Originally published on July 22, 2024 (Episode 368)
Introduction
It is without question the most lethal predator in human history—nothing else has ever come close to its death count. In the last calendar year it has probably killed 680,000 people—and that total was lower than it had been in past decades. Its complete death toll can only be estimated, but over 200,000 years of human evolution, some 52 billion have been killed by this, our greatest enemy.
This super predator is the mosquito. It has killed more of us than any war, famine, or disaster. Even today, mosquitoes remain humanity’s deadliest adversary. Or, to be precise, not mosquitos themselves but the pathogens they carry with them and with which they infect us.
With me to explore how this tiny insect has shaped nations, toppled empires, and altered human destiny is Timothy C. Winegard, author of The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator.
About the Guest
Timothy C. Winegard is Associate Professor of History at Colorado Mesa University. His book The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator (Penguin, 2019) became a bestseller.
For Further Investigation
Timothy C. Winegard, The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator (Penguin, 2019)
How a Mosquito Operates (1912), one of the earliest works of animation
The Gorgas House Museum: William Crawford Gorgas and the Panama Canal
Silent film clip of William Crawford Gorgas traveling through the Canal Zone (Library of Congress)
Related Episodes
“Pox Romana” with Colin Elliott
The immediate consequences of the Black Death with Mark Bailey
The long-term consequences of the Black Death with Jamie Belich
💬 Listen & Discuss
Should the mosquito be thought of as history’s greatest general, commanding entire wars and migrations? Drop your comments below — and share this episode with someone who insists sharks or lions are scarier.
