DISEASE has a way of making people paranoid.

I mean, how could it not?

Even in our own times with all of our knowledge about the nature of disease transmission, there

is still something darkly mysterious about contagion.

The idea that just being near an infected person could mean that you are now infected is objectively

terrifying, especially when the disease is something that could prove fatal.

When I started writing this series on the Black Death, I wasn't trying to be topical.

To me, the 14th century plague was simply an interesting historical moment that birthed

a number of fascinating historical myths.

But then, not long after I released that first episode, coronavirus started to dominate

international news.

As of this recording, coronavirus is still big news internationally.

And while it's certainly not the Black Death, the public reaction has been, well, let's

call it historically consistent.

A reasonable fear of disease very quickly has a way of transforming into panicky paranoia.

What's worse, this paranoia has a way of triggering old prejudices.

Coronavirus certainly is something that needs to be taken seriously.

It's currently a disease with a body count.

But perhaps we can learn a little something from history and not let our fears push us

towards counterproductive and sometimes tragic bouts of anxiety.

If we look back to the Black Death of the 14th century, we see a European population eager

to find someone to blame for the horrors of the plague.

...