FOREIGN BODIES Pandemics, Vaccines, and the Health of Nations

Simon Schama's historical authority--demonstrated by his confident vocal performance--foregrounds his account of humanity's ongoing fight to protect itself against deadly disease. Schama takes listeners on a journey from inoculation to vaccination, starting with the battle against smallpox, moving through cholera and tuberculosis research, and ultimately landing on recent developments around COVID-19. He expertly wraps his deep-rooted historical research in engrossing storytelling to unravel the past fact by fact. His performance underscores the prejudice, particularly anti-Asian discrimination and anti-Semitism, that has run rampant in epidemiological endeavors throughout time. As it turns out, Schama reveals, medical innovation in fighting disease and infection isn't about the health of humans at all. It's about the political health--and power--of nations themselves. A.A.H. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2023]