With ‘The Last of Us’ depicting a post- apocalyptic future based on a hostile fungal infection, explore whether truth is sometimes scarier than fiction with two historians who created a BAFTA-nominated computer game based on plague-ridden 16th century Aberdeen; and a medical mycologist who knows if humans really could all be wiped out by a rampaging fungus.

A University of Aberdeen podcast, in this episode of ‘Inside the Headlines’ Laura talks to research fellowDr William Hepburnand senior lecturer Dr Jackson Armstrong both of the School of Divinity, History, Philosophy and Art History about their BAFTA-nominated computer game Strange Sickness.

Set in plague-ridden 16th Century Aberdeen, it is based on events and descriptions in the city’s UNESCO-recognised Burgh Records detailing how the area dealt with the threat of plague and the fear that swept through the community.

With computer game and TV programme ‘The Last of Us’ depicting a post- apocalyptic future based on a hostile fungal infection, Laura also speaks to medical mycologist Dr Delma Childers of the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition and asks, could we really all be wiped out by a rampaging fungus?

Explored in this episode:

· What is Strange Sickness?

· What does the game involve?

· What are some of the real-life measures brought in to control the spread of the plague in the Middle Ages?

· How much of a factor was fear?

· How bad can fungal infections really be?

· How old are they and how do they spread?

· Do they get the respect they are due?

· The Salem Witch Trials and the demise of the dinosaurs

· Could ‘The Last of Us’ ever really happen?

Mentioned in this episode:

· Website: Aberdeen Burgh Records Project

· Website: Strange Sickness

· Biography: Katharine Neil

· Biography: Alana Bell

· Website: UNESCO

· Website: CluedUpp

· Poem: The Masque of the Red Death

· News story: Handforth Parish Council's viral meeting

· Website: The Last of Us

· Website: WHO fungal priority pathogens list

· Biography: Arturo Casadevall

· Website: Candida albicans and Candida glabrata

· Website: Salem Witch Trials and Claviceps

This podcast reflects the views and opinions of contributors, not necessarily the institutional position of the University of Aberdeen.