1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. We're coming 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: up on the one year anniversary of the World Health 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: Organization's announcement that COVID nineteen could be characterized as a pandemic. 6 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: That happened on March eleven, and then a couple of 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: weeks after that, Holly and I talked on the show 8 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 1: about what it was like to be living through such 9 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: a massive and worldwide, clearly historic event while also hosting 10 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: a history podcast, and we re aired our previous episode 11 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: on the flu pandemic as a Saturday classic because it 12 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 1: seemed relevant what was happening. I don't think either of 13 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: us really foresaw that we might be in a place 14 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: to do kind of a one year later episode, not 15 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: even a little like. I have a friend who was 16 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: a nurse at Boston area hospitals. I mean, Boston was 17 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,839 Speaker 1: one of the early hard hit places, and she talked 18 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,039 Speaker 1: about getting a briefing at work saying that we were 19 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: probably looking at eighteen months to two years of pandemic. 20 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: But like, there's a big difference between intellectually having that 21 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: possibility in your mind and actually living through it. So 22 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: I researched and wrote our episode on the eighteen flu 23 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: pandemic that we aired as a Saturday Classic after the 24 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen pandemic started. I wrote that back in and 25 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,479 Speaker 1: over the last year, I have wandered over and over 26 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: is this what it was like in night? And how 27 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: would I have approached that episode differently if I were 28 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: working on it today instead of seven years ago. Uh. 29 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: We don't typically revisit older episodes in this way, but 30 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: the last year has just profoundly reshaped the way I 31 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 1: have thought about that earlier pandemic. To me, it's a 32 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:13,639 Speaker 1: really good example of how your own perceptions and your 33 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: own knowledge and experiences influence your understanding of history. Uh. 34 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: So we're going to take another look at the flu pandemic. Um. 35 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: I do want to note here that theeen flu pandemic 36 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: was global, and so is the COVID nineteen pandemic. But 37 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: a big part of today's episode is how my own 38 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: lived experience has shifted my my understanding of that earlier 39 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: event and drawn my attention to totally different parts of 40 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: the eighteen pandemic. Then, we're on my mind back in 41 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: so by definition this gives things a more US centric focus. 42 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: I cannot tell you how how a person's lived experience 43 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: in another place would have changed their understanding. UM. I 44 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: also didn't start out thinking this was going to be 45 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: a two part episode, but it is turned out there 46 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: was a lot to talk about that we did not 47 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: touch on back much or at all. Okay, so we're 48 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: going to do a quick review here as we lead in. 49 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: The nineteen eighteen flu pandemic stretched from early nineteen eighteen 50 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: into the spring of nineteen twenty, although the largest peak 51 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: was between October of nineteen eighteen and January of nineteen nineteen, 52 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 1: with a smaller but still significant peak between February and 53 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: April of nineteen nineteen. It's estimated that one third of 54 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: the world's population contracted the flu during this pandemic. About 55 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: six hundred seventy five thousand people died in the United States, 56 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: worldwide estimates very considerably. At the time, the global death 57 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: toll was estimated at twenty million people, but today's estimates 58 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: are more like thirty million to fifty million people, and 59 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: sometimes even more so. Illnesses like the f are often 60 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: particularly lethal for the very old and the very young, 61 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: and that was true of the nineteen eighteen flu. But 62 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: then in addition to that, it also disproportionately killed young, 63 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: otherwise healthy adults, people who were in their twenties and thirties. 64 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: And since this pandemic took place in the last months 65 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:22,040 Speaker 1: of World War One, its effects on troops were extreme. 66 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: The virus just moved through entire ships and entire military 67 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 1: units in waves. For example, in June and July of 68 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,559 Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen, more than two hundred thousand of the two 69 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 1: million British troops in France all got too sick to 70 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: report to duty. In our earlier episode on this pandemic, 71 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,280 Speaker 1: we talked about how in nineteen eighteen the world had 72 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:48,840 Speaker 1: the germ theory of disease, but not antibiotics. We knew 73 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:54,479 Speaker 1: which specific micro organisms caused some diseases, including tuberculosis, malaria, 74 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: and cholera, but not influenza. We had vaccines for some 75 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: diseases as well, including smallpox, rabies, cholera, and typhoid, but 76 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: again not influenza. It wasn't just that researchers didn't know 77 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: which specific pathogen caused influenza. They were also headed down 78 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: the wrong track on that. The prevailing theory before the 79 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: pandemic was a bacterium known as Phifer's bacillus that was 80 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: named after its discover Richard Friedrich Phifer. During the nineteen 81 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 1: eighteen pandemic, it became clear that this bacillus was not 82 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: the cause of the flu. A huge number of people 83 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,720 Speaker 1: became ill, but they had no sign of this bacillus 84 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: and their cultures. Today, this basilus is actually called Hemophilius influenzae, 85 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: and while it does not cause influenza, it's not the fluvirus. 86 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: It does cause things like pneumonia, cellulitis, and meningitis. We 87 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: also talked about nineteen eighteens public health recommendations like stay 88 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 1: home if you're sick, avoid crowds, cover coughs and sneezes, 89 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,919 Speaker 1: wash those hands thoroughly and often. In other words, a 90 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,160 Speaker 1: lot of the exact same things that we've all been 91 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:08,919 Speaker 1: hearing for the last year, most of which are also 92 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: what everyone should still be doing even when there is 93 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,160 Speaker 1: not a pandemic. Yeah, I have a lot of feelings 94 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: about handwashing because I used to work in in like 95 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: food safety education. Uh and when things started um trending 96 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: towards pandemic in February and March of last year. I 97 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,279 Speaker 1: definitely noticed when I would be in a public restroom, 98 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: suddenly people were at the sink for as long as 99 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: I was, and I was like, wow, this is let's 100 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,279 Speaker 1: keep the cleep up this habit for the rest of 101 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: our lives. Uh. There were, though some notable differences in 102 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: the public health recommendations in en though at least in 103 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,720 Speaker 1: terms of US culture, the idea that spitting on the 104 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: ground is rude and unsanitary was really fairly new in 105 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:02,160 Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen. The first anti bidding campaigns had gotten underway 106 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: just a couple of decades before that to try to 107 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: prevent the spread of tuberculosis. Common drinking cups and shared 108 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: towels were also frequently found in public places, so back 109 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: in eighteen, in addition to those recommendations that feel pretty 110 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:21,239 Speaker 1: familiar today, there were also slogans like spit spreads death 111 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: and advisories to avoid those common cups and towels. Public 112 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: health officials also advised people to wear masks, in which 113 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: brings us to the biggest, most obvious thing we'd approach 114 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: way differently now versus back in our treatment of masks 115 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: in the earlier episode is essentially just a sentence. We 116 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: said that public health authorities recommended that people wear them, 117 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: and that in some places they were even required by law, 118 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: but that this was not effective. We described that lack 119 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: of efficacy coming from virus particles being too small to 120 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: be blocked by simple fabric, which is true and which 121 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: actually came from a US Department of Health and Human 122 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: Services website that was written about the nineteen eighteen pandemic. 123 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: But as has been discussed at length in the last year, 124 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 1: well fitting masks made of tightly woven cloth can stop 125 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: respiratory droplets that are carrying those virus particles. That is 126 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: not necessarily true of the masks that were being worn 127 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighteen, though those were typically made of gauze, 128 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: which is a very thin fabric with an open weave. 129 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: Some of them were made from cheese cloth, which also 130 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: has a similar open weave. Even with multiple layers, these 131 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,880 Speaker 1: fabrics might leave you with a relatively porous mask. If 132 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: you look at photos from the nine eight pandemics, sometimes 133 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: you'll see people's facial features through their masks pretty clearly. 134 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: Sometimes you can see the gauzy holes in the material. 135 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: Sometimes people also cut holes in their masks to smoke, 136 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:00,319 Speaker 1: or if they didn't have gauze or cheese claw, they 137 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: made masks out of materials that were way too thin 138 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: to do any good at all. They almost looked like 139 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: wearing a translucent veil instead of a mask. Like I 140 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 1: saw one photo of Red Cross nurses and it was 141 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: literally only attached over the bridge of their nose and 142 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: had this filmy, diaphanous quality, and I was just like, 143 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: that's not helping. No, what's interesting too, because I mean, 144 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: even then, cheesecloth was being used in kitchens to strain things, 145 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,560 Speaker 1: so you knew stuff could go right through it, so 146 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: it's an interesting choice. UM. A publication called an Experimental 147 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: Study of the Efficacy of Gauze Masks, which was published 148 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: in the American Journal of Public Health in nineteen twenty, 149 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 1: looked at whether the masks themselves were effective, and the 150 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: authors concluded that a gauze mask that had enough layers 151 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: to actually block respiratory droplets was also very hard to 152 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 1: breathe through, and a person's exhaled breath just escaped around 153 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,640 Speaker 1: the sides of the mask instead. So if you're hearing 154 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: a stock about this and you're thinking Wait a minute. 155 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: Didn't you talk about gauze masks being effective in that 156 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: episode on Wullie and Dah and the pneumonic plague. That 157 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 1: answer is yes, but those masks had a layer of 158 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:22,560 Speaker 1: cotton wool in the middle of all that gauze. Pneumonic 159 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: plague is also caused by bacteria. Bacteria are much larger 160 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: than viruses, and those masks efficacy was really clearest among 161 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: healthcare professionals who would have been wearing the masks in 162 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:39,079 Speaker 1: addition to other precautions, and probably also with better mask 163 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: discipline and more thorough hygiene steps than the general public 164 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:47,679 Speaker 1: would have had. Back to that paper, the author cited 165 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 1: five reasons why mask mandates did not seem to slow 166 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: the spread of the disease in the pandemic quote. First, 167 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: the large number of improperly made masks that were used, 168 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: set and faulty wearing of masks, which included the use 169 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: of masks that were too small, the covering of only 170 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: the nose or only the mouth, smoking while wearing, etcetera. Third, 171 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: wearing masks at improper times when applied compulsorily, masks were 172 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:20,439 Speaker 1: universally worn in public on the streets in automobiles, etcetera, 173 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,560 Speaker 1: where they were not needed, but where arrest would follow 174 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: if not worn, and they were very generally laid aside 175 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: when the wearer was no longer subject to observation by 176 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: the police, such as in private offices and small gatherings 177 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:37,199 Speaker 1: of all kinds. This type of gathering with the attendant 178 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: social intercourse between friends and office associates seems to afford 179 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: particular facility for the transfer of the virus. Another study 180 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: in ninety one concluded that quote the face mask as 181 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: used was a failure. The important bit there is the 182 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 1: as used, and that included things like the stuff we 183 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: just talked about and people re wearing the same masks 184 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: until they were just filthy. The general advice on mask 185 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 1: cleanliness back in was to boil them regularly, in some 186 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 1: cases daily. This study also notes that the masks did 187 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: nothing to protect the eyes, and that the tear ducks 188 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,439 Speaker 1: had been pinpointed as a possible way that the virus 189 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 1: could get into a person's respiratory tract. We also did 190 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: not talk about resistance to mask mandates in that earlier episode. 191 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 1: We sure will after we first pause for a little 192 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 1: sponsor break. The most famous group of mask resisters during 193 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighteen pandemic was the San Francisco Anti Mask League. 194 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 1: San Francisco had actually been the first city in the 195 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: United States to implement a mask mandate. It was a 196 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 1: four week mandatory mask law that started on October nineteen eighteen, 197 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: and it ended on November twenty one of that year. 198 00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 1: Of full page ad ran in the San Francisco Chronicle 199 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: that read, quote wear a mask and savior life. This 200 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,560 Speaker 1: ad was signed by the mayor, as well as civic 201 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:15,079 Speaker 1: and business leaders and health officials. The Red Cross distributed 202 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,439 Speaker 1: about a hundred thousand masks to residents of San Francisco 203 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: over the course of about a week. People who were 204 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: seen in public without a mask were fined five or 205 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: ten dollars or imprisoned for up to ten days. There 206 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: were a lot of arrests, although many were because the 207 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 1: person hadn't known about the mask law or just didn't 208 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 1: have a mask, but that was not the case for everyone. 209 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:43,680 Speaker 1: On October, health officer Henry D. Miller escorted James Whisser 210 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,959 Speaker 1: to a pharmacy to purchase a mask. The details here 211 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 1: are a little bit fuzzy, but Whisser refused to either 212 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: buy or where one UH. It's not clear which thing 213 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 1: happened first, but these two things happened. Whizzer struck Miller 214 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 1: with a sack of silver dollars, and Miller fired his 215 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: gun in the air. Miller kept firing as Whisser beat 216 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:09,079 Speaker 1: him up in the street. Miller's shots hit Whisser and 217 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: two bystanders, and Whisser and Miller both faced charges after 218 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:17,160 Speaker 1: this altercation. Some of the mentions of this that have 219 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: floated around in UH in the last year have sort 220 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: of made it sound like Miller just unprompted shot somebody 221 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: for refusing to wear a mask. They kind of leave 222 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 1: out the fact that that person hit him with a 223 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: sack of silver dollars and was beating him up in 224 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: the street, which sounds painful. Yes, yes, not that any 225 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 1: of that is okay, but it definitely is not as 226 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: simple as like this guy shot somebody for refusing to 227 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: wear a mask. So, as we've said before, this was 228 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 1: at the very end of World War One, and a 229 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 1: lot of the messaging around this first mass mandate in 230 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: San Francisco was framed around wartime patriotism and the idea 231 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: that stopping the disease would help protect the troops. So 232 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 1: when the armistice was signed on November eleventh, of night, 233 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: that stopped most of the active fighting and mask compliance 234 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: in San Francisco started to drop. Then, when the mask 235 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: order expired at noon on the twenty one, there were 236 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 1: bells and whistles that were sounded all around the city. 237 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: People gleefully ripped off their masks. They were very happy 238 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 1: to be done with this mass situation. Some people set 239 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: their masks on fire. The mask law in San Francisco 240 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: was just one part of the city strategy to control 241 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: the flu. Other steps included closing dance halls and ordering 242 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: street cars to keep their windows open unless it was raining, 243 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: and eventually banning public gatherings and closing the schools. Churches 244 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:50,440 Speaker 1: were advised to move their services outdoors. Judges held court 245 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 1: sessions outside as well, and all this together seems to 246 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: have reduced the rate of infection in San Francisco during 247 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: the pandemic's worst spike in the fall of eighteen eighteen. 248 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 1: But when flu cases started spiking again in San Francisco 249 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 1: at the end of nineteen eighteen and early nineteen nineteen, 250 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: the city's tried to reinstate this mask mandate, and that 251 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: is when the Anti Mask League formed in response. They 252 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 1: were also called masks slackers thanks to a Red Cross 253 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: poster about masking which read quote the man, or woman 254 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: or child who will not wear a mask now is 255 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: a dangerous slacker. The Anti Mask League really politicized the 256 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,720 Speaker 1: idea of mask wearing, and they held a rally that 257 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 1: was attended by two thousand people at the Dreamland Rink. 258 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: The city eventually repealed the second attempt at a mask 259 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: mandate under pressure from the Anti Mask League, and then overall, 260 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: San Francisco's response to this later wave of the flu 261 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: was not as effective as the earlier one had been, 262 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 1: so this example is just from San Francisco, but a 263 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: similar pattern played out in other cities as well. Most 264 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: of the U S cities that mandated mask wearing during 265 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighteen pandemic were in the western part of 266 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:11,679 Speaker 1: the country. Compliance with the mandates was often spotty at best, 267 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: but resistance tended to be more along the lines of 268 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 1: that's ridiculous or how silly, rather than forming an organized 269 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:22,919 Speaker 1: group to push back against it. And a lot of 270 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: the complaints about the masks will probably sound pretty familiar. 271 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: People found them uncomfortable to wear and hard to breathe through, 272 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: and as we noted earlier, if you actually had enough 273 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: gauze layers to be effective, that probably was really hard 274 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:41,479 Speaker 1: to breathe through. Public health officials also worried that the 275 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: appearance of masked people out and about would lead to panic, 276 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: or that wearing a mask might lead people to be 277 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: less vigilant in other ways. That's an argument we have 278 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 1: heard in the last year. It was clear then as 279 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 1: it is now that masking really needed to be combined 280 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:02,400 Speaker 1: with other steps like so distancing and staying away from crowds. 281 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 1: But there are lots of pictures from nineteen eighteen of 282 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:10,919 Speaker 1: huge groups of masked people standing shoulder to shoulder. Another 283 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: recurring question that Tracy has had over the last year 284 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 1: was the US response to the nineteen eighteen pandemic. Such 285 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 1: a chaotic and ineffective patchwork, with different cities and states 286 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: taking totally different steps to try to control the spread, 287 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,120 Speaker 1: and with a bunch of contradictory and confusing messaging about 288 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,400 Speaker 1: all of it. Basically a big old mess, because I think, 289 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,840 Speaker 1: um to most of us, that's what this has seemed 290 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,920 Speaker 1: to be. Sure feels like a big old mess to me. Yeah, 291 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,320 Speaker 1: The short answer to all of Tracy's questions and probably yours. 292 00:18:43,359 --> 00:18:45,680 Speaker 1: I think most of us have had a similar was 293 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 1: the last before The answer is yes, yeah. So the 294 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:54,119 Speaker 1: US response to the nineteen eighteen pandemic was almost completely decentralized. 295 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,679 Speaker 1: The Centers for Disease Control had not been established yet. 296 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 1: That happened in nineteen forty six, and the World Health 297 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 1: Organization was established two years after that, so it did 298 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: not exist either. US Surgeon General Rupert Blue, who was 299 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 1: also head of the Public Health Service, also did very 300 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:15,800 Speaker 1: little to try to curb the pandemic. He directed the 301 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:19,679 Speaker 1: National Academy of Sciences to try to identify the pathogen 302 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: that was at work, but then he also denied funding 303 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 1: requests for research into that very thing. Blues efforts to 304 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: organize a federal response were essentially non existent until September, 305 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: when the illness had been circulating for months and cases 306 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: and deaths were increasing rapidly. Cities and states repeatedly asked 307 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,680 Speaker 1: the federal government for direction and help, and they got 308 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 1: very little. Although the Public Health Service did eventually print 309 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: about six million posters, articles, and signs, it was well 310 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,959 Speaker 1: into the pandemic before this happened, and as we're going 311 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,200 Speaker 1: to talk about it just a little bit. A lot 312 00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: of the information that they contained really wasn't exactly use. All. 313 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 1: Presidential press briefings were not nearly as common in nineteen 314 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: eighteen as they are today. But President Woodrow Wilson never 315 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: gave any kind of public statement about the pandemic or 316 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 1: took any steps to try to direct a federal response 317 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,880 Speaker 1: to mitigate it. His focus was really on the war, 318 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: and this was true even as White House staffers started 319 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: to get sick. Donald Frey, who was an aid with 320 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:31,439 Speaker 1: the US delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, died of 321 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: the pandemic flu, and Wilson himself contracted the flu and 322 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:40,440 Speaker 1: was seriously ill during the Paris peace Conference. The social 323 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: safety net that has been providing at least some relief 324 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:47,200 Speaker 1: in the US during the COVID nineteen pandemic also did 325 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: not exist yet at this time. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, 326 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,920 Speaker 1: or SNAP, is a monthly benefit to help low income 327 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,439 Speaker 1: US citizens by nutritious foods, and this grew out of 328 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 1: the government's first food stamp program, but that was not 329 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: established until nineteen thirty nine. There were union workers who 330 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: had some kind of unemployment compensation as part of their 331 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 1: union contracts in nineteen eighteen, but in general, unemployment insurance 332 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,880 Speaker 1: did not exist yet. The first of many state unemployment 333 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: bills was introduced in Massachusetts in nineteen sixteen, but all 334 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,600 Speaker 1: of these bills failed until Wisconsin finally passed one in 335 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty two. Unemployment insurance didn't really become widespread in 336 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,000 Speaker 1: the US until after that point. During and after the 337 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: Great Depression, Medicare and Medicaid also did not come into 338 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: existence until nineteen sixty five. Congress did approve a one 339 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 1: million dollar budget for the Public Health Service in nineteen 340 00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:50,520 Speaker 1: eighteen to try to address a serious shortage of doctors 341 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 1: and nurses. Many had been called up or had volunteered 342 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: for military service before the pandemic started, and the military 343 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: still didn't have nearly enough medical personnel, and regardless of 344 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: whether they were doing military or civilian work, medical professionals 345 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: were hard hit by the pandemic, terribly understaffed, working in 346 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,919 Speaker 1: close proximity to people with a contagious respiratory illness, and 347 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 1: wearing often ineffective protective equipment. Every week, the Journal of 348 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: the American Medical Association printed pages and pages of obituaries 349 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: so this million dollar Public Health Service budget was meant 350 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:33,120 Speaker 1: to help fill this gap by recruiting a thousand doctors 351 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:37,119 Speaker 1: and seven hundred nurses. The Public Health Service worked on 352 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 1: this in conjunction with the Red Cross. The Red Cross 353 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:45,719 Speaker 1: already had a coordinated national plan for recruiting nurses before 354 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: the government even got involved with this. Really, in the US, 355 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: the vast majority of aid during the pandemic was coming 356 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: from charities and religious organizations and private citizens, not from 357 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:04,359 Speaker 1: the government. Passing this legislation was a challenge. So many 358 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 1: representatives were ill or otherwise absent that the House didn't 359 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: have a quorum. With fewer than fifty representatives actually there, 360 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 1: the two parties worked out a unanimous consent agreement to 361 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: push this legislation through. The final bill was approved by 362 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 1: both the Houses and Senate on October. Surgeon General Blue 363 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 1: had not asked for funding before this, but after the 364 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 1: bill passed, he protested that one million dollars would not 365 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: be enough. Even so, the Public Health Service ultimately returned 366 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:39,399 Speaker 1: one and fifteen thousand to the Treasury because it simply 367 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,040 Speaker 1: did not recruit enough people to use all of the 368 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 1: allocated money. So we mentioned a moment ago that Some 369 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,679 Speaker 1: of the communication around the pandemic was also not particularly 370 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,360 Speaker 1: effective in the US, and we will get to that 371 00:23:51,800 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 1: after a sponsor break. Because of the war, US officials 372 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: were generally more focused on maintaining morale and avoiding panic 373 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:10,879 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighteen than they were on fighting the pandemic. 374 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: In the US, as well as in many parts of 375 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 1: Europe and Asia, the news was also subject to wartime censorship, 376 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: and this is why this pandemic was nicknamed the Spanish Flu. 377 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:26,399 Speaker 1: Spain was neutral in the war and it wasn't really 378 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: censoring its news about the flu, so to some people 379 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,920 Speaker 1: it seemed like this disease had come from Spain, when 380 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 1: really Spain was just the place that was being most 381 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: transparent about what was happening in the United States. This 382 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:45,400 Speaker 1: also tapped into isolationism and xenophobia, branding a deadly illness 383 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: as having come from somewhere else and stigmatizing people who 384 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 1: got sick as somehow connected to this supposedly foreign invader. 385 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:58,119 Speaker 1: And obviously, this type of mothering nickname is not unique 386 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: to the nineteen eighteen pandemic. The nineteen sixty eight flu 387 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: pandemic was known as Hong Kong Flu. The worldwide HIV 388 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,720 Speaker 1: epidemics started out as gay related immune deficiency, and the 389 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: racist nickname China virus has stuck around long after the 390 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:19,200 Speaker 1: current pandemic. Disease was officially named COVID nineteen. Since there 391 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: was no centralized agency formalizing public health advice in nineteen eighteen, 392 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:28,399 Speaker 1: people were also hearing a lot of contradictory information about 393 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,199 Speaker 1: what to do and how to protect themselves, and in 394 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: most parts of the US, they were also hearing that 395 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:37,439 Speaker 1: things weren't that bad, that everything was under control, and 396 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: that nobody needed to be alarmed. It was just the 397 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:45,000 Speaker 1: flu more direct and assertive public health messaging that we 398 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 1: talked about in San Francisco back before the break that 399 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:52,359 Speaker 1: was far less common than messaging that really minimized the threat. 400 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 1: For example, Surgeon General blues first public communication about the 401 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:01,159 Speaker 1: pandemic was published on September twenty second of nine eight 402 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:06,600 Speaker 1: It ran under the title Surgeon General's Advice to avoid Influenza, 403 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: and it was full of very basic health advice like 404 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 1: avoiding crowds, covering coughs and sneezes, choosing and chewing your 405 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,439 Speaker 1: food well, avoiding tight clothes, and quote don't let the 406 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 1: waste products of digestion accumulate. Okay, basically, don't leave crap 407 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:34,080 Speaker 1: lying around basic sanitation and extremely basic sanitation and health steps. Then, 408 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 1: on October sevent as cases and deaths were really climbing dramatically, 409 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: Blue issued more of a question and answer statement that 410 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:47,000 Speaker 1: was more specifically about the pandemic. He described this flu 411 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: as quote, a very contagious type of cold accompanied by fever, 412 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,879 Speaker 1: pains in the head, eyes, ears, back or other parts 413 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:58,240 Speaker 1: of the body, and a feeling of severe sickness. And 414 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,159 Speaker 1: most of the cases these symptoms appear after three or 415 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:05,800 Speaker 1: four days. The patient then rapidly recovering. Some of the patients, however, 416 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,679 Speaker 1: developed pneumonia or inflammation of the ear or meningitis, and 417 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:13,680 Speaker 1: many of these complicated cases die. He also put a 418 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,920 Speaker 1: lot of focus on how many other epidemics there had 419 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 1: been before and how quote, the proportion of deaths in 420 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: the present epidemic has generally been low. In this piece, 421 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:28,720 Speaker 1: Blue recommended that if a person was having to care 422 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: for both sick and healthy family members, they should wear 423 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,639 Speaker 1: a mask and an apron or gown while with the 424 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: sick person and remove all of that before coming into 425 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:41,119 Speaker 1: contact with the rest of the family, and he recommended 426 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:43,960 Speaker 1: that everyone eat a good diet, get plenty of rest, 427 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 1: keep windows open, reduce overcrowding in their homes, and avoid 428 00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: crowds while out in public. The overall tone of this 429 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,200 Speaker 1: whole thing was far more reassuring and again pretty basic, 430 00:27:55,520 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 1: than it was urgent. As another example, Philadelphia Public Health 431 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: Director William Kruzen repeatedly suggested to residents of Philadelphia that 432 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: everything was under control and that the number of infections 433 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: had peaked. In September of nineteen eighteen, he decided not 434 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,040 Speaker 1: to cancel a liberty loan parade that was to promote 435 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 1: war bonds. That parade had been scheduled for the twenty 436 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 1: eight and he carried on with it, even though an 437 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 1: outbreak had started at the Philadelphia Navy Yard just nine 438 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:31,240 Speaker 1: days before that. Within seventy two hours after the parade, 439 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,880 Speaker 1: every hospital bed in Philadelphia was full and sick patients 440 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:40,680 Speaker 1: were being turned away. Meanwhile, Cruisin kept up the refrain 441 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: that everything was under control and the worst was over. 442 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:47,080 Speaker 1: As the daily deaths in Philadelphia climbed to two hundred 443 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: and then three hundred, and then peaked at more than 444 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: seven hundred. Teams were dispatched to collect bodies from homes 445 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 1: and literally could not keep up with the deaths. Cruising 446 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 1: banned public meetings, and close churches, schools, and theaters only 447 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:07,440 Speaker 1: after Philadelphia was experiencing hundreds of deaths today. And it 448 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:11,080 Speaker 1: wasn't just government officials who were down playing the pandemic. 449 00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:15,160 Speaker 1: A lot of newspapers carried daily or weekly updates of 450 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,959 Speaker 1: how many new cases and deaths had occurred, along with 451 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 1: news about how there were shortages of doctors and nurses, 452 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:27,040 Speaker 1: and shortages of coffins and other obviously serious problems. But 453 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: at the same time, they also repeated this refrain that 454 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,240 Speaker 1: this pandemic was just the flu, or, to use a 455 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 1: term of the day, it was just the grip, that 456 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,840 Speaker 1: people didn't need to be alarmed. That Surgeon General's advice 457 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:44,000 Speaker 1: to avoid influenza that included like the world's most rudimentary 458 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: Basic Sanitation information UH that ran next to newspaper reports 459 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: about outbreaks and deaths. Lists of precautions often framed things 460 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: as preventing the spread of colds, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and the flu, 461 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:02,840 Speaker 1: sort of lumping the pandemic in with these other illnesses 462 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: as though it was nothing unusual. Even Philadelphia's news coverage 463 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: framed Cruisin's ban on public gatherings as not being for 464 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: public health reasons or any cause for alarm that one 465 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:19,360 Speaker 1: is particularly weird like then then why by then if 466 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:21,880 Speaker 1: it wasn't for public health reasons. So this effort to 467 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: avoid panic by downplaying the severity of the pandemic was 468 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 1: not effective. People's friends and family members were dying. Morgues 469 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 1: were past capacity, there were not enough coffins. People were 470 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,960 Speaker 1: being buried in mass graves. And in the face of 471 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: all this, people naturally were not calm, and they also 472 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 1: stopped trusting what they were hearing from official sources because 473 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: those sources were clearly not being honest with them. Historian 474 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:54,040 Speaker 1: John M. Berry, author of The Great Influenza, The Epic 475 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: story of the deadliest plague in history, has written on 476 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: this phenomenon a lot, and was a subject matter expert 477 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 1: in two thousand five and two thousand six when the 478 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 1: CDC was putting together an influenza pandemic plan. In article 479 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:12,560 Speaker 1: in The Washington Post, he's described as telling a reporter 480 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:14,840 Speaker 1: that he felt like his job was to bang on 481 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:18,360 Speaker 1: the tell the truth, Tell the Truth drum because lying 482 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:20,640 Speaker 1: to the public for the sake of keeping calm and 483 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:24,640 Speaker 1: maintaining order in nineteen eighteen not only did not work, 484 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:29,240 Speaker 1: but it actually had the opposite effect. Minimizing the pandemic 485 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,800 Speaker 1: also meant that there was a big range and how 486 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 1: serious people thought it was, especially if they were lucky 487 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: enough that they didn't personally know anyone who had died. 488 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 1: And you can see some of this in some of 489 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:45,120 Speaker 1: the popular media of the day. One example is the 490 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 1: popular syndicated newspaper comic The Outbursts of Everett True. This 491 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 1: is a two panel comic, with the first panel being 492 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,600 Speaker 1: the setup and the second panel being the punch line, 493 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: often literally, because usually Everett would hit somebody. In one 494 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: strip from the nine Pandemic, amasked, Everett says, quote, I 495 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,720 Speaker 1: think it's everybody's duty to help combat the spread of 496 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 1: the contagion. And then another man says, quote, well, I 497 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:14,920 Speaker 1: don't think these muzzles do any good. If a person 498 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 1: is going to get it, he's going to get it, 499 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:19,840 Speaker 1: and I'm going to take my chances. And in the 500 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,240 Speaker 1: second frame, Everett, having punched the other man's face in, 501 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:26,480 Speaker 1: says well, then take a tip from me, where one 502 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 1: and improve the looks of that face, you owe that 503 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:33,560 Speaker 1: much to the community. In another strip, someone sneezes on 504 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: Everett in the first panel, and in the second Everett 505 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,560 Speaker 1: has him trapped under a giant box and has sent 506 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,640 Speaker 1: someone to fetch the fumigating squad from the Board of Health. 507 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: Somebody shared these comics and a group chat that I'm 508 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,080 Speaker 1: in and our response was all like, are you sure 509 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:53,880 Speaker 1: these are not from today? He's in the newspaper this morning. 510 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:58,840 Speaker 1: So apart from what people were hearing from the media 511 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,800 Speaker 1: and government sources and all of that, the actual measures 512 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:06,560 Speaker 1: being taken also really varied from place to place. We 513 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 1: mentioned in that earlier episode we did on the pandemic 514 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:14,000 Speaker 1: that some cities shut down their public transportation systems and 515 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:17,160 Speaker 1: movie theaters, or they closed schools and churches, but we 516 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,640 Speaker 1: didn't mention that these closures often went on for weeks, 517 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 1: or that because of the it's just the flu messaging. 518 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: There were a lot of people who thought that this 519 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:31,200 Speaker 1: was an unnecessary and ridiculous overreaction. However, there were also 520 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:35,760 Speaker 1: business owners who supported these shutdowns. For example, in San Francisco, 521 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:39,160 Speaker 1: movie theater owners had already seen a huge drop in 522 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,280 Speaker 1: attendance before the city closed the theaters, and they were 523 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:46,000 Speaker 1: really hoping that this temporary total closure would get things 524 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 1: under control faster. One paper that looked at this was 525 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:54,360 Speaker 1: non Pharmaceutical Interventions implemented by US cities during the nineteen 526 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: eighteen and nineteen nineteen influenza pandemic. The paper was published 527 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: in two thousand seven, and it looked at the steps 528 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,800 Speaker 1: taken by forty three cities between September eighteenth, nine eighteen 529 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:09,920 Speaker 1: and February twenty second, nineteen nineteen, that period that covered 530 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,719 Speaker 1: the pandemic's largest peak in the United States. All of 531 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:16,640 Speaker 1: these cities had populations of more than one hundred thousand 532 00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:20,840 Speaker 1: people and were among the sixty six most populous cities 533 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,280 Speaker 1: in the United States at the time. The cities among 534 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,960 Speaker 1: those sixty six that weren't included in this study just 535 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:31,319 Speaker 1: didn't have accurate enough data to use. They looked specifically 536 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:35,640 Speaker 1: and information about school closures, the canceling of public gatherings, 537 00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:38,600 Speaker 1: and the isolation and quarantine of sick people in their 538 00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:42,000 Speaker 1: close contacts, and all the cities that they looked at 539 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:44,759 Speaker 1: did at least one of these. Most of them did 540 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:49,200 Speaker 1: more than one. The most common combination was closing schools 541 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:54,280 Speaker 1: and also canceling public gatherings within that September to February window. 542 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,440 Speaker 1: The median length for these closures was four weeks, but 543 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:00,160 Speaker 1: in some cases they went on much longer. So of 544 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,359 Speaker 1: the cities had at least some kind of non pharmaceutical 545 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:07,400 Speaker 1: intervention in place for twenty weeks or more. And this 546 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 1: paper also concluded that these steps were generally effective at 547 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:14,719 Speaker 1: slowing the spread of disease, especially when cities took a 548 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:18,920 Speaker 1: layered strategy of taking multiple steps at once. The effect 549 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:23,440 Speaker 1: was greatest when restrictions went into effect earlier, before infections 550 00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:27,400 Speaker 1: and deaths really started to climb, rather than afterward in 551 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:31,839 Speaker 1: response to those increases. For example, St. Louis, Missouri, put 552 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,320 Speaker 1: multiple steps in place early in the pandemic and fared 553 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:39,040 Speaker 1: much better than most of the other cities. Overall, cities 554 00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:42,279 Speaker 1: that took multiple steps took longer to reach peak mortality, 555 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:46,080 Speaker 1: and they had lower peak mortality and lower total mortality 556 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:50,000 Speaker 1: rates than cities that did not. Various cities took other 557 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:54,400 Speaker 1: steps as well, beyond the cancelations, closures, and quarantines that 558 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:58,239 Speaker 1: were part of that study. We talked about San Francisco's 559 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:03,360 Speaker 1: multipart response earlier. For example, some other examples. In Portland, Oregon, 560 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:07,000 Speaker 1: the public library was closed, but then it reopened for 561 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:10,360 Speaker 1: book circulation only, with the chairs taken out of the 562 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:14,080 Speaker 1: circulation room and patrons being required to wait five feet 563 00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:18,000 Speaker 1: apart from each other. Many cities shut down their bars 564 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:21,400 Speaker 1: and their pubs. At this point. The eighteenth Amendment to 565 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:25,799 Speaker 1: the Constitution, which prohibited the manufacturer, sale, and transportation of 566 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:29,480 Speaker 1: intoxicating liquors, had been passed, but it had not been 567 00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:32,800 Speaker 1: ratified by the states. That didn't happen until January of 568 00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:36,959 Speaker 1: n So in general, the nine eighteen bar and pub 569 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 1: closures made prohibitionists really happy, but in some places, steps 570 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:46,480 Speaker 1: that were taken really didn't make any sense. In St. Paul, Minnesota, 571 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:50,719 Speaker 1: for example, buildings under six floors were prohibited from using 572 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:54,080 Speaker 1: their elevators because of the lack of fresh air. There 573 00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,440 Speaker 1: was a lot of resistance to this, and some of 574 00:36:56,480 --> 00:37:00,839 Speaker 1: it was definitely justified. Like shutting down the elevators made 575 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:05,160 Speaker 1: the buildings inaccessible for disabled people and discouraged people from 576 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:08,000 Speaker 1: going outside into the fresh air, which was believed to 577 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:12,359 Speaker 1: be necessary for health. Ultimately, the elevators were put back 578 00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:15,360 Speaker 1: into operation and they had a limit of one person 579 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:18,759 Speaker 1: per five square feet of space to quote a two 580 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:22,600 Speaker 1: thousand seven article in Public Health Reports that discussed the 581 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:27,480 Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen response in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Quote, because 582 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:31,360 Speaker 1: clear orders were not being given to public health officials, 583 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:35,160 Speaker 1: the public in turn was not receiving transparent and consistent 584 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:39,279 Speaker 1: advice and information. Should the public wear masks? Why was 585 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:41,760 Speaker 1: it allowable to be next to someone in a street 586 00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:45,239 Speaker 1: car and not in an elevator? Why were church services 587 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:49,239 Speaker 1: closed while Red Cross workers gathered in crowded conditions in 588 00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:53,719 Speaker 1: those very same churches? Was influenza a life threatening condition? 589 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:56,600 Speaker 1: Or was the panic the most dangerous element of the 590 00:37:56,680 --> 00:38:00,440 Speaker 1: influenza pandemic? And Minneapolis and St. Paul, there was no 591 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:03,880 Speaker 1: single message on any of these issues. In many cases, 592 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:06,799 Speaker 1: the public had to decide for itself, in which case 593 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:10,120 Speaker 1: the effect of the messages that were communicated only serves 594 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:13,920 Speaker 1: to contradict each other. I read that and was like, 595 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:19,239 Speaker 1: is this about today? So we have talked mainly about 596 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:22,360 Speaker 1: cities here, but in nineteen eighteen, almost half of the U. 597 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 1: S population was living in more rural areas, and the 598 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:30,400 Speaker 1: pandemic was devastating in those areas as well. Smaller communities 599 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:33,160 Speaker 1: were taking many of the same non pharmaceutical steps that 600 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:36,840 Speaker 1: big cities were, but in rural areas, people in general 601 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:40,400 Speaker 1: had even less access to medical care and fewer resources. 602 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:43,840 Speaker 1: It was particularly bad in places that were outside of 603 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:49,359 Speaker 1: cities but also densely populated, like in coal mines. So 604 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:53,480 Speaker 1: we have spent this episode mostly talking about masks and 605 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:58,040 Speaker 1: the generally scattered, chaotic response to the nineteen eighteen pandemic 606 00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:00,839 Speaker 1: in the United States. Now next time we were going 607 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:04,240 Speaker 1: to dive into some more focused topics, which is honestly 608 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:06,000 Speaker 1: what I thought this episode was going to be like 609 00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:09,400 Speaker 1: when I started on it, Like, for example, was anything 610 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:13,200 Speaker 1: happening with vaccines in nineteen eighteen, were there the kinds 611 00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:15,960 Speaker 1: of food and supply shortages that we have seen through 612 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:19,239 Speaker 1: some of this pandemic, and were there any places that 613 00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:23,759 Speaker 1: managed to actually get things under control? Uh? While we 614 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:26,319 Speaker 1: ruminate on all of this, Tracy D of listener Mail, 615 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:30,320 Speaker 1: how do I have listener mail that has a connection 616 00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:33,160 Speaker 1: in that it discusses some of the medical stuff that 617 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:36,239 Speaker 1: we have talked about lately, but it's not about the pandemic. 618 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:40,480 Speaker 1: This is from Megan. Uh. Megan says, Hi, Holly and Tracy, 619 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:43,120 Speaker 1: I hope that this email finds you well. First of all, 620 00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:44,560 Speaker 1: I want to thank you for all the great work 621 00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:47,239 Speaker 1: you do. You definitely make my car drives, housework, and 622 00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,080 Speaker 1: projects that I've been doing during the pandemic more interesting. 623 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:53,240 Speaker 1: I'm writing to you as I've just finished your most 624 00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:56,960 Speaker 1: recent podcasts on the Mississippi Freedom Summer and w Montague Cobb. 625 00:39:57,280 --> 00:39:59,840 Speaker 1: When listening to your episode on Freedom Summer, you mentioned 626 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:03,440 Speaker 1: the Mississippi Burning case. I immediately thought to myself, why 627 00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:05,719 Speaker 1: do I feel like I know much more about this 628 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:08,160 Speaker 1: case than I would have learned in school. When you 629 00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:11,760 Speaker 1: mentioned the other bodies found, it clicked for me. Another 630 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:14,720 Speaker 1: podcast that I've discovered during the pandemic is called Someone 631 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:18,400 Speaker 1: Knows Something That takes a hard look at unsolved crimes. 632 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:21,480 Speaker 1: The third season of that show was on the murder 633 00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:24,440 Speaker 1: of two of the bodies that were discovered when trying 634 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:28,359 Speaker 1: to find Cheney, Goodman and Schwerner. What struck me most 635 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:30,560 Speaker 1: about this podcast was that it made me realize that 636 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:33,960 Speaker 1: for some people, this is not history. One of the victims, brother, 637 00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:36,799 Speaker 1: who the show followed, was still very frightened to look 638 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:39,560 Speaker 1: into this case and even returned to that part of 639 00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:43,239 Speaker 1: Mississippi as he felt it was still unsafe for racial minorities. 640 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:45,840 Speaker 1: It was definitely a check your privilege moment for myself. 641 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:48,600 Speaker 1: I would recommend it to any of your listeners who 642 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,719 Speaker 1: enjoy true crime. The second reason I am writing to 643 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:53,920 Speaker 1: you is that I am a nursing student, so I 644 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,360 Speaker 1: highly enjoy any of your podcasts about medical history. This 645 00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:00,320 Speaker 1: latest podcast about Dr Cobb was not any differ rent. 646 00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:02,919 Speaker 1: As you mentioned in your podcast, he focused a lot 647 00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:06,319 Speaker 1: on the disparities and healthcare for non whites. I've come 648 00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:08,440 Speaker 1: across a book and my attempt to better serve my 649 00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:10,759 Speaker 1: patients that I think any of your listeners and health 650 00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:14,080 Speaker 1: care might be interested in, called Mind the Gap, a 651 00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:18,040 Speaker 1: handbook of clinical signs in black and brown skin. It 652 00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:20,759 Speaker 1: was written by a black medical student in London that 653 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:23,640 Speaker 1: realized that he was only learning the white symptoms in 654 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:26,680 Speaker 1: school and wanted to better educate his spellow students as 655 00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:29,279 Speaker 1: well as better serve his community. I hope that your 656 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:31,719 Speaker 1: listeners will look into this and we can continue to 657 00:41:31,719 --> 00:41:35,160 Speaker 1: correct the disparities and our healthcare system. Again, thank you 658 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:37,759 Speaker 1: for all that you do bringing the more obscure and 659 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:41,080 Speaker 1: less talked about parts of history to light. Megan uh 660 00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:44,560 Speaker 1: Megan also sent dog pictures. Thank you so much for 661 00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:47,360 Speaker 1: the dog pictures and for this email. I spent a 662 00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:52,239 Speaker 1: moment looking at this UM at the Mind the Gap handbook. UM. 663 00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:54,520 Speaker 1: There's a whole website for it online and some of 664 00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:58,840 Speaker 1: it has uh like photographs of things like skin conditions 665 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,279 Speaker 1: that look very different depending on the coloring of a 666 00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:03,880 Speaker 1: person's skin. UM. One of the ways that I know 667 00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:07,680 Speaker 1: this has come up with the COVID nineteen pandemic is 668 00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:11,920 Speaker 1: the oxygen monitors that go on your fingers, reading people's 669 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:16,680 Speaker 1: oxygen saturation very differently if they are black or brown. UM. 670 00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:20,480 Speaker 1: So it's a there's a whole, huge and immediate relevance 671 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:23,600 Speaker 1: to this, So thank you again for this email. If 672 00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:25,120 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us about this or 673 00:42:25,160 --> 00:42:28,520 Speaker 1: anither podcast, we're at history Podcasts that I heart radio 674 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,120 Speaker 1: dot com. And we're also all over social media at 675 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:34,200 Speaker 1: miss in History. So you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, 676 00:42:34,239 --> 00:42:37,759 Speaker 1: and Instagram, and you can subscribe to our show on 677 00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:40,680 Speaker 1: the I heart radio app and Apple podcasts and anywhere 678 00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:48,200 Speaker 1: else to get your podcasts. Stuff you missed in History 679 00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:50,960 Speaker 1: Class is a production of I heart Radio. For more 680 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:54,080 Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 681 00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:57,360 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.