For a timely show in light of today’s debate about the role of vaccines in stopping COVID’s spread in the world’s poorest nations, invite Bee Bloeser to share her experiences in Africa after the CDC dispatched her husband Carl to join the global smallpox vaccination campaign in 1969. “Vaccines and Bayonets: Fighting Smallpox in Africa amid Tribalism, Terror and the Cold War,” details Bee’s time in Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea (where she was one of only two American women), including brushes with a brutal dictator and a heartbreaking humanitarian crisis unknown to the outside world. An award-winning author and engaging public speaker, Bee Bloeser has been featured on NPR’s Journeys of Discovery and NPR KCBX Radio’s show, Issues and Ideas. Ask her: What lessons from your husband’s efforts are applicable to today’s vaccine issues? Did you face resistance in Africa, and by whom? Contact Bee Bloeser at (520) 214-5971; bbloeser@rtirguests.com
