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historyApr 5, 202625:46failed

She gave her son smallpox. Her bet paid off.

About this episode

It was one of the deadliest diseases known to humankind. And just 50 years ago it was officially eradicated. But there’s someone missing from the story of smallpox.

A woman whose work was mocked. Who was branded a bad mother. And who helped bring inoculation to the West.

Author Jo Willett tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) about how an 18th-century noblewoman ignited a moral panic, split the scientific establishment and helped spark a medical revolution.

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She gave her son smallpox. Her bet paid off.

No One Saw It Coming

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