Outbreak After Dark: A Consumption Christmas Carol

Summary

A Consumption Christmas Carol retells Dickens’ ghost story through the real epidemic that haunted Victorian London: tuberculosis.

In this holiday edition of Outbreak After Dark, we move through past, present, and future to explore how TB was misunderstood, romanticized, and weaponized by inequality—before it was finally revealed as an airborne bacterial disease that still kills more than a million people each year.

This episode blends gothic storytelling with real infectious disease history, then ends by the fire with reflection, context, and space to breathe together.

The science is real. The story is heavy. The compassion is intentional.

Listen here or scroll down to read the episode overview or download full transcript.

Recipes for episode snacks and drinks are at the end of the post, under the signature.

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Episode Overview

Editor’s Note: This episode contains discussions of historical and modern tuberculosis, illness, and death. Listener discretion is advised.

In A Consumption Christmas Carol, Outbreak After Dark takes on a darker holiday tradition—retelling A Christmas Carol through the lens of tuberculosis, the disease that shaped Dickens’ world and Victorian society at large.

Rather than ghosts of chains and regret alone, this story is haunted by breath.

The Ghost of Christmas Past reveals how tuberculosis—then called consumption—was aestheticized and misunderstood. In drawing rooms and salons, illness was mistaken for beauty: flushed cheeks, thin bodies, poetic suffering. Art and literature helped transform a deadly infectious disease into a tragic ideal, masking the reality of slow suffocation and early death.

The Ghost of Christmas Present drags Scrooge into the overcrowded, airless spaces that powered the industrial economy—tenements, factories, workhouses—where tuberculosis spread unchecked. Here, the episode confronts the social conditions that allowed TB to thrive: poverty, labor exploitation, poor ventilation, and the shared breath of people with no power to escape their environment. Science begins to emerge, but solutions remain out of reach for those who need them most.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shifts the story into the modern era, where tuberculosis is no longer romantic—but still very much alive. Drug-resistant strains, underfunded public health systems, and global inequities reveal a future shaped not by ignorance alone, but by neglect. TB is curable and preventable, yet continues to kill because attention, resources, and political will remain unevenly distributed.

After the story concludes, the episode intentionally slows down.

A post-Carol decompression brings the hosts back to the present to unpack the history, the science, and the emotional weight of the narrative—connecting Victorian misconceptions to modern public health blind spots. Food, humor, and reflection create space to breathe again, reinforcing a core theme of Outbreak After Dark: even when the story is heavy, no one sits alone with it.

This episode is a reminder that tuberculosis is not just a ghost of the past. It is an airborne disease shaped by human choices—then and now. And compassion, like contagion, can spread.

Heather, Kate, and Sam recite the Outbreak After Dark closing in unison:

By the fire we meet…

With food, drink, and infectious creep…

And when the tale is heavy,

we hold space for those we keep…

This is Outbreak After Dark.

RECIPES 

WINTER WRAITH (Cocktail)

A pale, frosty pear + rosemary cocktail with a haunting, silky foam.

Ingredients (1 drink):

• 2 oz pear vodka

• ¾ oz fresh lemon juice

• ¾ oz rosemary simple syrup

• 1 egg white (or 1 oz aquafaba for vegan/egg-free foam)

• 1–2 oz tonic water or club soda (for topping)

• Garnish: small rosemary sprig or a single pear slice

Rosemary Simple Syrup:

• ½ cup sugar

• ½ cup water

• 2 rosemary sprigs

  → Simmer 3–4 minutes, steep 10, strain.

Directions:

1. Add pear vodka, lemon juice, rosemary syrup, and egg white/aquafaba to a shaker.

2. Dry shake (no ice) for 10–15 seconds to build the foam.

3. Add ice, then shake again until the shaker chills.

4. Strain into a coupe or Nick & Nora glass.

5. Top with 1–2 oz tonic water or soda for a shimmering lift.

6. Garnish with a rosemary sprig or thin pear slice.

7. Whisper something ghostly over it for effect.

SNOW WISP (Mocktail)

Soft, sparkling, fairy-like, with pear + rosemary + a bright winter shimmer.

Ingredients (1 mocktail):

• 2 oz pear nectar or pear juice

• ½ oz lemon juice

• ½ oz rosemary simple syrup

• Sparkling water (plain or pear-flavored)

• Garnish: baby rosemary sprig or thin pear curl

Directions:

1. Add pear nectar, lemon juice, and rosemary syrup to a shaker with ice.

2. Shake gently — you just want it chilled.

3. Strain into a chilled coupe or tall glass.

4. Top with sparkling water.

5. Garnish with rosemary or pear.

6. Optional: a tiny pinch of edible glitter for a frosty “wisp.”

CHIMNEY SWEEP CROSTINI

Smoky, black bean + charred onion crostini that look like soot… but taste heavenly.

Ingredients:

For the crostini:

• 1 baguette, sliced into thin rounds

• Olive oil for brushing

• Pinch of smoked paprika or chili powder (optional)

For the black bean spread:

• 1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

• 1–2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp lime or lemon juice

• ½ tsp smoked paprika

• ½ tsp garlic powder or 1 clove fresh garlic

• Salt & pepper to taste

For the charred onions:

• 1 medium red or yellow onion, thinly sliced

• 1–2 tsp olive oil

• Pinch of salt

• Optional: splash of balsamic or Worcestershire if you’re feeling fancy

Directions:

1. Make the crostini:

   • Brush baguette slices lightly with olive oil.

   • Toast in a 400°F (204°C) oven for 7–8 min until crisp.

   • Optional: sprinkle with a whisper of smoked paprika.

2. Make the black bean spread:

   • Blend black beans, olive oil, lime/lemon, garlic, smoked paprika, salt & pepper.

   • Add water 1 tsp at a time if you want a smoother purée.

3. Char the onions:

   • Heat a skillet on medium-high.

   • Add lightly oiled onions.

   • Cook until edges are dark and caramelized — a little burnt is perfect here.

   • Optional: splash with balsamic or Worcestershire for depth.

4. Assemble:

   • Spread a thin layer of black bean purée on each crostini.

   • Top with a tangle of charred onions.

   • Finish with a flick of smoked paprika.

Presentation tip:

Serve on a dark slate or baking sheet — they look very Victorian–gothic this way.

LONDON FOG TRUFFLE BITES

Earl Grey dark chocolate truffles dusted with sugar “fog.”

Ingredients (makes ~12–16 truffles):

• ½ cup heavy cream

• 1 Tbsp loose-leaf Earl Grey (or 2 tea bags)

• 8 oz dark chocolate, chopped

• 1–2 Tbsp butter (optional, for silkiness)

• Cocoa powder or powdered sugar for coating

• Optional: tiny sprinkle of edible gold dust to make them “Victorian opulent”

Directions:

1. Warm heavy cream in a pot until steaming (not boiling).

2. Add Earl Grey tea. Steep 5–7 minutes.

3. Strain cream to remove tea leaves.

4. Pour hot infused cream over chopped dark chocolate.

5. Let sit 1–2 minutes, then stir until smooth.

6. Add butter if using.

7. Chill mixture in fridge for ~1 hour.

8. Scoop teaspoon-sized portions, roll into balls.

9. Coat in cocoa powder or powdered sugar “fog.”

10. Keep chilled until serving.

Flavor notes:

Rich, aromatic, slightly citrusy — perfect with Winter Wraith.