Episode 32: The R@VN - A Requiem for Antivaxxers

In this special Month of the Macabre episode, Infectious Dose steps into gothic territory with a haunting reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven—rewritten for the age of science denial.

The R@VN follows a man who built his fame on rejecting vaccines and mistrusting public health—until a disease he dismissed returns to claim him. As paralysis sets in, his smart-home AI, the Rational Autonomous Virtual Nexus (R@VN), becomes both witness and judge, speaking in clinical tones that sound increasingly like prophecy.

What begins as denial ends as digital haunting—a parable for the consequences of rejecting science.

It’s fiction… but the danger is real. Listen to the end for a post-credits scene.

🪶 Listen for:– A modern retelling of The Raven with Poe’s original rhythm and rhyme– The intersection of technology, hubris, and health– How polio still haunts us—and why vaccine denial makes it rise again

💉 Related episode: A Plague Returned

Note: R@VN is a fictional artificial intelligence system created for storytelling purposes. Any resemblance to actual products, companies, or technologies is purely coincidental.

The R@VN is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” (1845), now in the public domain.