Ep. 31 Is My Runny Nose COVID, Leprosy, or Tuberculosis?

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This episode best friends Megan & Milena cover Iranian glass sculptor Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian & American chemist Alice Ball who developed a leprosy treatment.

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian

To me, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian is the Queen of Light. After visiting a mosque in the mid 1970’s, Monir was inspired to completely change her art and started making works inspired by the glass work she had seen. Bridging traditional Persian craft techniques with contemporary formats, Monir became a leading sculptor not just within her home of Iran, but internationally as well. Today we cover how that happened, and how it really is all about who you know in life.

Selected Work
Monir photographed in the 1970’s with her mirrored balls, one of which was a gift to Andy Warhol
A Sotheby’s employee poses next to ‘Recollections I’ by Monir Farmanfarmaian during a press preview of Orientilist and Middle Eastern Art Week at Sotheby’s on April 20, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images for Sotheby’s)
Installation view of Monir’s solo show at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC
Front view of one of the dimensional wall pieces Monir made in her later years

Alice Ball

Alice Ball was on this Earth too short a time. In today’s episode Milena explores the remarkable contributions this young chemist made to early 20th century leprosy treatment. In case you were wondering, the disease is wayyy more terrible then you’re imagining. Milena dishes on what’s gross and more, leaving us better informed and 100% more worried about bacterial infections.