Weaving together Linda Stratmann’s book The Secret Poisoner, on the development of forensic toxicology in Victorian England (primarily) through infamous poison murder cases, and a recent interview with outgoing Secretary of the HHS, Xavier Becerra. Trust and its loss are key themes of both stories.

Episode Links

The Secret Poisoner and Linda Stratmann

The Secret Poisoner: A Century of Murder

Murder by poison alarmed, enthralled, and in some ways even defined the Victorian age. Linda Stratmann’s dark and splendid social history reveals the nineteenth century as a gruesome battleground where poisoners went head-to-head with scientific and legal authorities who strove to detect poisons, control their availability, and bring the guilty to justice. Separating fact from Hollywood fiction, Stratmann corrects many misconceptions about particular poisons and their deadly effects. She also documents how the motives for poisoning—which often involved domestic unhappiness—evolved as marriage and child protection laws began to change. Combining archival research with vivid storytelling, Stratmann charts the era’s inexorable rise of poison cases.

Linda Stratmann’s website:

https://www.lindastratmann.com/

About Linda Stratmann:

After taking my O levels, I left school, and trained to be a chemist’s dispenser with Boots. I was first married at the age of 18 and my son was born when I was 20. Whatever I was destined to be it was not a housewife, and I took my A levels and went to Newcastle University in 1971, graduating with first class honours in psychology three years later. I then joined the civil service, and trained to be an Inspector of Taxes.

….

In 2001 I left the civil service, and in 2002 was commissioned to write my first published book on the history of chloroform.

Since then I have written several more books on historical true crime, and three biographies; also two crime fiction series set in Victorian England featuring female sleuths, Frances Doughty and Mina Scarletti. I am currently writing a series about the cases of a youthful Sherlock Holmes. I have been a member of the Crime Writers Association since 2004 and was Chair from 2019 to 2021.

Washington Post Interview with Xavier Becerra

12 Jan 2025, WaPo, by Dan Diamond: ‘I can’t go toe to toe with social media.’ Top U.S. health official reflects, regrets.

As they entered office at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2021, Xavier Becerra and his allies had a plan to restore Americans' faith in the nation's beleaguered public health agencies.

Becerra, tapped by President Joe Biden to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, empowered career government scientists and experts muzzled under the Trump administration. Biden officials took on social media posts they said spread disinformation about coronavirus vaccines, urging Facebook and other companies to remove them. The White House mounted a nationwide vaccination campaign, convinced the results would win over skeptics.

….

"I can't go toe to toe with social media," Becerra said in a wide-ranging interview Wednesday, arguing that even a Cabinet secretary can be hemmed in. As examples, Becerra cited the lawsuits the Biden administration faced after urging social media companies to take down posts the White House considered disinformation. And he noted that officials can't formally disclose many details about negotiations to lower prescription drug prices. "I don't get to write whatever I want," he said.

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Becerra, who was a congressman for more than two decades before becoming California's top lawyer in 2017 and then the nation's health secretary in 2021, is a veteran of Washington battles.

Some of the more recent fights concerned his own job: The Post and other outlets reported on internal frustrations with Becerra's leadership during the pandemic and his agency's response to unaccompanied children at the border. Some officials mused about replacing him with someone they said would be more proactive.

Becerra acknowledged the learning curve when taking charge of HHS, which oversees programs such as Medicare and Medicaid; approves drugs, medical devices and vaccines; regulates hospitals, physicians and other health-care providers; and steers many other initiatives affecting food and medicine. It also plays a central role in the nation's human services, such as caring for unaccompanied migrant children.

"I didn't realize how vast this agency's jurisdiction is," Becerra said, reflecting on how HHS found itself at the center of various crises, such as a 2022 baby formula shortage. "Since when has HHS been the administrator and distributor of infant formula?"

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Rebuilding trust

Becerra acknowledged that his team struggled to win back the support of skeptical Americans, who he said are being bombarded by "instantaneous information and disinformation" on social media.

The health secretary contended that the government is outmatched, suggesting that Congress should set aside more resources for his nearly $2 trillion agency.

"I don't have a budget that Pfizer has to do marketing and advertising," Becerra said, invoking the pharma giant that spends billions of dollars to promote its drugs. "Will [Congress] give me some money to compete out there with all the disinformation?"

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Becerra said the difficulties his team faced reflect a deep distrust of institutions.

"Do I think the American public has come back to a point where they trust, whether it's the ACA or vaccines, as much as they trust their priest or their rabbi? No," Becerra said. "But then again, I don't think priests … have the same standing they used to have before, either."

The health secretary wound down his interview with a frank plea about how public health experts can better reach Americans.

"I don't know what more we can do," Becerra said. "I'm more than willing to listen if somebody's got some great ideas."

Gallup Polls Press Releases on Federal Agencies

Sept 2024: Secret Service's Job Rating Tumbles 23 Points to New Low

Sept 2021: Job Ratings of Many Key Federal Agencies Decline

Nov 2014: Americans' Ratings of CDC Down After Ebola Crisis

May 2013: Americans Sour on IRS, Rate CDC and FBI Most Positively

July 2009: CDC Tops Agency Ratings; Federal Reserve Board Lowest

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