Simon Schama on Pandemics and the Health of Nations, Part One

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2023

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For this first episode of a two-part discussion, bestselling author, historian and broadcaster Simon Schama discusses Foreign Bodies, his new epic history of vulnerable humanity caught between the terror of contagion and the ingenuity of science. Produced in partnership with the British Library, the talk looks at how the narrative of cities and countries engulfed by panic and death, desperate for vaccines but fearful of what inoculation may bring, is one we have seen before in the past as well as during the Covid-19 pandemic. Joining Schama in conversation is our host, Kavita Puri, the award-winning journalist, broadcaster and author of Partition Voices: Untold British Stories. We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to [email protected] or Tweet us @intelligence2. And while you’re listening, why not visit Intelligencesquared.com and sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear about some of our great upcoming events and deals. If you’d like to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, as well as ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content, early access and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared. Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Rory Stewart, and I'd like to tell you about an intelligent squared event
0:04.8	I'm doing with the classicist author and broadcaster Mary Beard. Together we'll be discussing
0:10.1	politics and power from the Caesars to Sunak, who gets to Winpar, who is excluded. Does power
0:16.6	always corrupt or other examples of leaders who've maintained their integrity while an authority?
0:22.3	And how does the nature of power vary across different times and cultures? These are just some of
0:26.8	the questions that Mary and I will be trying to answer. In person tickets are now sold out,
0:31.7	but you can still watch online on the 13th of November at 7pm BST. Put your questions
0:36.9	to us live as we discuss power and politics down the edges.
0:42.0	Welcome to Intelligent Squared. I'm senior producer Connor Boyle. On today's podcast, Simon
0:47.6	Sharma, the award-winning historian and broadcaster joins us to discuss his latest book, Farron
0:52.3	Bodies, Pandemics, Vaccines and the Health of Nations. Sharma is professor of art history,
0:57.7	Columbia University, and has written numerous books and bestsellers that have also been made into
1:02.4	documentaries by the BBC, and the most recent of which is History of Now, which explores
1:06.9	how creativity and culture shape the world. For our conversation today, Sharma is joined by
1:11.8	our host, Kavita Pori. She's an award-winning journalist and author of the book Partition
1:16.0	Voices, Untold British Stories. This episode was recorded in partnership with the British Library,
1:21.3	earlier in 2023 in front of a live audience. If you want to hear the second part of the conversation,
1:26.6	I'll be free and enjoy more member benefits than do head over to IntelligentSquared.com,
1:31.0	slash membership, or subscribe to the channel via Apple Podcasts. Now let's join Kavita Pori
1:36.0	and Simon Sharma in conversation.
1:44.7	Hello all and welcome and welcome to those who are joining us online. Simon Sharma needs
1:50.8	very little introduction. He's the author of many books including Citizens, Landscape and Memory
	...

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