In this episode guest Kalala Ngalamulume discusses his research on epidemics, public health, and urban politics in Francophone Africa. At the forefront of our conversation are his longstanding interests in both state and community responses to emerging health crises. His observations range in time from the fifteenth century to the present, and across several continents. In particular, he draws historical parallels between past outbreaks of disease and the current COVID-19 pandemic. The transcript for the episode is available at hsia.podcasts.library.columbia.edu