When you don’t know who to believe, fear fills the vacuum and can lead to societies collapsing. The Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 is an eye opening analog to the COVID-19 outbreak of today.

Click above to listen to part 5 of Skeptic Check: Pandemic Fear, featuring John Barry, writer, adjunct faculty at the Tulane School of Tropical Medicine and author of The Great Influenza; The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History.

Skeptic Check: Pandemic Fear:
Part 1: Peter Hall / Rational Action
Part 2: David DeSteno / Calibrating Our Fear
Part 3: Hand Washing Tutorial
Part 4: Davey Smith / Doctor’s Advice
Part 5: John Barry / Spanish Flu

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2026 Webby Award Nominee
for our three part series on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Big Picture Science is an immersive radio show and podcast that reveals the unexpected connections in science.

Our Skeptic Check episodes take a critical look at extraordinary science claims and pseudoscience.

Don’t settle for a science snapshot. Get the big picture. 

Hosted By

Molly Bentley Executive Producer and Co-Host, Big Picture Science  

Seth Shostak Producer and Co-Host, Big Picture Science
Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute

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