A better Black Death story

A better Black Death story

From Unexplainable by Vox

May 13, 2026 · 32 min

About this episode

Researchers are reexamining the Black Death, leading to a revision of historical narratives and the reassessment of blame.

What happens when researchers reexamine some of the basic facts about the Black Death? They start rewriting history and rethinking blame. Guests: Hannah Barker, professor at Arizona State University; Ulf Büntgen, professor at the University of Cambridge; Martin Bauch, historian at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠And please email us! ⁠⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠⁠We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/members⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Guests: Hannah Barker, Ulf Büntgen, Martin Bauch

Topics covered

  • Black Death
  • history
  • research
  • plague
  • blame
  • rewriting history

Keywords

  • Black Death
  • history
  • plague
  • research
  • Hannah Barker
  • Ulf Büntgen
  • Martin Bauch

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Arizona State University, University of Cambridge, Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe, Vox

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