NOVA's new film about Mary Mallon, The Most Dangerous Woman in America, is based on the book Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public's Health by Judith Walzer Leavitt, a professor of medical history and women's studies at the University of Wisconsin's Medical School. Her book has been heralded as "an indelible pleasure of early 20th-century New York, when modern knowledge and … [Read more...] about Typhoid Mary Under
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Typhoid Mary Under
Smoking Ban in Full Force
On March 29, 2004 Ireland became the first country in the European Union to ban smoking in workplaces, including all restaurants and pubs. Although some smokers and the Irish Vintners Federation, a trade group representing pub owners, had opposed the ban, it has taken effect and largely been obeyed by patrons. Even in rural pubs, customers are taking the law seriously, which … [Read more...] about Smoking Ban in Full Force
Into Africa, Seeing and Believing
We're juggling with numbers here. Every five seconds someone in the world loses his/her sight; a child goes blind every minute. That amounts to seven million cases a year. Add that to 45 million people already blind and another 135 million with limited vision. Patricia Hallahan, regional director with Sight Savers International, confesses she's not very good at figures but … [Read more...] about Into Africa, Seeing and Believing
Into the West & Far East
On a drizzly morning in early summer -- what the Irish refer to as a "soft day" -- I'm doing something that has become rather commonplace during my numerous travels to Ireland. I'm talking about local history with two men who live in County Mayo and work at the Delphi Mountain Lodge and Spa. We stand at the entrance to a business that was constructed with the entrepreneurial … [Read more...] about Into the West & Far East
The Irish Blood Scandal
Haemophilia sufferers across Ireland are awaiting the outcome of the Lindsay Tribunal, which was set up to investigate how blood products were contaminated with HIV and Hepatitis C. But while Judge Alison Lindsay deliberates on one of the greatest scandals in Irish life, a deal has finally been hammered out to compensate the victims of the HIV blood scandal, 64 of whom have … [Read more...] about The Irish Blood Scandal