The Dead Zone (Spanish Flu) - By Malcolm Gladwell (The New Yorker)

Se você acha que o Covid-19 é terrível, que tal um outro Covid-19, mas de CEM anos atrás, a tal "Gripe Espanhola", mas que não era na verdade espanhola e pode ter nascido no Kansas?
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Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Dead Zone” The writer Malcolm Gladwell once characterized his work as stories that help people “reflect on, or think about in new ways, the way they behave and their society behaves.” Since 1994, Gladwell has contributed more than a hundred and fifty pieces to The New Yorker. He has written on a wide range of subjects, including fashion-trend “coolhunters,” the application of epidemiological techniques to criminal research, the surprising abilities of physical geniuses, and the invention of the birth-control pill. He has also published six books, including “The Tipping Point” and “Talking to Strangers.” Gladwell’s writing demonstrates a thoughtful, ever-curious mind at work. In 1997, he published “The Dead Zone,” a gripping piece about the catastrophic spread of the so-called Spanish flu, in 1918. In the fall of that year, a devastating strain of influenza emerged, overwhelming entire cities and towns across the globe and killing tens of millions of people. “More Americans died of the flu over the next few months than were killed during the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined,” Gladwell writes. “The Spanish flu, as it came to be known, reached every continent and virtually every country on the map, going wherever ships sailed or cars or trucks or trains travelled, killing so many so quickly that some cities were forced to convert streetcars into hearses, and others buried their dead in mass graves, because they ran out of coffins.” Gladwell chronicles the history of the pathogen as he documents an attempt by a contemporary team of scientists to safely collect a sample of the virus, so that they can learn more about its genetic footprint and help prevent future outbreaks. With a meticulous, methodical approach, Gladwell follows the spread of the 1918 flu and shows us how quickly a pandemic can reach a crisis point. As he traces the journey of the virus, his piece becomes an engrossing tale about the fragility of humanity and the determination of those on the front lines working to save lives. Gladwell’s prose is exacting and spry; he lets his tale of urgency and mortality unfold in a riveting series of flashbacks to 1918. As we head into uncharted territory, with the emergence of the novel coronavirus, Gladwell’s story offers a revealing look at how a deadly pandemic once swept across the globe, and the ways in which humanity ultimately emerged from the tragedy. —Erin Overbey, archive editor

A Reporter at Large The Dead Zone The Spanish-flu epidemic of 1918 reached virtually every country, killing so many people so quickly that some cities were forced to convert streetcars into hearses. By Malcolm Gladwell