In Sickness

Spooky Season is never over when it comes to this podcast...welcome to the first in our spookiest series of minisodes yet, currently being called "People being poisoned by things they thought were fine for them and were intentionally using in their everyday life, not knowing it was actually killing them". Yes, we are known for our brevity.  In this episode we talk about the radium girls, known for the horrible case of radium poisoning that many experienced working in the dial painiting factories. We discuss not only what radium is, and the impact of the poison, but also how important this moment was in the fight for workers' and women's rights. We watch the radium girls movie together, and explore how it related to the real life case!  Join us for our next minisode, where we dive into belladonna poisoning! 

After a brief reprieve, we are back to hating on the colonizers (did we ever really stop?), but this time they're getting yellow fever! We talk about the names for this disease (Yellow Jack, anyone?), based on some of its more horrifying symptoms. For some visual aids, feel free to check us out on instagram @insickness2020!  Angel covers the mysterious origins of the disease, and explains the ongoing debate. She takes us over to the West Indies in the early 1700s, and how yellow fever bridged the gap between climate, race, residence, and susceptibility. She runs us through some of the worst (bloodletting), best (opium and alcohol), and weirdest (pigeons) cures for the disease, and how ineffective they were. Maya takes us forward into Western Africa, also known as "the white man's grave", and how the huge amount of deaths led to vaccine work. While that might seem positive, if you've listened to this podcast before, you surely know that that is not the case. Maya brings us to medical experimentation and racism galore, before capping it off with the tale of The Yellow Fever Fiend. 

Don't get your goiters in a twist.....the next episode is here! Last time, we talked about measles, the first M of MMR. But mumps and rubella are so often overlooked! Join us this episode as we discuss these two diseases through the lens of media. We will talk about Brooklyn 99, Miss Marple, and so much in between! Join us as we learn a bit more about the impact that these diseases have had on not just our health, but our viewing habits. 

This episode we begin to explore the MMR vaccine and the diseases it protects against (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella). We focus mostly on measles, as there is a lot of ground to cover. Angel talks about its reign of terror, and the way it affected entire nations, as it spread across the world...or wait, was that just colonizers? As we discuss, they often came together! Maya discusses religious groups, and how extreme beliefs often come hand-in-hand with new measles outbreaks. Join us as we break down a classic viral disease, and come back for the next episode, where we talk about the other M and R, mumps and rubella in popular media! 

Thank you dear friends for your patience as we took a brief recess for...health reasons. Get it? Join us on a reunion episode (recorded March 2025) as Angeliki explains her relationship with long COVID, our hiatus, and the new information we have learned over the last few years about COVID-19. We share resources, stories, and even a bit of song. Next time we will be back with our regularly scheduled format, talking about the newly returned epidemic...Measles. Catch that episode on February 27th. 

Welcome back to the podcast that we now have to just admit is quarterly. Maybe not forever though! Join us this week as we have a blast wading through the different names of dengue, the severity of it all, and getting riled up about human experimentation- as we do. Follow us on instagram for some not-so-gory visuals to back up the stories we tell, @insickness2020. 

Happy holidays to all! In the holiday spirit, we offer up our newest episode on Lyme disease, a tick-borne zoonotic disease. Just the thing to take a quick relaxing break from all the activities that we often have this time of year! Learn more about the recent (recent) history of this disease, and how it will begin to affect more and more of us due to circumstances 100% within human control. 

We revisit our first episode, where we discussed the Flu and COVID-19, and reflect on the current "tridemic" status many countries are facing right now. A brief overview of where we are right now with COVID, the flu, and RSV, just to keep us in practice.    We'll be back soon with another full length episode- happy listening! 

Content Warning: Abortion, Miscarriage, Donald Trump We're back, with another spooky halloween episode! After all, what could be scarier than the loss of a vital reproductive health service. Join us as we remember how to podcast, discuss attitudes and perceptions of abortion through history, and explain what the global gag rule is and how it might affect us all.  If you're interested in donating to support access to abortion, please consider https://abortionfunds.org/  xoxo, see you soon! 

A disease of many faces, lupus has absolutely nothing to do with wolves, and everything to do with your immune system. Follow us on this wild ride that starts with Queen Anne and millipedes, and ends with Ivermectin and orchids. You'll see what we mean.