In Sickness

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.

Don't get your goiters in a twist.....the next episode is here! Last time, we talked about measles, the first M of MMR. But mumps and rubella are so often overlooked! Join us this episode as we discuss these two diseases through the lens of media. We will talk about Brooklyn 99, Miss Marple, and so much in between! Join us as we learn a bit more about the impact that these diseases have had on not just our health, but our viewing habits.

This episode we begin to explore the MMR vaccine and the diseases it protects against (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella). We focus mostly on measles, as there is a lot of ground to cover. Angel talks about its reign of terror, and the way it affected entire nations, as it spread across the world...or wait, was that just colonizers? As we discuss, they often came together! Maya discusses religious groups, and how extreme beliefs often come hand-in-hand with new measles outbreaks. Join us as we break down a classic viral disease, and come back for the next episode, where we talk about the other M and R, mumps and rubella in popular media!

Thank you dear friends for your patience as we took a brief recess for...health reasons. Get it? Join us on a reunion episode (recorded March 2025) as Angeliki explains her relationship with long COVID, our hiatus, and the new information we have learned over the last few years about COVID-19. We share resources, stories, and even a bit of song. Next time we will be back with our regularly scheduled format, talking about the newly returned epidemic...Measles. Catch that episode on February 27th.

Welcome back to the podcast that we now have to just admit is quarterly. Maybe not forever though! Join us this week as we have a blast wading through the different names of dengue, the severity of it all, and getting riled up about human experimentation- as we do. Follow us on instagram for some not-so-gory visuals to back up the stories we tell, @insickness2020.