‘Where did this come from?’ | |
It was October 2010 when the first reports of a mysterious illness began to spread through Haiti.
Jonathan Katz, a freelance journalist and author from the US, was listening to the radio when he first heard the news.
“A hospital in Saint Marc was being overrun by people who were all showing up with the same symptoms, and people were dying,” he recalls. “And no-one exactly knew what this was.
“The immediate question that I had was, how is this possible? Like, where did this come from?”
The answer to that question is the subject of the first episode of Patient Zero – a new series from RN, telling stories that get to the source of disease outbreaks.
You can find it in the RN Presents podcast feed – or listen at 8:00am on Sundays, in the usual Background Briefing timeslot.
This week is National Science Week, so there’s lots in this newsletter about science and technology.
Read on to find out why Dana Scully inspired so many women to pursue careers in STEM, mull over the philosophical implications of bringing an AI-powered ‘smart wife’ home, and hear the sounds of being stranded in Antarctica.
Until next time,
Rosie Ryan, digital editor
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