
Pale Rider
The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World
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Narrated by:
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Paul Hodgson
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By:
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Laura Spinney
About this listen
In 1918, the Italian-Americans of New York, the Yupik of Alaska, and the Persians of Mashed had almost nothing in common except for a virus - one that triggered the worst pandemic of modern times and had a decisive effect on the history of the 20th century.
The Spanish flu of 1918-1920 was one of the greatest human disasters of all time. It infected a third of the people on Earth - from the poorest immigrants of New York City to the king of Spain, Franz Kafka, Mahatma Gandhi, and Woodrow Wilson. But despite a death toll of between 50 and 100 million people, it exists in our memory as an afterthought to World War I.
In this gripping narrative history, Laura Spinney traces the overlooked pandemic to reveal how the virus travelled across the globe, exposing mankind's vulnerability and putting our ingenuity to the test. As socially significant as both world wars, the Spanish flu dramatically disrupted - and often permanently altered - global politics, race relations, and family structures while spurring innovation in medicine, religion, and the arts. It was partly responsible, Spinney argues, for pushing India to independence, South Africa to apartheid, and Switzerland to the brink of civil war. It also created the true "lost generation". Drawing on the latest research in history, virology, epidemiology, psychology, and economics, Pale Rider masterfully recounts the little-known catastrophe that forever changed humanity.
©2017 Laura Spinney (P)2017 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Unexpected and Hilarious
- By M. Huber on 05-21-19
By: Therese Oneill
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The Amusement Park
- 900 Years of Thrills and Spills, and the Dreamers and Schemers Who Built Them
- By: Stephen M. Silverman
- Narrated by: Allan Corduner
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Step right up! The Amusement Park is a rich, anecdotal history that begins nine centuries ago with the "pleasure gardens" of Europe and England and ends with the most elaborate modern parks in the world. It's a history told largely through the stories of the colorful, sometimes hedonistic characters who built them. And, of course, this is a full-throttle celebration of the rides, those marvels of engineering and heart-stopping thrills from an author, Stephen Silverman, whose lifelong passion for his subject shines through.
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A thorough history of amusement.
- By Dayton Burbs on 01-01-24
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The Theory of Everything Else
- A Voyage into the World of the Weird
- By: Dan Schreiber
- Narrated by: Dan Schreiber, Jamie Morton, Ella Al-Shamahi, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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From the Silicon Valley tech billionaires currently trying to work out whether or not the universe is one giant video game simulation to the self-proclaimed community of Italian time-travelers who are trying to save the world from destruction; The Theory of Everything Else will act as a handbook for those who want to think differently.
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Yawn
- By Tony Love on 08-18-23
By: Dan Schreiber
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Justinian
- Emperor, Soldier, Saint
- By: Peter Sarris
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Justinian is a radical reassessment of an emperor and his times. In the sixth century CE, the emperor Justinian presided over nearly four decades of remarkable change, in an era of geopolitical threats, climate change, and plague. From the eastern Roman—or Byzantine—capital of Constantinople, Justinian’s armies reconquered lost territory in Africa, Italy, and Spain. But these military exploits, historian Peter Sarris shows, were just one part of a larger program of imperial renewal.
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Good telling of Justinian's reign
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-24
By: Peter Sarris
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The Skeptics' Guide to the Future
- What Yesterday's Science and Science Fiction Tell Us About the World of Tomorrow
- By: Dr. Steven Novella, Bob Novella - contributor, Jay Novella - contributor
- Narrated by: Dr. Steven Novella
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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In THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE FUTURE, Steven Novella and his co-authors build upon the work of futurists of the past by examining what they got right, what they got wrong, and how they came to those conclusions. By exploring the pitfalls of each era, they give their own speculations about the distant future, transformed by unbelievable technology ranging from genetic manipulation to artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
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Thin gruel from the rogues
- By James Weisner on 11-27-22
By: Dr. Steven Novella, and others
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No Shadows in the Desert
- Murder, Espionage, Vengeance, and the Untold Story of the Destruction of ISIS
- By: Samuel M. Katz
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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No Shadows in the Desert reveals the untold story of the behind-the-scenes fight against ISIS - one coordinated by heads of state and ultimately fought in the alleyways and open deserts of the Middle Eastern battlefield by spies and soldiers. Samuel M. Katz draws upon his sources within the global intelligence and counterterrorism community, as well as the international special operations and espionage fraternity, to tell the story of the covert campaign against ISIS by the operatives who ventured deeply and secretly into enemy territory.
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Simply Anti- Trump writer
- By Shon Cooke on 07-03-21
By: Samuel M. Katz
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The Illuminati
- By: Larry Burkett
- Narrated by: Henry Kramer
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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From before the time of Christ, there have been rumors of a secret society called The Illuminati...a vicious tribe of Druids with mystical, supernatural powers. Many saw them as demons or gods. Those who opposed them simply disappeared...or met an even worse fate. Unknown to all but the very few, this group slowly infiltrated world organizations and financial institutions with a singular goal—to control the world's economic system. Now fast-forward to the year 2020. The Illuminati has succeeded in placing one of their people in the office of the presidency of the United States.
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Count the Cost of Truth and Freedom. 🙂
- By A Happy Sort Of OCD on 09-13-23
By: Larry Burkett
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The Revenge of Analog
- Real Things and Why They Matter
- By: David Sax
- Narrated by: David Sax
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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One of Michiko Kakutani's (New York Times) top 10 books of 2016. A funny thing happened on the way to the digital utopia. We've begun to fall back in love with the very analog goods and ideas the tech gurus insisted that we no longer needed. Businesses that once looked outdated, from film photography to brick-and-mortar retail, are now springing with new life. Notebooks, records, and stationery have become cool again.
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Late to the party and heavily padded.
- By Phil Queeg on 12-25-16
By: David Sax
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Two Old Men and a Baby
- Or, How Hendrik and Evert Get Themselves into a Jam
- By: Hendrik Groen, Hester Velmans - translator
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Hendrik Groen and Evert Duiker, faithful friends in good and bad times, are well over 70, and their lives have quieted down. They see each other once a week to play chess, have a drink, and grab a bite to eat while reflecting on life. But one day, their peace is rudely disturbed when Evert shows up on Hendrik's doorstep with a surprise in the form of an unexpected little guest. He had spotted a stroller with a baby in it - unattended for just a minute - and, in a moment of utter madness, decided to take it for a walk.
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So much fun!
- By Mechelle R on 07-15-21
By: Hendrik Groen, and others
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Excluded
- How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don't See
- By: Richard D. Kahlenberg
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The last acceptable form of prejudice in America is based on class and executed through state-sponsored economic discrimination. While the American meritocracy officially denounces prejudice based on race and gender, it has spawned a new form of bias against those with less education and income. Millions of working-class Americans have their opportunity blocked by exclusionary snob zoning. These government policies make housing unaffordable, frustrate the goals of the civil rights movement, and lock in inequality in our urban and suburban landscapes.
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Everyone should read
- By P Willis on 09-17-23
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The Revolutionary Genius of Plants
- A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior
- By: Stefano Mancuso
- Narrated by: Gibson Frazier
- Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Do plants have intelligence? Do they have memory? Are they better problem solvers than people? The Revolutionary Genius of Plants - a fascinating, paradigm-shifting work that upends everything you thought you knew about plants - makes a compelling scientific case that these and other astonishing ideas are all true.
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Inaccurate book description
- By windelbo on 02-18-19
By: Stefano Mancuso
extremely informative; must read
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Impressive body of work. Much more comprehensive yet detailed than any other writings on this subject that I have read, it is not just a statistical report but a compilation of information gleaned from writings from many countries around the globe. The majority of other readings are focused on Europe and North America, while this includes translations from China, Russia, South America, and anywhere else afflicted. The role of The Great War in its transmission is explored as well. The devastation left behind by this pandemic amounted to a great deal more than the casualties of the war. I feel that this should be required reading for all healthcare workers as well as historians.
I have the audio interpreted by Paul Hodgson who was truly remarkable.
Must read !
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Narrator was horrible
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Required Pandemic Reading
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history repeats itself
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Required reading
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Oh how important it is to think about The Great
Influenza and how it changed the world. And how we are still finding new pieces of history
that change the way we look at WW1 and the history of epidemics.
Now more than ever
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Second, it outlines the possible preventative and mitigation strategies that could have been undertaken to contain it but were not until it was too late, largely for political and religious reasons. Sound familiar?
And third, it shows the historical context of this hideous disease, both pre- and post-pandemic. The pre-pandemic context is very much what we have been contending with in 2020. The post-pandemic context of our current debacle, of course, remains to be seen.
I cannot recommend this book too highly. It is well-researched, and it is written like the most compelling fiction. What a story!
2020 Prescience. Pale Rider, the Spanish Flu
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Deja vu
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Pre Covid
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