Miasma I: Plague and Mutated Air in Renaissance Italy – Italian History

Beware the foul air that causes plague! Put on your plague doctor masks and travel back with us to 17th-century Italy where people believed disease was caused by mutated air called miasma. And be sure to review us so you can get your picture drawn in the historical time period and culture of your choosing! Become our patron on Patreon at www.patreon.com/deadideaspod. Maps, pics, references, and more at www.deadideas.net. Music and graphic design by Rachel Westhoff.

Om Podcasten

We explore ideas and practices once believed to be true but no longer. Each dead idea is explored in all its glorious eccentricity. For example, discover miasma, the theory that plague comes from stinky air; or the medical diagnosis of hysteria, which holds that women's wombs wander around their bodies causing trouble. Join us on a fun romp through the history of ideas that didn’t quite stand the test of time.