Coronavirus Pandemic

Lessons from 1918

We're joined by two historians who will discuss the 1918 flu pandemic and what we can learn from it today.

Air Date: March 25, 2020 10:00 am

The Oakland Municipal Auditorium is being used as a temporary hospital with volunteer nurses from the American Red Cross tending the sick there during the influenza pandemic of 1918, Oakland, California, 1918. (Underwood Archives/AP)

Guests: Philip Bump, Pat D’Antonio, John Barry

We are currently in the midst of the greatest public health crisis in more than 100 years. The influenza pandemic of 1918 caused an estimated 50 million deaths worldwide with countless more infected with the virus. It was an era defining event that affected everybody in the world. Today, we’re going to learn more about the 1918 influenza pandemic and the lessons learned and not learned to help us through the current pandemic. Our guests are JOHN BARRY, professor of public health at Tulane University and author of The Great Influenza, and University of Pennsylvania nursing historian, PAT D’ANTONIO. But first, we’re going to hear about President Trump’s shift in coronavirus messaging in recent days when we speak to the Washington Post’s PHILIP BUMP.

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