Sponsored | American Epidemics - The Great Pandemic | 1
American History Tellers
Wondery
4.7 • 18.3K Ratings
🗓️ 23 May 2019
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode is brought to you by Wondery in partnership with National Geographic in anticipation of their new series, The Hot Zone. The three-night limited series is inspired by true events surrounding the origins of the Ebola virus and its arrival on US soil in 1989.
One hundred years ago, the Spanish flu pandemic brought American society to the breaking point and forever reshaped the way the United States responds to public health crises. At a time when people around the world were already dying on an unprecedented scale due to World War I, Spanish flu devastated American cities, killing more than 675,000 people in the U.S. alone. As the death toll mounted, Philadelphia ran out of coffins, New York City officials outlawed uncovered sneezing and coughing, and scientists raced to find a cure. The virus would have a profound effect on impact on medicine, politics, and the media. It would reveal deep flaws in the U.S. government’s ability to respond to such a disaster. And it would help usher in a new era of global collaboration in the medical community.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, prime members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon music, |
| 0:05.6 | download the app today. |
| 0:07.8 | This episode of American Epidemics is brought to you by Wondry in partnership with National |
| 0:12.4 | Geographic, the hot zone starring Julianna Margulis premieres this Memorial Day, May 27th |
| 0:18.6 | at 9-8 Central on National Geographic. |
| 0:21.8 | It's January 1918, just outside the town of Copeland in Haskell County, Kansas. |
| 0:32.5 | A rider eases his way into town, his gloved hands tight on the reins. |
| 0:37.2 | Even two decades into the 20th century, this place still feels like the Old West. |
| 0:42.4 | As the rider passes the Postmaster General's House, then the dry goods store, his horse |
| 0:46.8 | and buggy fit right in. |
| 0:48.4 | But something's off. |
| 0:50.0 | Though this town is small, it shouldn't be this quiet. |
| 0:52.8 | There's something lying thick upon the dusty sawd houses, cracked or roads. |
| 0:57.7 | But stronger than the ever-present smell of manure, it's the stench of fear. |
| 1:03.6 | The rider dismounts, collects his heavy leather bag, and ties up his horse. |
| 1:08.1 | He's a large man with a thick handlebar mustache and a no-nonsense attitude. |
| 1:12.8 | Bag in hand, he follows the long path to the front door of the squat wooden ranch house. |
| 1:17.6 | The fenced-in livestock nearby take no notice of him. |
| 1:20.8 | He knocks on the front door, plainly dressed farmers' wife answers. |
| 1:25.5 | The man removes his hat. |
| 1:26.8 | Good morning, Mrs. Warner. |
| 1:28.4 | Dr. Lorring, thank you for coming. |
... |
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