"An interesting new series with an interesting name...that has to be insect of the year."
THE OBSERVER
"Sprightly and intriguing series on the extraordinary histories of disease and the fantastical creatures that spread them..." METRO
THE GILDED VECTORS OF DISEASE radio series traversed the world in eight perennial purveyors of disease with the world-renowned LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE.
The eight-part factual radio series on Resonance 104.4 FM Radio aired weekly in April and May 2012. Until 15 August, Gilded Vectors episodes and the background to the series feature in the School's OLYMPIC OPEN HOUSE EXHIBITION FOR LONDON 2012, along with some of the unique archive treasures featured in the series and much more on the School's work past and present.
Click here to listen to episode previews
Click here to find out more about the fascinating LSHTM Open House Exhibition,
now open to the public for London 2012!
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From the 1929 central London landmark building, the School’s current home, intrepid pioneers of public health research and disease control continue the School’s historic tradition as a global institution whose work has helped to change and save lives on a far-reaching scale. It is active in almost every country in Africa and its work has spanned all continents.
A golden MOSQUITO adorns the front of the School, wih seven other gilded vectors of disease. These have slithered, scurried, flown and bitten into the lives of humans down the ages and into our modern life, often viewed with horror or disgust, even with surprising love. Each 30-minute programme takes one of these potent symbols of pestilence as its theme to explore how the RAT, the LOUSE, the SNAKE, the FLEA and more, have plagued us through history and how science is winning the war today.
An eclectic mixture of discussion, first-hand science from INTERNATIONALLY RESPECTED EXPERTS, stimulating soundscapes and surprising creative writing from weekly GUEST WRITERS AND POETS ruminating on uncomfortably fascinating pests. Some of these soundbites may leave you wanting to itch, while others find UNEXPECTED HUMOUR and a refreshingly ZANY PERSPECTIVE served to you with relish by The Mustard Club in THE GILDED VECTORS OF DISEASE.
Series Producer & Presenter REBECCA TREMAIN
Series Co-producer & Editor ROB FALCONER
Script Consultant GARY MERRY
Beneath Malet Street, colonies of research MOSQUITOES, some dating in an unbroken line back to 1940, thrive in the School’s bizarre underground Insectaries while Londoners walk unawares above. A special programme on WORLD MALARIA DAY 2012 depicts the past and present danger facing people across the globe, posed by this tiny but deadly insect.
Did the LOUSE change the course of human history? It has certainly decided the outcome of mayoral elections. Internationally renowned Professor of Public Health Entomology Steve Lindsay lifts the lid off the LOUSE jar.
Dr Caroline Lynch turns CSI Disease detective on a whistle-stop Underground ride through London’s dirtier moments in history from 1347 to the present in pursuit of the elusive RAT.
BEDBUGS had better watch out - leading entomologist, zoologist and TV science expert Dr James Logan is hot on their case and a laconic BEDBUG offers a unique perspective on hotel guests in an unmistakable Bronx drawl.
Will we uncover the next Indiana Jones of Tropical Medicine when we meet the School’s latest wave of pioneers, research graduates exploring the weird world of the FLY?
We send our ophidiophobic crash-test reporter through the doors of the UK’s unique Alistair Reid Venom Research Unit to meet Puff Adders and face his phobia of SNAKES in a radio encounter not for the faint hearted...
