Show Notes
To mark UCL's bicentenary, Public Health Disrupted comes to a live audience for the very first time. Hosts Xand van Tulleken and Rochelle Burgess are joined by medical historian Dr Cristiano Turbil for a conversation that challenges some of the stories we tell about public health progress.
Drawing on historical case studies linked to UCL, including vaccination and sanitation reform, the discussion reveals that public health has never advanced in a straight line. Behind many of the successes we celebrate today sit stories of protest, disagreement, exclusion, activism and resistance.
What can these histories teach us about today’s public health challenges? How should we think about public trust, misinformation and scientific authority? And why might resistance be an essential part of creating healthier societies?
Recorded live at Bloomsbury Studio as part of UCL200, this special episode explores how history can help us think differently about public health today.
Guest: Dr Cristiano Turbil is a historian specialising in the modern history of medicine and public health. His research explores the relationship between medicine, politics and society, including the history of vaccination, public health reform, science communication and the role of medicine in shaping national identities. He is a Lecturer in Modern European History at UCL.
In this episode: Why public health progress is often shaped by protest, conflict and resistance What Victorian anti-vaccination campaigns can teach us about trust and public health today Lessons from past pandemics and public health crises Edwin Chadwick, sanitation reform and the birth of modern public health Public health, power and the politics of inclusion and exclusion The intersection of politics, health, and societal change Hosts: Xand Van Tulleken – Doctor, Writer, and TV Presenter and Professor Rochelle Burgess – Community Health Psychologist and Professor at the UCL Institute for Global Health. "What has disrupted your thinking?" Xand: The Epic of Gilgamesh – particularly the advice of the goddess Siduri: "Cherish the little child that holds your hand." Cristiano: Candide by Voltaire. Rochelle: Survival by Bob Marley & The Wailers.
Production Credits Public Health Disrupted with Rochelle Burgess and Xand van Tulleken is produced by UCL Health of the Public. This episode was recorded live at Bloomsbury Studio as part of UCL200. Filmed and edited by Gillan Williams at Clarity Video, with support from Annabelle Buckland at Decibelle Creative / @decibelle_creative.
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