No, The Great Influenza is not the cheeriest of titles to be reading now as we see spikes in cases in states that opened up waaaaay too early but I have heard 1918 referenced so often, that I felt I needed to get a handle on it.
Author John Barry starts us with the young medical establishment that would be key in treating the the flu that killer approximately 100 million worldwide. The book then covers the ground until the virus burned out in 1919, but not before hitting President Woodrow Wilson.
There is a lot of fascinating history found here with the name (Spanish Flu) coming from the fact that the press in Spain was not censored and thus wrote about it more. Also, it more than likely started in Kansas, went across with WW1 soldiers to Europe and then came back in a strain that was much more deadly. There is an afterword that should have been read by leaders last year.
I do not want to recommend a certain brewery or beer lest they become associated with sickness so what I recommend that you find a nice healthy kombucha with all sorts of fruits and hops too to keep your health on an even keel.
We start off June with a five question interview with Partake Brewing who is in the N/A beer space and will quickly move on to….