Throughout history war has had a massive impact on the lives and health of people around the world. This week Kim and Esmé look at how historical wars played a part in what we understand today as public health. This episode gives an insight and background for episodes in the Autumn Journal Series also by Sparking Connections.

For References and more information: https://pleaseholdfor.squarespace.com/sparkingconnections/episode-22-historic-wartime-and-public-health

The key word for this episode is juxtaposition. We look at the next 6 cantos of Louis MacNeice’s Autumn Journal where he describes a coming war compared to his everyday life and how parts that once seemed strange have now become the new normal.

For more information and references visit: https://pleaseholdfor.squarespace.com/sparkingconnections/episode-21-autumn-journal-part-2

Ever wondered where the first ideas of Science came from or who developed the first scientific hypothesis? Kim and Esmé discuss this and more about the Ancient Greek philosophers who were considered the first thinkers in science.

For references and more visit: https://pleaseholdfor.squarespace.com/sparkingconnections/episode-20-the-scientific-method

Autumn Journal by Louis MacNeice is a long poem documenting a portion of MacNeice’s life that is touched by war. This personal account begins to reveal the link between the personal and the political and the impact that has on storytelling.

For references and more visit: https://pleaseholdfor.squarespace.com/sparkingconnections/episode-19-autumn-journal-part-1

Autumn Journal by Louis MacNeice is a long poem documenting a portion of MacNeice’s life that is touched by war. This personal account begins to reveal the link between the personal and the political and the impact that has on storytelling.

For references and more visit: https://pleaseholdfor.squarespace.com/sparkingconnections/episode-19-autumn-journal-part-1

Ever wondered about how they enrich cereal or how rice can have added vitamins and minerals, it is probably a GMO crop. In this episode, Kim and Esmé discuss Genetically Modified Organisms and the benefits and drawbacks of alterations made to consumable goods on a genetic level.

For more information and transcripts: https://pleaseholdfor.squarespace.com/sparkingconnections/episode-18-gmos

In part 1 of episode 15: Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, Esmé and Kim discussed a fascinating short story by Jorge Luis Borges, subjective idealism, the relationship between language and thought, and weird thought experiments involving coins. Join us for part 2, in which we will be looking at this story through the lens of stylistics, specifically focalisation, modality, and speech presentation.

For transcript and Bibliography go to: https://pleaseholdfor.squarespace.com/sparkingconnections/episode-17-tln-uqbar-orbis-tertius

Endemic disease is disease that exists steadily in the population and did you know that the UK has a bunch of endemic diseases? This week we discuss what makes a disease endemic and how there is always a social aspect to determining disease status. We also discuss the loss of the UKs Measles elimination status and what can be done by the community to reduce the spread of disease.

For references and more information please visit: https://pleaseholdfor.squarespace.com/sparkingconnections/episode-16-endemic-disease-of-the-uk

In part 1 of episode 15: Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, Esmé and Kim discuss a fascinating short story by Jorge Luis Borges, subjective idealism, the relationship between language and thought, and weird thought experiments involving coins. Join us soon for part 2, in which we will be looking at this story through the lens of stylistics, specifically focalisation, modality, and speech presentation.

For transcript and Bibliography go to: https://pleaseholdfor.squarespace.com/sparkingconnections/episode-15-tln-uqbar-orbis-tertius 

This week Kim and Esmé discuss how a cure for Herpes could also mean a cure for other currently incurable viruses. We talk about self-limiting infections and how viruses can be incurable. Kim also teaches Esmé about latency and how that allows viruses to hide in the body potentially forever!

Show Notes

Reference Article: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/antiviral-method-against-herpes-paves-way-combatting-incurable-viral-infections#:~:text=Researchers%20at%20Lund%20University%20in,which%20have%20previously%20been%20targeted.

For more information and transcripts visit: https://pleaseholdfor.squarespace.com