With the success of "The Last of Us" show, we thought we'd take some time to look at historically important cases of fungal infection.  We'll investigate a possible explanation for all those witch trials of yesteryear as well as a common childhood fungal infection that accounted for quite the degree of social upheaval in Victorian England.  

Also, we'll have our first entry in Mike's mailbag segment.  Tune in to see if he gets the question correct. 

Full show notes on our website.

References:

1. https://microbialcell.com/researcharticles/2020a-kainz-microbial-cell/ overview of Fungal infections, Kainz et. al., 2020 (linked in BBC article)
2. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-64402102 BBC Health article about The Last of Us
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials Wikipedia page on Salem Witch Trials
4. https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/study-zombie-ant-death-grip-comes-from-muscle-contractions-not-the-brain/ Ars Technica blog post on Cordyceps
5. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/01/20/cordyceps-fungus-last-of-us-hbo/ WaPo article on climate change related to the show
6. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/#:~:text=The%20Salem%20witch%20trials%20occurred,accused%20and%20compensated%20their%20families Smithsonian Salem Witch Trials article
7. https://www.vox.com/2015/10/29/9620542/salem-witch-trials-ergotism Vox article on Ergotism in the trials
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3898692/ mirror neuron review article
9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7975928/#:~:text=Herpes%20zoster%20(HZ)%2C%20a,%2C%20or%20varicella%2C%20in%20childhood St. Anthony’s Fire survey article

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK169210/ Ringworm Chapter, Fungal Diseases in the US and Britain 1850-2000

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