Most people living in rich countries are healthier than at any time in human history. Yet, millions of people across the globe needlessly suffer and die of preventable or treatable diseases every year. Health is one of the key objectives of global development interventions. This has become even more true as national and international governing bodies have increasingly recognized that poor health and disease aren’t just matters of individual suffering; they inhibit progress towards population-level social and economic development goals. Using a multi-disciplinary approach drawing on Global Health, Social Epidemiology, and Medical Anthropology, we will examine the forces that conspire against health and consider the building blocks of good health. We will examine the relationship between culture and health and methodological implications for global health research and practice. Through weekly case studies centering on specific drivers of global health inequalities, we will ask: Why are some epidemics well known, while some are barely visible? How can we learn from mistakes in the past, and what does health look like in the future?