There are plenty of official records and they can give you all the information you need on how many people died, how many were infected, though even those statistics are problematic at best. But they don't get anywhere near giving you the social experience of the illness and of the pandemic itself, the sense of chaos on the ground as it is breaking out...the anxiety around not knowing what will happen — Dr. Nancy Bristow
What to listen for:
This episode traces the 1918 influenza pandemic, from its origins in Kansas to the wartime censorship that hid its true toll, and asks why one of history’s deadliest events largely vanished from public memory.
Guests:
- John M. Barry: Historian and author of The Great Influenza
- Dr. Nancy Bristow: Retired Professor of History, University of Puget Sound; author of American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic