Spanish Flu

<p><span>In the fall of 1918, Philadelphia newspapers announced that a new virus had arrived in the city, the so-called “Spanish flu.” But the facts and scope were muddy and uncertain, and the city decided to push forward with a highly-anticipated parade. About 200,000 people showed up, and packed onto sidewalks.</span></p> <p>Halfway across the country, St. Louis, Missouri looked very different that fall. Businesses shuttered, movie theatres went dark, and students stayed home. </p> <p>Just like today, cities across the U.S. responded to the 1918 influenza pandemic differently—with very different results. </p> <p>In this episode, we go back to 1918 and a pandemic which wasn’t Spanish at all.</p> <h2>Footnotes And Further Reading: </h2> <p><span>Get into the nitty gritty of viral evolution with<span> </span></span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3291398/" target="_blank"><span>"1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics”</span></a><span><span> </span>which reviews the 1918 pandemic and all outbreaks it later spawned.</span></p> <p><span><span>The<span> </span><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/publications/panflu/index.html" target="_blank"><span>CDC’s Pandemic Influenza Storybook</span></a><span><span> </span>paints a vivid picture of life during the pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span>We first learned about Philadelphia’s Liberty Loan Parade from the Washington Post’s<span> </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/03/12/pandemic-parade-flu-coronavirus/" target="_blank"><span>reporting</span></a><span>.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span>For this story, we read<span> </span><em><span>many</span></em><span><span> </span>old articles from newspapers across the country, all archived on<span> </span></span><a href="https://www.newspapers.com/" target="_blank"><span>newspapers.com</span></a><span><span> </span>(available with a subscription).</span></span></span></span></span></p> <h2>Credits: </h2> <p><span>Science Diction is hosted and p