Miracle Cure? Quack Medicine in the Renaissance

Ever since President Trump suggested using disinfectant to treat Covid-19 I’ve been thinking about history of using poisonous materials to treat disease. The President’s remarks concerning disinfectant can be traced to so-called chlorine dioxide (read, industrial-strength bleach) treatments, in which parents attempt to cure their autistic children by bathing them in the chemical, feeding it …

Back Off: Touch, Contamination and Social Distance

A woman rushes forward, her arms thrown wide as if the embrace the man in front of her. He pulls back, twisting dramatically to escape her grasp and holds up a cautionary hand to two women in the middle ground. In the time of Covid-19 such images resonate strongly. While we may not have pulled …

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