Ep.2: John Snow & His Game of Fomes

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Title Explanation (because all the best jokes require explanation):

• Jon Snow is a main character in the HBO show Game of Thrones
• John Snow is the “father of epidemiology” who studied disease spread, and is the scientist we’re discussing this week.
• A fomite (/ˈfoʊmaɪt/) or fomes (/ˈfoʊmiːz/) is any inanimate object that, when contaminated with or exposed to infectious agents (such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses or fungi), can transfer disease to a new host.

Episode Agenda w/Time Stamps:

• 00:21 - Banter: Video Games: Animal Crossing & the turnip stalk market, Jackbox party games, Subnautica Below Zero
• 09:33 - Academic Deep Dive: How John Snow, the “Father of Epidemiology”, discovered how a cholera epidemic was spreading but no one believed him.
  • Other brilliant minds that no one believed: Avogadro, Mendeleev, Herman Melville (author of Moby Dick), Freddy Mercury (from Queen)
• 26:46 - Final Inquiry: Do bacteria and viruses get viruses?
  • Tangent on tardigrades (water bears).

Credits:

• Cover Art Photo: Mosby Lake - follow this dog on instagram at regular_mo.
• Cover Art Font: Paper Cuts 2 by Empire of Dust (Daniel Werneck) is Public Domain.
• Intro Music: Shortened version of “Sweat Time” by Loyalty Freak Music is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License.
• Outro Music: Shortened version of “Alethia” by Nihilore is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.