Very proud about the first review of our mask book in a scholarly journal by Nancy Tomes: "... a sophisticated, insightful work of history...".

In the latest episode of #Cliocast, Séveric Yersin talks to author Bruno Strasser about his monograph «The Mask. A History of Breading Bad Air» (Yale University Press).

@brunostrasser.bsky.social @yalepress.bsky.social

www.infoclio.ch/en/node/191254

Spineless creatures, possibly the world’s oldest beer receipt and more: 2025’s best Books in brief Bibliophile Andrew Robinson reveals 10 essential science reads from the past year.

Our Mask book is on the list of the 10 essential science reads of 2025 in the journal Nature. What I nice surprise!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

« Agréable à lire, The Mask excelle là où beaucoup échouent: le livre vulgarise un savoir dense tout en présentant des recherches originales. »
Le Courrier, 25 Nov. 2025
lecourrier.ch/2025/11/25/m...

Of masks and Mayans: Books in brief Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks.

First reviews of our Mask Book are appearing: An “engrossing, finely illustrated account”, Nature 21 Nov. 2025
"Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks"

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

This is excellent.

OMG this is amazing

Masking harm: dust, diseases, and industry During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were all reminded of the long history of masks used as protection against disease, ranging from the iconic plague doctor's beaked mask to the cloth masks seen in histo...

Happy to announce our new paper on the history of air pollution in the workplace just published in The Lancet:
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

How the History of the Anti-mask and Anti-vaccination Movements Hang Together Thomas Schlich and Bruno J. Strasser Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is best known as a vaccination skeptic, but he is also skeptical about using masks for infection control. At the Libertarian National Conv…

The "Active History" website (a website that connects the work of historians with the wider public and the importance of the past to current event )has published our post on the anti-mask and anti-vaccine movement:
activehistory.ca/blog/2025/10...

"An engaging read. ...Covering a broad sweep of history, Strasser and Schlich offer a thoughtful reflection on what masks say about both the wearer and society." —Anthropology Book Forum's rave review of The Mask.

Excited to be working on this project with my colleagues at Social Studies of Medicine, the History Department, and the Osler Library.

Congratulations, Dr. @thomasschlich.bsky.social!

His project grant analyzes the documents and mechanisms that led to McGill University’s limited quota admission of Jewish medical students between 1920-1960.

More here:
buff.ly/fPj1m8j

#HoH2025 @healthsciences.mcgill.ca

📙 Bluesky is the only platform where I haven’t circulated my book, as I’d recently joined and was waiting for the physical copy. So here it is (last book post, I promise) 📙

☀️ Sunbed in Britain: Tanning Culture from Fad to Fear is free to download via: dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781...

We are delighted to announce the 2025 History of Healthcare Awards recipients!

Since 2015, this program has supported over 80 historians in investigating Canada's history of health, disease, and medicine.

Read more here:
buff.ly/dl4t4yg

#HoH2025

I understand why people get frustrated when liberals fixate on things like ICE wearing masks. But the masks symbolize something very dangerous, the very thing people frustrated with liberals are worried about—absolute impunity from a secret police who report directly to a fascist.

Violet Affleck’s impassioned call at #UNGA80 for masking and clean #indoorair is the latest episode in the long —and always controversial— history of masks. To explore the earlier chapters and better understand what’s happening today, check out our book!
tinyurl.com/579pz264

Book launch with a most interesting panel. Looking forward to the discussions.

Lisa, thanks for your kind words! Enjoying Bluesky and the posts from you and others.

📣5 five-year postdoc positions at University of Edinburgh
check out 🧵below for more details about each post 👇
#histmed

Projit Mukharji opens his lecture at #EAHMH25 with the following point: 1/3 of all human beings live either in China or India. Yet, most scholarship in #histmed is about Western biomedicine.

@eahmh.bsky.social

Congratulations to Heidi Hausse! #eahmh25 @manchesterup.bsky.social

Fascinating talk by Laura Smith on J. Marion Sims and the mechanisms by which he “whitewashed” the Black enslaved patients he experimented on in his medical publications
#EAHMH25

#EAHMH25 Fascinating ongoing Lunch Roundtable around Bruno Strasser and Thomas Schlich’s book Making the Medical Mask: a History of Breathing Bad Air

@brunostrasser.bsky.social presents his book "The Mask" written with Thomas Schlich, a book that tells the story till the 1970s.

Published by @yalepress.bsky.social @yalebooks.bsky.social

#nocovid #eahmh25

The Mask is discussed by David Gentilcore, Christoph Gradmann, @ahlie.bsky.social and @luchen.bsky.social

#eahmh25 #histmed

What does a true Brit feel when we commemorate the war or fly the St George flag? Depends on the Brit | Mihir Bose Politicians love a single, unifying narrative, but it’s more complicated for those of us who see UK life and history through a different lens, says author and broadcaster Mihir Bose

While immigrants are being demonised and dehumanised in most European countries, here is a reminder that Europe, for most of its history, has sent its migrants to all corners of the planet, doing much damage to indigenous populations.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Engraving, F. Bertelli, 1642

1/12 - In our book, The Mask, we show 58 striking images.

Remember those depictions of plague doctors wearing a beaked mask? Such visual elements were common in the 17th C and were always satirical.

Here is one by F. Bertelli, from Il Carnevale Italiano…1642 (The Met, NY).

tinyurl.com/uvzjs9py

“Worse Things Than Dying”: The Entangled History of the Anti-Mask and Anti-Vaccination Movements - Yale University Press Thomas Schlich and Bruno J. Strasser— In May 2024 at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, DC, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., recalled that, during the pandemic, he was asked whether... READ MOR...

On the entangled history anti-mask and antiv-vacc:
yalebooks.yale.edu/2025/08/12/w...

Plastics in health care: rethinking medical device innovation, use, and disposal for sustainability Around the world, some 16 billion plastic syringes and 15 billion face masks are thrown away each year.1,2 Unknown in the first half of the 20th century, the global production, circulation, and dispos...

The final negotiation round for the Global Plastic Treaty Begins today. Check out our essays in The Lancet on how plastics became so central in healthcare and what cam be done to reduce their use.
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#PlasticTreaty

Opinion: A mask is never just a mask Long before the pandemic, masks carried historical baggage and cultural meanings

Authors of The Mask: A History of Breathing Bad Air, Thomas Schlich and Bruno J. Strasser, on why a mask is never just a mask.