Riots over inoculations. Large-scale quarantines and lockdowns. Criticisms of government action (or inaction) during disease outbreaks. The spread of mis- and disinformation about the safety of immunizations. You may be thinking, “this is a COVID episode, isn’t it?”. Not quite. In this latest installment of the TPWKY book club we’ll be discussing another key period in US history that had profound, long-lasting impacts on public health and access to medical care: the American Revolutionary War, when liberty from smallpox was even more important to the American colonists than independence from Great Britain. Our time travel tour guide is Dr. Andrew Wehrman, Associate Professor of History at Central Michigan University, who joins us to discuss his fascinating book The Contagion of Liberty: The Politics of Smallpox in the American Revolution, published in December 2022. As our conversation reveals, public demand for inoculation was so great that riots were held to protest unequal access, our current lack of universal healthcare systems has incredibly deep roots, and George Washington’s greatest legacy may in fact be his ability to change his mind when presented with new information. With the Fourth of July just one week ago, what better time to consider this fresh perspective on the American fight for independence and freedom from disease.
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Ep 140 Nipah virus: Of Fruit and Bats
Special Episode: Dr. Sara Manning Peskin & A Molecule Away from Madness
Ep 139 Supplements: “This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA”
Ep 138 Fever: Take it to the limit
Special Episode: Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens & Medical Bondage
Ep 137 ME/CFS: What’s in a name? (A lot, actually)
Ep 136 Long Covid: A long time coming
Ep 135 Menopause is whatever you want it to be
Ep 134 Tonsils: Underestimated and underappreciated
Ep 133 Parvoviruses: Who let the dogs (and their viruses) out?
Ep 132 Osteogenesis Imperfecta: All bones about it
Ep 131 Parkinson’s Disease: Dopamine & discoveries
Ep 130 Cocoliztli: We do love a salty dish
Ep 129 Lymphatic Filariasis: Hiding in plain sight
Ep 128 Skin Cancer: We love and fear the sun
Ep 127 Bhopal: The 1984 Union Carbide Disaster
Ep 126 Migraine: A Cacophony in Four Movements
Ep 125 Blastomycosis: How fungus became amongus
Ep 124 The full spectrum of color vision deficiency
Ep 123 Hand, Foot, and Mouth (and Butt?) Disease
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