'We Haven't Learned From History': 'Radio Influenza' Is A Warning From 1918

  • 📰 NPR
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 46 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 22%
  • Publisher: 63%

United States Headlines News

United States Latest News,United States Headlines

Sometimes art is a consolation. 'Radio Influzena' is a warning. Using news articles during the 1918 flu, this audio project documents the panic, rumors and trauma of the worldwide pandemic — and warns of what could happen if we don't learn from it.

"So much that I had to stop putting that stuff in there," he says."Because it was unbelievable, what people actually did to each other because they were so unwell and they couldn't stand it any longer. The psychological impact of having influenza, and what thatto people — how depressed it made people. how suicidal it made people, how homicidal it made people — that was really startling and shocking.

"It was so bad that people drowned themselves," Baseman continues."People threw themselves off buildings. People strangled themselves. People shot themselves. These were not isolated incidents. This was very, very common, all across the world."The mass trauma caused by World War I followed by the scorching mortality rate of a worldwide pandemic is nearly impossible to comprehend today, he notes. Plus, no contemporary pain relievers.

"We haven't learned from history in our personal lives, and in our collective lives," Baseman quietly observes."That's the thing I find the most confusing, and also the most human."Ultimately, Baseman says his takeaway from examining hundreds of news stories from 1918 is simple:"The only way we're going to survive this thing is if we share what we have. If we pool our resources. If we pool our information.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

We never do.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 96. in US

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

For Centenarian Survivor Of 1918 Flu Pandemic, Coronavirus Is Just Another 'Problem'Joe Newman was 5 when the 1918 flu pandemic broke out. 'Over 107 years I've faced other problems,' he says of today's pandemic. 'Living is a problem. You do what you need to do to handle the problem that's in front of you at this moment.' Sounds like he’s from Michigan Just heard this on WNYC. Man. 😭 Thank you for sharing this. 107 years of life experience is such valuable wisdom.
Source: NPR - 🏆 96. / 63 Read more »

For Centenarian Survivor Of 1918 Flu Pandemic, Coronavirus Is Just Another 'Problem'Joe Newman was 5 when the 1918 flu pandemic broke out. 'Over 107 years I've faced other problems,' he says of today's pandemic. 'Living is a problem. You do what you need to do to handle the problem that's in front of you at this moment.' Sounds like he’s from Michigan Just heard this on WNYC. Man. 😭 Thank you for sharing this. 107 years of life experience is such valuable wisdom.
Source: NPR - 🏆 96. / 63 Read more »

People Are Tweeting About The Stimulus Checks And I Haven't Laughed This Hard In A WhileGet in loser, we're going online shopping.
Source: BuzzFeed - 🏆 730. / 51 Read more »

31 Tie-Dyed Sweatshirts to Shop If You Haven't Mastered the DIY Craft yetColorfully stained loungewear is the unofficial quarantine uniform. Add a beautiful Cummertaile to your outfits! Flatter your figure! cummertailes fabulouslyamerican beautiful madeinusa
Source: Fashionista_com - 🏆 474. / 51 Read more »

Gay men turned away from blood donation despite FDA rule changeSome donation centers are still turning away gay and bisexual men because the centers haven't updated questionnaires and computer systems or trained staff to do otherwise. Good Because they may have underlying health issues..i.e..HIV or STD’s. Just saying.
Source: Newsweek - 🏆 468. / 52 Read more »

Opinion | Med School Needs an OverhaulFrom WSJopinion: Medical schools often spend more time teaching social justice than training students how to respond to a pandemic, writes Dr. Stanley Goldfarb $MS Carry indicate a price rally is highly likely in MS:NYSE - Morgan from here (TOGGLEbot $MS Carry indicate a price rally is highly likely in MS:NYSE - Morgan from here (TOGGLEbot opinion Incredible that this is an issue
Source: WSJ - 🏆 98. / 63 Read more »