Our second podcast featuring Bart Lambert is a treat especially for our French‑speaking followers-but it’s just as fascinating for anyone interested in the historical impact of pandemics!
It’s the first episode of the series Contagions – une histoire des épidémies, a collaboration between our Francophone sister university ULB and Belgian public broadcaster RTBF, tracing epidemics across human history.
This episode zooms in on the late medieval plague, including the discovery of the Yersinia pestis bacterium in 14th‑century human remains uncovered in Sint‑Truiden (in the east of present‑day Belgium). The find was made by an interdisciplinary team led by KU Leuven. Bart, who contributed to the team’s subsequent publication, discusses what this discovery means—and how it helps us better understand and interpret historical sources from times of pandemic.
The episode, as well as the seven others in the series, is now available on RTBF’s Auvio platform: https://auvio.rtbf.be/media/contagions-une-histoire-des-epidemies-contagions-une-histoire-des-epidemies-3486479
The series will also be released on other platforms and broadcast on RTBF radio in August