Teatime with Death & Pestilence

Lara and Helen explore the wild world of Prions and walk us through the history of the most famous Prion Disease, Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis, better known as Mad Cow disease. 

Featured Tea:  Our tea this week was a custom blend from The Cat and Kettle called The Reaper Tea because when it comes to Prions, you reap what you sew. https://www.thecatandkettle.com/

#Madcow

#Prions

#medicalhistory

Lara and Helen delve into Guillain Barre.  What is it and why is it making antivaxxers so nervous?

In 1726 Mary Toft, a poor Surrey Woman, mysteriously began to gave birth to rabbits. She was branded a fraudstress and reviled country wide and was the ruin of a number of doctors. However, there is always more to the story. Join us as we explore the historical and cultural context that may have motivated England's notorious Mother of Rabbits. 

In this final episode in the arc on Malaria Lara and Helen explore the ways in which the disease has impacted art, literature, etc. 

This is our second episode diving into Malaria.  This week we will explore some the places that malaria crops up in history and what might have been but for the mosquito. 

In the first episode of a three episode series on malaria, Helen and Lara discuss what malaria is, the symptoms, how it is diagnosed, how it evolved (spoiler alert: Dinosaurs), and the life cycle of the parasite. Tune in next week for a discussion on the massive influence it has had on human history. 

Special guest Tommy O'King, musician, ginger, and all around bad-ass joins Helen in the studio to talk about the time his knee got torn open on a loading dock.  Content Warning for the squeemish: This one is pretty rough. 

Check out Tommy on instagram @burlknives and check out his band @therequisite. 

Lara and Helen explore the impact that 1918 had on culture.  Spiritualism, political cartoons, and developments in photography feature heavily. 

In this episode Lara and Helen discuss the Flu of 1918 and marvel at how something so important and influential seems to have been relegated to the footnotes of history. They also reminisce about the past year in Covid Lockdown. 

Katie Darby Mullins, author, tenured professor, and executive writer for The Underwater Sunshine Festival, joins us in this episode to share how a rare disorder lead to a brain stem stroke in her 30's.  If you want to read some of her work, and we promise you do, you can check out

The Underwater Sunshine Festival: https://underwatersunshinefest.com/essays

Dr Phil and I Go to the Batting Cages: https://www.hobartpulp.com/web_features/dr-phil-and-i-go-to-the-batting-cages?fbclid=IwAR2x0pjlgU_H61XYT-y9ffcfNm8g_7UFxu8r0FdInJjWOXGqpTTR3TdKUog 

Neuro, Typical: https://www.summercamppublishing.com/shop/p/neuro-typical-chemical-reactions-amp-trauma-bonds-poems-by-katie-darby-mullins