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No one's immune to trends. I feel like celebrities generally start them because they're in the public eye.

But they're just people and they want to be up on the latest trend. And this, I could imagine being a wealthy socialite at one of

the many gatherings that we will never be invited to, maybe. And the topic of conversation is like,

oh yeah, Barbara just thrown a cloned her dog. And some people are like, really? Who did it? What? I have

to get that person's name, you know? Can you send me their info?

Exactly.

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Each week we decide who's to blame for historical tragedy.

And each week, you tell us if we got it right.

My name is Rebecca Delgado-Smith, and this is The Aftermath.

Hey, everyone, thanks for tuning into this episode of The Aftermath. Today, we're speaking with guest

expert, Professor Emily Erickson. Erickson is a professor of sociology at Yale University. She is also the author of

Between Monopoly and Free Trade, the English East India Company, which focuses on the emergence

of early multinational firms and the structure of early modern global trade. Her latest book

is Trade and Nation, how companies and politics

reshaped economic thought. Professor Erickson is also the chair of the sociology department at

Yale. Let's hear what she has to say about the Black Hole of Calcutta. Hi, Emily. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Hi, Rebecca.

Thanks for having me.

So before we dive in, can you give us some context on the state of India before the

British arrive in the early 17th century?

...