Shankar Vedantam: An Unfinished Lesson: What the 1918 Flu Tells Us about Human Nature. Radio feature, March 23, 2020.
Currently, the USA is the third epicentre of the Covid 19 pandemic. More people (about 82,000 on May 13, 2020) have already died of or with the infection, more than during the Vietnam War. In addition, 30 million people are now unemployed. These events will have a lasting impact on the society of the United States.
From this perspective, a review of the 1918/19 influenza pandemic and its mental consequences for the U.S. population is essential. The author has explored this question in an impressive radio feature that has become accessible as a podcast.
Link to the podcast on overcast.fm