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Surviving Plague in Venice

Dec 15, 2025
54 mins

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Episode Description

450 years ago, Venice found itself facing a plague outbreak that would kill more than 50,000 people - a third of its population. But to manage the epidemic, the city developed pioneering measures. These included the creation of of special islands called 'lazzaretti', Europe's first quarantine institutions, which isolated people and goods suspected of carrying the plague. Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Jane Stevens Crawshaw to discover how Venice balanced commerce, compassion, and survival in the face of deadly disease.


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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

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