#610 A History of Pandemics - Dr. Allen Pietrobon

The Not Old - Better Show

A History of Pandemics - Dr. Allen Pietrobon

The Smithsonian Associates Art Of Living Interview Series

Welcome to The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Assocaites Interview Series. I’m Paul Vogelzang and as part of our Art of Living and Science Awareness programs with Smithsonian Assocaites, we are joined by returning guest, Dr. Allen Pietrobon.

Dr Allen Pietrobon will be appearing via Zoom at Smithsonian Associates, Wednesday March 30, but we have Dr. Pietrobon today and our subject of conversation, and the title of Dr. Pietrobon’s upcoming Smithsonian Associates presentation is ‘A History of Pandemics.” More information is available during our interview and on the website, so stay tuned for a very informative interview.

The saying goes that history repeats itself. True to form, epidemics have been a near-constant feature in human life. Up until the 1960s, recurring epidemics were simply a normal fact of daily life, always lurking in the background.

Joining us today is award-winning historian Allen Pietrobon, an assistant professor of global affairs at Trinity Washington University. We will be talking to Dr. Pietrobon about some of the lesser-known pandemics and epidemics, revealing how people throughout history dealt with such sudden disease outbreaks. We’ll learn from Dr. Pietrobon where these epidemics and pandemics originated. Whom did they most affect? What was learned in how to treat or prevent them? And how did societies evolve in the wake of deadly pandemics?

Dr. Pietrobon explores the cholera epidemics that ravaged 19th-century New York City and the terrifying polio epidemic that first struck America in the 1840s and killed thousands during each generational recurrence.

Please join me and Dr. Allen Pietrobon to discover how epidemics indiscriminately affected lives, killing presidents and paupers alike; and learn about the medical and technological advancements that have helped people to continue living, post-pandemic.

My thanks to Dr. Allen Pietrobon for his expertise and generous time. Dr Allen Pietrobon will be appearing via Zoom at Smithsonian Associates, Wednesday March 30. More information is available on the website, noted-better.com. My thanks to the Smithsonian team for all they do to support the show. My thanks, of course, to you, my wonderful Not Old Better Show audience…please be safe, be well, let’s remember Ukraine, and let’s remember to talk about better…the Not Old Better Show. Thanks, everybody and I’ll see you next time.