Hi Reader!
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I’ll be honest: I’d never really thought about medieval public health as much as I have while working on this week’s podcast episode.
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However, it’s one of my favorite parts of running this channel and podcast. I'm so grateful that I get to explore the archaeological record in a broader way than I might have if I were working purely as an academic.
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Now, this isn’t a knock on academia. In fact, you need the time, energy, and space to go deep on a topic. But that same focus also means you don't often get to explore outside your specialty. With my channel, we aim for depth, but I still have the bandwidth to explore parts of the past that aren’t in my area of expertise.
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Medieval public health in Italy has been on my radar because I’m friends with this week’s guest, Dr. Taylor Zaneri. But I’ve realized it’s popped up for me in other ways too, like in fiction I’ve enjoyed.
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So in this week’s newsletter, I’m sharing a few of those connections, and I hope you enjoy exploring them.

Fresh from the Field 🗺️

A quick round-up of my latest videos, podcasts, and features
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Here are the most recent podcast episodes:
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🎙️ Episode 8: What Maps Reveal About Medieval Public Health

Archaeologist, Dr. Taylor Zaneri, uncovers public health insights from Medieval Bologna showing how archaeology, historical texts, and maps come together to reveal what was really happening on the ground.

→ YouTube | Spotify | Apple | Other Options ​
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Small Finds 👝

Sharing things that sparked my curiosity recently
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​🗺️ Healthscapes in Medieval Bologna
​This is a free website that lets you explore various maps and GIS data about Medieval Bologna. I think this would be a great teaching resource and the researchers even wrote about how you could use this in education contexts.
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🧠 The Four Humors & The Doctrine of Signatures - YouTube Short by Smiti
Humoral theory greatly influenced health and public health practices in Medieval Europe, including Medieval Italy. I wanted to spotlight this short video (58 seconds) that we made, which gives you a quick overview of this theory.
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📚 The Scribe of Siena - Melodie Winawer
This is a romance time-traveling novel that's set in Medieval Siena right before the plague. I really appreciated the historical details, especially around food and health, that Winawer infused throughout the book. Winawer is actually a neurologist, so how she wrote about health in the past and present felt particularly informed. I listened to this as an audiobook years ago and really enjoyed it.

Dig Back In ⛏️

Revisiting something curious from the archive
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​Part of public health in the past was managing waste, and we explore that in this video.

Thank you so much for reading!
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Until next time,
Smiti

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