#107 - John Barry: 1918 Spanish flu pandemic—historical account, parallels to today, and lessons

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About this episode

n this episode, John Barry, historian and author of The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, describes what happened with the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, including where it likely originated, how and why it spread, and what may have accounted for the occurrence of three separate waves of the virus, each with different rates of infection and mortality. While the current coronavirus pandemic pales in comparison to the devastation of the Spanish flu, John highlights a number of parallels that can be drawn and lessons to be learned and applied going forward. We discuss: What got John interested in the Spanish flu and led to him writing his book? [2:45]; Historical…