Special Episode: Wendy Chin-Tanner & King of the Armadillos

This Podcast Will Kill You

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

Health & Fitness, Science

4.8 • 17.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We’ve got a very special episode of the TPWKY book club this week! We’re featuring our very first fiction book: King of the Armadillos by Wendy Chin-Tanner. This novel tells the story of a young man named Victor, who is sent from his home in New York City to a federal treatment facility in Carville, Louisiana after a diagnosis of Hansen’s disease (then known as leprosy). After being ripped away from his family and the life he knew, Victor struggles to navigate his new situation, facing racism, stigma, and loneliness. Ultimately, he finds support in the lively community of Carville. Wendy joins us to discuss her creative process for this beautifully-written book, and how her father’s life provided the basis for Victor’s story. Tune in for a heartfelt conversation about a long-forgotten piece of public health history and the powerful meaning that diseases can hold.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is exactly right.
0:05.0	This is exactly right. The
0:23.6	The Hi, I'm Erin Welsh, and this is, this podcast will kill you.
0:56.2	You're listening to the latest episode in our TPWKY Book Club series, where I sit down with authors of popular science and medicine
1:03.7	books to chat about their latest work. I've gotten to have some incredible conversations
1:08.3	so far, and we have even more excellent books lined up for the
1:12.5	rest of this season. If you'd like to see the full lineup of books we've covered so far this
1:17.8	season and in past seasons, as well as get a sneak peek of the books that we'll be featuring
1:22.8	in upcoming episodes, head over to our website, This Podcast Will Kill You.com.
1:28.7	There, under the extras tab, you'll find a link to our bookshop.org affiliate account.
1:34.0	Clicking that link will take you to a page where you can find all sorts of TPWKY related book lists,
1:41.7	including one that has all of the book club books. I'll be updating this
1:46.3	list throughout the season, so check in regularly to see what new ones I've added. And I say it
1:52.5	every time, but I mean it every time. We love hearing from you all. So if you have any thoughts
1:58.9	on these books, any suggestions for future ones to cover,
2:03.1	or topic suggestions for our regular episodes, please reach out. The best way to get in touch with us
2:09.8	is through the Contact Us form on our website. And a couple more pieces of business before we can
2:15.5	get into the book of the week, and that is to
2:17.5	please rate, review, and subscribe. It really does help us. And finally, you can now find full
2:24.0	video versions of most of our newer episodes on YouTube. Make sure you're subscribed to the
2:29.3	exactly right media YouTube channel so you never miss an episode drop. So far in this series, we've covered a
2:37.2	huge variety of topics, plant and animal-derived poisons, the global history of tuberculosis,
	...

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