logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
43m 37s

Typhoid Mary: Original Super-Spreader?

History Hit
About this episode

Mary Mallon aka "Typhoid Mary" is a macabre figure who spread disease and death everywhere she went. But there's a lot more depth and humanity to Mary's history than this. She's someone who is hard to resist when you get to know her (despite all the Typhoid...). Anthony Delaney tells Maddy Pelling the story.


Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.


Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  


You can take part in our listener survey here.


After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Apr 20
Titanic's Biggest Myths Debunked
Is it true that third-class passengers were locked below decks? Or that more lifeboats would have saved more lives? Did the band really play as the Titanic went down? Anthony is joined once again by the marvellous Gareth Russell to debunk the myths around the disaster. Gareth's b ... Show More
57m 32s
Apr 16
The Murder that Shook Mary Queen of Scots
On the night of Saturday the 9th of March, 1566, a pregnant Mary Queen of Scots was having a dinner party.It was a night that ended in the brutal murder of one of her closest friends, David Rizzio, led by her husband, Lord Darnley.How did this happen? How did Mary handle this tra ... Show More
47m 40s
Apr 13
The Victorian Sex Scandal of Fanny & Stella
The Victorians are seen as the ultimate guardians of rigid gender boundaries.When Fanny Park and Stella Boulton transgressed those imagined lines, they triggered a scandal that reached the length and breadth of Britain.To tell this story Anthony is joined by HRH Aphrodite, histor ... Show More
58m 50s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2025
The Real Virgin Mary
Why has the idea of the Virgin Mary’s virginity been so important?What does this tell us about the relationship between Christianity and sex? And what else do we know about this woman?Joining Kate today to help her get to know more about Mary, her life and her influence is author ... Show More
42m 5s
Jan 2019
Introducing Root of Evil
When Elizabeth Short, also known as "The Black Dahlia," was brutally killed in 1947, it gripped the entire country. More than 70 years later, it remains America's most infamous unsolved murder. Many believe Dr. George Hodel was the killer, thanks to an investigation by Hodel's ow ... Show More
4m 44s
Sep 2025
History's Worst F*ckboys: Rasputin
Rasputin presented himself as a mystic healer, and preached that the only way to salvation was through sin — which sometimes, if rumour is to be believed, manifested in orgies.It's definitely giving f*ckboy behaviour.How did he make his way from poverty to the Russian royalty inn ... Show More
29m 5s
Oct 2025
Wife-Swapping Magician of the Tudor Court
The 16th century was a dangerous time to be talking about magic and hidden forces, so how did John Dee end up being invited into Elizabeth I's court?He was an astronomer, occultist and alchemist who dedicated his life to understanding how celestial activity influenced life on ear ... Show More
38m 54s
Aug 2025
Tudor True Crime: Murder of Amy Dudley
**WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of suicide**On 6 September 1560, Amy Robsart Dudley died after falling down a staircase at Cumnor Place in Oxfordshire. But did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she throw herself down the stairs? These questions exercised Tudor courti ... Show More
40m 32s
Aug 2024
Life Lessons From Historical Women
<p>When women's stories aren't being flat-out ignored from the history books, they can often be sidelined.</p><br><p>Well not here! Joining Kate today is the comedian and author of <a href="https://www.welbooks.co.uk/shop/p/life-lessons-from-historical-women-by-eleanor-morton" re ... Show More
35m 48s
Nov 2025
Episode 347 - The Witch of York | Mother Shipton
Born in a storm and cackling instead of crying, Mother Shipton wasn’t your average baby—she was England’s most powerful witch and prophetess. From dark rumors about her mysterious birth in a Yorkshire cave to a lifetime of magic and prophecy, her story has haunted England for cen ... Show More
1h 4m
Sep 2021
Episode 34 | Keeping up with the Murdaughs | Murder, Fraud and Mayhem!
Send us Fan MailFor more than 100 years of South Carolina low country history, the Murdaugh name came to represent a legal dynasty, where three successive generations controlled the local prosecutor's office. The Murdaugh family quietly enjoyed their wealth, privilege, sprawling ... Show More
28m 52s