# ☠️S05E42 - THE BLACK DEATH🐀

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/monstertalk-162017/s05e42-the-black-death
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/monstertalk-162017/s05e42-the-black-death.md
Podcast: [MonsterTalk](https://stenobird.com/podcast/monstertalk-162017)
Published: 2026-08-03T03:55:02+00:00
Episode link: https://www.monstertalk.org/%e2%98%a0%ef%b8%8fs05e42-the-black-death%f0%9f%90%80/
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73317810/s05e42_monstertalk.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/monstertalk-162017/episodes/s05e42-the-black-death
Duration seconds: 3278

## Resource

Blake and Karen are joined by Dr. Ben Dodds , author of Myths and Memories of the Black Death to discover more about a disease which forever changed world history when it swept across Europe in the 1300s. The conversation runs from the mechanics of the disease - what a bubo actually is, what finally kills you, and why the textbook rats-and-fleas model spreads far too slowly to explain what medieval eyewitnesses described - to the harder question of how anyone in 2026 knows any of it. Along the way: the marmot hypothesis, the medieval physicians who were certain they had it figured out, the appalling 1348 pogroms whose victims were dug out of the ground in a Catalan town a short drive from where Dodds was sitting, why Monty Python understood the Middle Ages better than most historical novelists, and a closing answer about the aftermath that most listeners will not see coming. Blake's cold open, meanwhile, sets out to explain why we call it the Black Death at all - and reels in an unexpected monster. Extended show notes at MonsterTalk.org Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support . Some product links may be affiliated with Amazon revenue sharing.

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## Transcript

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