{"podcast":{"title":"You're Dead to Me","slug":"you-re-dead-to-me-646788","podcast_index_feed_id":646788,"rss_url":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p07mdbhg.rss","website_url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07mdbhg","image_url":"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/3000x3000/p0nr577g.jpg","author":"BBC","episode_count":282,"summary":"The comedy podcast that takes history seriously. In each episode of You’re Dead to Me from BBC Radio 4, Greg Jenner is joined by a comedian and an expert historian to learn and laugh about the past. History isn’t just about dates and textbooks – it’s about extraordinary characters, amazing stories, and some very questionable fashion choices. How long did it take to build an Egyptian pyramid? What does the Bayeux Tapestry reveal about medieval life? Why did it take nearly half a millennium for Joan of Arc to become a saint? And was Catherine the Great really all that great? Whether you want to explore ancient landmarks like Stonehenge and Machu Picchu, dance through the history of Broadway and Bollywood, or find out how the Tudors rose to power, Greg and his guests promise to teach you something new that you won’t have heard in history lessons. Previous episodes of You’re Dead To Me have covered everything from royals to revolutionaries, actors to activists and divas to dictators. Take a stroll through the history of high-heeled shoes or get the scoop on the history of ice cream. Maybe you’d like to paint like the cave artists of the Palaeolithic era, work out like a Victorian body…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-31T14:21:46.443481+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/you-re-dead-to-me-646788"},"episode":{"title":"Renaissance Medicine: healthcare and disease in early modern England","slug":"renaissance-medicine-healthcare-and-disease-in-early-modern-england","published_at":"2026-02-06T06:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/you-re-dead-to-me-646788/renaissance-medicine-healthcare-and-disease-in-early-modern-england","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/you-re-dead-to-me-646788","url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002pptn","audio_url":"http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0msklns.mp3","summary":"Greg Jenner is joined in the 16th century by Dr Alanna Skuse and comedian Ria Lina to learn all about medicine and medical professionals in Tudor and Stuart England. In Renaissance-era England, medicine was still based on the theory of the four humours, passed down from ancient Greek and Roman physicians like Hippocrates and Galen. But from the reign of Henry VIII, there were signs of change. The invention of the printing press led to an explosion in medical and anatomical books, and the circulation of ideas from across Europe. The College of Physicians was founded in 1518, and the Company of Barber-Surgeons in 1543. Medicine became a real business, with a range of specialists, professional bodies overseeing different kinds of healthcare, and an explosion of medical providers advertising their services to the general public. This episode explores the landscape of healthcare in 16th- and 17th-century England, looking at everyone from physicians, surgeons and apothecaries to domestic healers and midwives, and even taking in quacks and frauds. Along the way, it examines the sensible social distancing measures taken during the Great Plague, the cures both sensible and dangerous offered for all kinds of diseases, and the cutting-edge experiments men like William Harvey and Christopher Wren were carrying out on the circulation of the blood. If you’re a fan of the history of everyday life in Tudor England, petty professional rivalries, and the whacky wellness trends of the past, you’ll love our episode on medicine in Renaissance England. If you want more from Ria Lina, listen to our episodes on pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao and medieval traveller Marco Polo. And for more on the history of health and wellness, check out our episodes on Ancient Medicine, Renaissance Beauty and the…","meta_description":"Greg Jenner is joined in the 16th century by Dr Alanna Skuse and comedian Ria Lina to learn all about medicine and medical professionals in Tudor and Stua…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3430,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/you-re-dead-to-me-646788/episodes/renaissance-medicine-healthcare-and-disease-in-early-modern-england/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/you-re-dead-to-me-646788/renaissance-medicine-healthcare-and-disease-in-early-modern-england.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}