Greg Jenner

Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously.

My name's Greg Jenner.

I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster.

And today we're putting on our plague masks and rummaging in our doctor's bags as we head back to 16th century England to learn all about Renaissance era medicine.

And to help us, we are joined by not one, but two esteemed doctors.

In History Corner, she's an associate professor in the Department of English Literature at the University of Reading, where her research focuses on medicine and the body from the 16th to 18th centuries.

And luckily for us, she's also the author of the fantastic new book, The Surgeon, the Midwife and the Quack, How to Stay Alive in Renaissance England.

It's Dr Alana Skoos.

Welcome, Alana.

Hello, nice to be here.

Lovely to have you here.

And in Comedy Corner, she's a comedian, actor and writer.

You might have seen her on all the TV, on Live at the Apollo, QI, Pointless and Have I Got News For You.

Maybe you've caught her live shows or heard her on Radio 4's The News Quiz, but you'll definitely remember her from our show, episodes of Chungi Sao and Marco Polo, of course.

It's Dr. Ria Lina.

Welcome, Dr. Ria.

I mean, you're such a sort of renowned comedian, people might not know this.

You have a PhD in virology.

So if you are a trained scientist, modern medicine, presumably you're pretty comfortable.

Do you know about the history of medicine?