Month: October 2019

172: Pale Horse, Pale Rider II

Mark Podcast
1918 advertisement for Bayer aspirin. Note the emphasis on purity, the product’s American origin, and the pitch for Liberty Bonds.

Once the influenza pandemic of 1918 got going, it swept the world in three waves. Because of the war and the mass movements of soldiers, it was carried into every corner of the world, including remote human communities that had never experienced influenza before.

The 1918 strain brought a much higher death rate than a typical influenza epidemic. Overall, the death toll was likely more than fifty million, making it the deadliest epidemic in human history, measured in absolute numbers.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Toccata in D minor
Composed ca. 1708 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Public domain.
Performed by Isolde Ahlgrimm. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 


Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

171: Pale Horse, Pale Rider I

Mark Podcast
Municipal Auditorium, Oakland, California, 1918, converted into an emergency hospital ward to care for influenza patients.

The influenza virus has plagued the human race for some 12,000 years, but in 1918 the nature of viruses was not well understood.

There are multiple hypotheses as to how and where the 1918 strain evolved, but wherever it started, the conditions of the Great War allowed it to spread around the world.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G
Composed in 1721 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Public domain.
Arranged and performed by Papalin. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 


Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

170: Très Bien

Mark Podcast
New York Times, November 11, 1918.

After Bulgaria quit the war, it was clear the Central Powers were finished. By early October 1918, both Germany and Austria were exchanging diplomatic notes with the United States, discussing peace terms.

When the news that Berlin and Vienna were in peace talks with the Allies got out, it led to a rapid collapse of both governments’ domestic political support.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Das Liebesmahl der Apostel
Composed in 1845 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme 


Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.