May 14, 1796. Edward Jenner puts a theory to the test: can contracting one disease save you from another? Jenner goes down in history as the man who brought us one of the greatest advances in modern medicine: the vaccine. Its discovery led to the eradication of smallpox, a virus that killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century alone and one of ... Show More
Jun 8
Why the Crusades Became Cool Again
June 8, 1191. The Crusaders and Muslim forces are locked in battle over the city of Acre. On one side is Saladin, the great Muslim leader who has already recaptured Jerusalem. On the other, an armada arrives carrying England’s king: Richard the Lionheart.The Crusades will become ... Show More
26m 59s
Jun 1
How Higgins and His Boats Won the War
June 6, 1944. As thousands of Allied soldiers prepare to storm the beaches of Normandy, they climb down rope nets into small wooden landing craft bobbing in the dark waters of the English Channel. Within hours, these boats will carry them into the largest amphibious invasion in h ... Show More
30m 17s
Dec 2023
AIDS Epidemic: Life & Death On The Frontline
<p>How do we understand something as huge as a global epidemic?</p><br><p>Similarly to Covid, the AIDS epidemic, which was most destructive in the 1980s and 90s, had such universal reach. Yet within that, there were millions of personal experiences.</p><br><p>What was it like to ... Show More
59m 33s
Oct 2021
La course au vaccin | Ceci n’est pas un exercice | 1
Début janvier 2020 : un mystérieux virus vient de faire son apparition dans la ville de Wuhan, au centre de la Chine. Si, au départ, l’épidémie ne fait pas les gros titres, face à sa propagation rapide des scientifiques prennent très vite conscience de la menace que ce virus repr ... Show More
26m 18s
Apr 2021
Coronavirus: How Scary Are the Variants?
UPDATE 4/13/21: Since this episode published, there has been some evidence linking the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine to rare blood clots. As of April 13, there were six cases in the U.S. out of more than 6.8 million doses, and one person had died. The CDC and FDA have rec ... Show More
33m 54s
<p>As the first in a series on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Steven Johnson speaks with <a href="https://www.sabin.org/leadership#BG" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dr. Bruce Gellin</a>, president of Global Immunization at the<a href="https://www.influenzer.org" rel= ... Show More