146. Disease vs. the rise of civilisation

How did the Troubles break out in Northern Ireland in the 1960s, and how far back does the dispute really go? Why did the conflict intensify as it did? And, what did it really mean to be a Catholic in Northern Ireland? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss one of the darkest and m ...  عرض المزيد

How did the Babington Plot, another Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Elizabeth I and replace her with the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots, unfold? Did the Spanish help her? How did Sir Francis Walsingham and his web of spies foil the plot? And, what would become of Mary once put ...  عرض المزيد

From when our ancestors first mastered fire to the rise of modern cities, humanity’s progress has been accompanied by a revolving door of parasites, bacteria and viruses, wreaking havoc on our health. Kyle Harper, author of Plagues Upon the Earth, discusses the sprawling history ...  عرض المزيد

Since humanity’s earliest days, we’ve been plagued by countless disease-causing pathogens. Invisible and persistent, these microorganisms and the illnesses they incur have killed more humans than anything else in history. But which disease has been the deadliest? Dan Kwartler dig ...  عرض المزيد

Three years into a global pandemic, the fact that infectious disease is capable of reshaping humanity is obvious. But seen in the context of sixty thousand years of human and scientific history, COVID-19 is simply the latest in a series of world-changing pathogens. In fact, the r ...  عرض المزيد

As recent history has shown us, human societies can prove surprisingly frail in the face of a tiny, yet powerful force: the microbes that cause infectious disease. Speaking with Matt Elton, Jonathan Kennedy explores the myriad ways in which pandemics have shaped the course of hum ...  عرض المزيد