Dr Alanna Skuse
Associate professor and historian specializing in medicine and the body in the 16th to 18th centuries, and author of The Surgeon, The Midwife and the Quack.
Best podcasts with Dr Alanna Skuse
Ranked by the Snipd community
38 snips
Feb 6, 2026 • 57min
Renaissance Medicine: healthcare and disease in early modern England
Dr Ria Lina, comedian with a PhD in virology, brings humor and scientific flair. Dr Alanna Skuse, historian of medicine in 16th–18th century England, explains practitioners and practices. They explore humoral theory, bleeding and purges, plague-era social distancing, William Harvey’s circulation experiments, barber-surgeons and apothecaries, quacks and popular cures, and midwifery and gendered medical control.
5 snips
Oct 21, 2025 • 39min
How to Survive in Renaissance England
Dr. Alanna Skuse, a historian of early modern healthcare and author of 'The Surgeon, the Midwife and the Quack', delves into the medical practices of 16th and 17th century England. She reveals how quacks and wise women sometimes offered better care than physicians. The conversation explores bizarre treatments, including cross-species blood transfusions, as well as innovative surgeries like the arm-to-face skin graft. Alanna also discusses holistic approaches to health, the notorious Bedlam hospital, and the ethical dilemmas of early medical experimentation.
