating on the colonizers (did we ever really stop?), but this time they're getting yellow fever! We talk about the names for this disease (Yellow Jack, anyone?), based on some of its more horrifying symptoms. For some visual aids, feel free to check us out on instagram @insickness2020! Angel covers the mysterious origins of the disease, and explains the ongoing debate. She takes us over to the West Indies in the early 1700s, and how yellow fever bridged the gap between climate, race, residence, and susceptibility. She runs us through some of the worst (bloodletting), best (opium and alcohol), and weirdest (pigeons) cures for the disease, and how ineffective they were. Maya takes us forward into Western Africa, also known as "the white man's grave", and how the huge amount of deaths led to vaccine work. While that might seem positive, if you've listened to this podcast before, you surely know that that is not the case. Maya brings us to medical experimentation and racism galore, before capping it off with the tale of The Yellow Fever Fiend.
