{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/9a03fe9e-1ff0-4dcc-b3f6-50bd1f016ea4/a253c89f-3e24-48a9-a924-b095e1b8978f?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"From Cholera to Coronavirus","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6195701f2eacc3a36070252a/619570bccb3c660012e3d017.jpg?height=200","description":"<p>David talks to the historian Richard Evans about the history of cholera epidemics in the 19th century and what they can teach us for today.&nbsp;How did contemporaries understand the spread of the disease?&nbsp;What impact did it have on growing demands for democracy?&nbsp;And who tended to get the blame - foreigners, doctors or politicians?&nbsp;Plus we discuss whether the political changes being driven by the current</p><p>pandemic are likely to outlast the disease itself.</p><p><br></p><p>Talking Points:&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Massive epidemics are a normal part of human history, even if they are infrequent.</p><ul><li>You can see this with the Plague, syphilis, and, in the 19th century, cholera.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Cholera hit Europe in the beginning of the 1830s, and like many epidemic diseases, it was spread through increased communications.</p><ul><li>The conquest of North India opened up trade routes, and that’s how cholera traveled.</li><li>The terrifying thing was the death rate: it was 50%, much much higher than coronavirus.&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>When cholera hit, the response was heavily shaped by knowledge of the plague.</p><ul><li>‘Quarantine’ comes from 40 days, which is the period of isolation that the medieval Venetians imposed on incoming ships.</li><li>It took a long time for people to realize that cholera spread through water.</li><li>Cholera struck the poor. The wealthy lived on higher ground. This led to a lot of moralizing around the disease.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Cholera spread through trade. Measures to stop it would also affect trade.</p><ul><li>Merchants in cities such as Hamburg suppressed the news of the spread of cholera because they were worried about the economic consequences.</li><li>This is also a period of medicalisation. Doctors go from being on the front lines, politically, to being more or less neutral.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>What is the relationship between pandemics and xenophobia?</p><ul><li>The Hamburg cholera epidemic of the late 19th century was clearly brought by migrants, but it didn’t lead to a significant xenophobic or anti-semitic backlash.</li><li>But in earlier epidemics, this was not the case. For example, conspiracy theories about The Plague led to mass pogroms of Jews.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>The widespread disease can trigger the possibility of social and political change.</p><ul><li>In Britain, the spread of cholera led to widespread criticism of the government. But a lot of the impetus for reform was short lived and died away until the next epidemic.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>The impact of cholera was differential because of wealth. Coronavirus seems to strike the old.</p><ul><li>The vulnerability of the old is medical.</li><li>Yet this virus still sparks conspiracy theories.</li><li>One of the main reasons for serious epidemics is the breakdown of the state, for example, Haiti in 2010.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Mentioned in this Episode:</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/294784/death-in-hamburg-by-richard-j-evans/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Richard’s book, <em>Death in Hamburg: Society and Politics in the Cholera Years, 1830-1910</em>&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/may/09/epidemics-cholera-aids-trust-scientists\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Richard for The Guardian about the public consequences of epidemic diseases</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.talkingpoliticspodcast.com/blog/2020/229-the-view-from-italy\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Lucia tells TP about the view from Italy</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p>Further Learning:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-governments-respond-to-pandemics-like-the-coronavirus\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Richard’s interview with the New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner on pandemics</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.richardjevans.com/lectures/epidemics-refuseniks-birth-state-responsibility/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Richard’s lecture about state responsibility and...","author_name":"David Runciman and Catherine Carr"}