# The Syphilis Explosion of the American Civil War

An episode of [Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1612090432), 20 Jan 2026, 40 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/betwixt-the-sheets/e/696a6ccb98f7a1123ed1aa7a/media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=bHdhUdhYh8SqcLAoElEcbm9pyApxx_N08b4GwKzbTE0

It's been estimated that between eight and twelve percent of soldiers contracted a venereal disease during the American Civil War. What on earth were they up to? Kathryn Olivarius is a Professor at Stanford. She joins Kate to discuss syphilis, why it spread so far during the war and how it's impact continued after the war ended. Kathryn is the author of 'Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom'. This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. All music from Epidemic Sounds. Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast. Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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