40 min

The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1920 In The Past Lane - The Podcast About History and Why It Matters

    • History

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Nancy Bristow  about her book, American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. In November 1918, even as millions of Americans and Europeans celebrated the end of World War I, their communities were being ravaged by a global influenza pandemic.  Over the course of almost three years, somewhere between 50 and 100 million people were killed in the pandemic, including nearly 700,000 Americans. Nancy Bristow takes us back in time to explain the origins of the pandemic and how public health officials struggled to contain it. And she explores the reasons why the pandemic quickly faded from public memory.
In the course of our discussion, Nancy Bristow:
The origins of the great influenza pandemic that raged across the globe in 1918-1920.
How the movement of millions of people during WW1 contributed to the spread of the pandemic.
What made this particular strain of influenza so deadly.
How public health officials struggled to contain the pandemic by imposing bans on large public gatherings, including church services.
How nurses played a pivotal role in caring for the sick and dying.
Why the pandemic – which killed nearly 700,000 Americans — was largely forgotten in public memory.
Why experts fear the onset of another global influenza pandemic.
Recommended reading:
Nancy Bristow, American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (Oxford University Press).
Catharine Arnold, Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History
Alfred W. Crosby, America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918
David M. Kennedy, Over Here: The First World War and American Society
More info about Nancy K. Bristow – website 
Follow In The Past Lane on
Twitter  @InThePastLane
Instagram  @InThePastLane
Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast
YouTube: InThePastLane
Related ITPL podcast episodes:
024 Michael Neiberg on World War I and the Making of Modern America
Music for This Episode
Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)
Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)
Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)
Philipp Weigl, “Even When We Fall” (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)
The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)
Production Credits
Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson
Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting
Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media
Photographer: John Buckingham
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2018
Recommended History Podcasts
Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart
The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod
Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio
Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod
99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg
Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl
The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace
The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast
The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix
My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist
Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof
Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote
The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean
More Perfect podcast – the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab
Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell
Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries
DIG history podcast @dig_history
The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @Sto

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Nancy Bristow  about her book, American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. In November 1918, even as millions of Americans and Europeans celebrated the end of World War I, their communities were being ravaged by a global influenza pandemic.  Over the course of almost three years, somewhere between 50 and 100 million people were killed in the pandemic, including nearly 700,000 Americans. Nancy Bristow takes us back in time to explain the origins of the pandemic and how public health officials struggled to contain it. And she explores the reasons why the pandemic quickly faded from public memory.
In the course of our discussion, Nancy Bristow:
The origins of the great influenza pandemic that raged across the globe in 1918-1920.
How the movement of millions of people during WW1 contributed to the spread of the pandemic.
What made this particular strain of influenza so deadly.
How public health officials struggled to contain the pandemic by imposing bans on large public gatherings, including church services.
How nurses played a pivotal role in caring for the sick and dying.
Why the pandemic – which killed nearly 700,000 Americans — was largely forgotten in public memory.
Why experts fear the onset of another global influenza pandemic.
Recommended reading:
Nancy Bristow, American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (Oxford University Press).
Catharine Arnold, Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History
Alfred W. Crosby, America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918
David M. Kennedy, Over Here: The First World War and American Society
More info about Nancy K. Bristow – website 
Follow In The Past Lane on
Twitter  @InThePastLane
Instagram  @InThePastLane
Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast
YouTube: InThePastLane
Related ITPL podcast episodes:
024 Michael Neiberg on World War I and the Making of Modern America
Music for This Episode
Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)
Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)
Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)
Philipp Weigl, “Even When We Fall” (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)
The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)
Production Credits
Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson
Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting
Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media
Photographer: John Buckingham
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2018
Recommended History Podcasts
Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart
The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod
Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio
Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod
99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg
Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl
The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace
The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast
The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix
My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist
Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof
Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote
The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean
More Perfect podcast – the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab
Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell
Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries
DIG history podcast @dig_history
The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @Sto

40 min

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