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by pathogenperspectives
In Pathogen Perspectives the podcast, Heather Lander, PhD, an expert in viral pathogenesis, brings her blog to the airwaves to help bridge the dangerous gap between the science of infectious diseases and public misperception.*Podcast music is from Heather Nova's song, I Miss My Sky. Used with permission.
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- 2 days ago38 min
S2E44 A Year Around the Fire: Our First Anniversary
One year. Three original hosts. Zero reliable scoring systems. It's the first anniversary of Outbreak After Dark, and the original campfire crew is back together! Heather welcomes Kate and Sam around the fire for a look back at the strange, hilarious, and occasionally horrifying moments that shaped Year One. Along the way, we explore how the show evolved from three friends talking about infectious disease into immersive storytelling, unexpected guests, and an increasingly elaborate collection of recipes with questionable names. And because we can't just have a normal anniversary celebration, Kate and Sam compete in an infectious-disease mini-game featuring forgotten quotes, survival decisions, and a mystery pathogen. The rules are clear. The judging is another matter. On the anniversary menu: The Menu of Misfortune—four recipes randomly selected from our first year, including House Call, Symbiosis Spritz, Rumor Mill, and Pecan Pustules. We're also looking ahead to Year Two, with new guests, Outbreak After Dark Gathering Kits, The Night Library, and the possibility of a full-fledged infectious-disease game show. Find the episode overview, downloadable transcript, and all four anniversary recipe cards in the companion blog post on the Infectious Dose website. Keep the embers warm. This is Outbreak After Dark.
- 1 weeks ago34 min
S2E43 The House of Căpușan
An isolated village. A mysterious outbreak. A physician whose patients trust him with their lives. When American scientist Dr. Helen Seward travels to Romania's Carpathian Mountains to investigate cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, she expects to find infected ticks, complicated exposure histories, and a community struggling to contain a dangerous disease. What she finds is something far stranger. The ticks are appearing where they shouldn't. Medical records don't quite add up. And the village's beloved physician, Dr. Căpușan, seems to know more about the outbreak—and its unusual vectors—than he's willing to reveal. Inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula, The House of Căpușan is an original Infectious Dose audio drama that brings infectious-disease science into the shadows of Gothic horror. 💀 Month of the Macabre 2026 🎬 This week's #SickFlicks: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Nosferatu (2024). Two atmospheric explorations of vampirism, contagion, and the dangerous intimacy of blood. 🎧 Headphones recommended. This is an immersive, audio-only story. 🩸 Next week: It's the final week of Month of the Macabre, and we're celebrating with two special releases! Original Outbreak After Dark cohosts Kate and Sam return for an anniversary reunion with the original trio back together. Then, on Friday, October 30—the 88th anniversary of the 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast—we're bringing you The Devil of Hawthorn Mill, an original audio drama inspired by Orson Welles' legendary broadcast. 📻 Tune in to WIDX. The broadcast is about to be interrupted. Visit the episode blog post for the overview and downloadable transcript.
- 2 weeks ago10 min
S2E42 Just a Little Wider: Please Remain Still
Just a Little Wider | Month of the Macabre He's already been waiting more than an hour. He's sick, exhausted, and ready to leave. But the dentist can see him now. Surely it won't take long. Then the dentist finds something unusual. As the exam continues, the patient grows increasingly ill. The dentist's behavior becomes more disturbing. Familiar sounds begin to suggest terrible things, and with every passing minute, it becomes harder to tell whether the danger is coming from the person holding the instruments, or from something happening inside the patient's own body. Inspired by the real possibility that systemic infections can leave clues in the mouth, Just a Little Wider is an immersive work of medical horror in which illness, perception, and reality become impossible to separate. 💀 Month of the Macabre 2026 — An original Infectious Dose horror story. 🎬 This week's #SickFlicks: Dead Ringers (1988) and The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)—two unsettling films about medical authority, the vulnerability of the human body, and exams that take a horrifying turn. 🎧 Headphones recommended. Find the complete episode transcript and more at Infectious Dose.
- 2 weeks ago9 min
Outbreak Watch: October 9, 2026
In this week's Outbreak Watch, we're examining the latest developments in the DRC Ebola outbreak, Pennsylvania's ongoing measles outbreak and a new development in the US H5N1 outbreak. Finally, we separate evidence from speculation surrounding reports of a possible laboratory-associated infection in Russia. Outbreak Watch is part of Infectious Dose, bringing you outbreak developments, epidemiological context, and the science behind the headlines. Find the full transcript, annotated sources, and additional resources at Infectious Dose.
- 3 weeks ago36 min
S2E41 The Collection: Exhibits to Die For
The museum is closed. The exhibits aren't finished changing. In the first episode of Month of the Macabre 2026, a routine after-hours visit to a museum of infectious disease history takes an unexpected turn. Past the familiar scenes of Broad Street, the 1918 influenza pandemic, and SARS in Toronto, a new gallery has appeared: a modern train station displaying an outbreak that hasn't happened yet. Then the exhibit changes. And changes again The Collection is an immersive Infectious Dose audio story about infectious disease history, transmission, outbreak investigation, and what happens when knowing the future doesn't necessarily mean you can control it. 🎬 This week's #SickFlicks to accompany the episode: Annihilation (2018) and The Endless (2017)—two stories in which reality begins behaving according to unfamiliar rules, leaving the people inside to figure out what those rules mean. Check out the companion blog post for citations and transcript. 🎧 Headphones recommended.
- Sep 30, 202647 min
S2E40 Monsters, Movies, and Microbes: When Infection Becomes Horror
It’s horror movie night, but Heather can’t stop seeing infectious disease in the monsters. Heather is joined by her friend Valerie to explore the real biology behind some of horror’s most enduring fears: tuberculosis and vampire lore, rabies and werewolves, zombies as outbreak epidemiology, neurological disease and possession, and the strange biology behind The Last of Us, The Thing, and Alien. Plus, Valerie plays the hilarious Horror Movie or Medical Literature? and discovers that when it comes to horror, evolution has had a considerable head start. So grab a drink, pick a movie, and remember the most important public-health lesson horror has apparently failed to teach us: stop hiding bites. Annotated citations and episode recipes available in the companion blog post.
- Sep 23, 202619 min
S2E39 Skeeters on a Plane: The Curious Tale of Airport Malaria
How do eight people get falciparum malaria in Germany when none of them traveled somewhere malaria is circulating? The answer may be that they didn't have to travel. The mosquito did. This episode follows the investigation into a cluster of malaria cases linked geographically or occupationally to Frankfurt Airport, including three deaths. We'll look at how an infected mosquito can carry malaria across continents, why airport malaria can be difficult to diagnose, what previous cases tell us about this rare phenomenon, and what investigators still don't know about the current outbreak. Find annotated citations and transcript in the companion blog post on the Infectious Dose website.
- Sep 18, 202617 min
Outbreak Watch: September 18, 2026
This week on Outbreak Watch, we’re tracking signs that Ebola transmission may be stopping in some parts of the DRC while continuing elsewhere; what still hasn’t happened with New World screwworm in the U.S.; Florida’s growing locally acquired dengue outbreak; an unusual increase in rabies exposures and preventive treatment; Pennsylvania’s four measles-associated deaths and request for CDC assistance; anthrax moving from wildlife into humans in Zambia; and a strange cluster of falciparum malaria cases near Frankfurt Airport. Plus: what should we actually watch for next to know when each of these situations has changed? Full citations, transcript, and other resources can be found in the companion blog post at the Infectious Dose website.
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About Pathogen Perspectives
In Pathogen Perspectives the podcast, Heather Lander, PhD, an expert in viral pathogenesis, brings her blog to the airwaves to help bridge the dangerous gap between the science of infectious diseases and public misperception.*Podcast music is from Heather Nova's song, I Miss My Sky. Used with permission.
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