Scrolls & Leaves: World History Podcast

Can the great divide between traditional and allopathic medicines ever be bridged? We talk with Annamma Spudich, a cell and molecular biologist who has also studied Indian medical systems for years. This blend informs her unique perspectives, from the efficacy of black pepper at the molecular level to a folk practitioner whose prescription includes a medicinal plant collected by a naked man.

Why do so many colonial cities in the developing world not have piped water? Many parts of old cities in India still employ bhistis, or water carriers, to take water to people who don’t have pipes -- though they are a fading breed, and being replaced by water tankers. We speak to historian Pratik Chakrabarti of the University of Manchester.

Folk healing is the most ancient form of medicine. It sprung from common kitchen ingredients — when humans realized that spices, herbs, and foods not only provide nutrition but could help us overcome illness.

India’s medical system depends on the roughly 2 million folk healers to provide medical care in villages far from hospitals and health centers. They use more than 6,500 medicinal plants.

G. Hariramamurthi, a folk medicine expert, has traveled throughout India over the past three decades, visiting more than 12,000 villages. He helps folk healers document their medical practices and treatments, most recently for prevention of Covid-19. In this episode, Hari addresses a question posed to many folk healers: do folk remedies really work?

We visit Bombay Presidency at the turn of the 20th century. The port city was a major economic hub, so, when rats onboard ships from Hong Kong carried bubonic plague into Bombay in August 1896, the British Raj reacted vehemently to tamp it down. There were a multitude of experiences of the plague and disease control, often delineated by class and caste. Maybe you've noticed this with Covid19, too? We discuss some of these themes with Tarangini Sriraman, a historian at Azim Premji University in Bangalore.

Historically, border control arose out of a combination of infectious disease and the global color line. But this frame of understanding a disease outbreak doesn’t apply so well to Covid19, where older narratives have flipped — so far.

To understand border control and Covid19, we have to move away from globalization, and look at what’s happening locally. The novel coronavirus is about what’s going on inside domestic borders.

Visit Muziris, a port on the Malabar coast, described by ancient poets and captured in a trade document called the Muziris Papyrus. Then, hear the co-hosts describe Season 1.

Visit Muziris, a port on the Malabar coast, described by ancient poets and captured in a trade document called the Muziris Papyrus. Then, hear the co-hosts describe Season 1.