Episode 46: Shadow on the Things You Know
Explicit content warning
12/10/24 • 54 min
This week we are discussing avian flu and the possibility that it might be the next pandemic ahead of us, just over the horizon. We get into the history of influenza outbreaks originating in domesticated animals, such as, most famously, the so-called "Spanish flu" of 1918 in order to calibrate how potentially worrying such an outbreak could be should it arise, particularly in the post-COVID political context in which we now live.
We also discuss the recent assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson (we mistakenly call him Brian Johnson in the episode, apologies), the sudden fall of the Assad regime in Syria, as well as a worrying new disease which has recently emerged in Congo.
Reuters story on the Congo mystery illness:
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-sends-experts-help-congo-diagnose-mystery-disease-2024-12-06/
ABC News story on early human cases of avian flu:
https://www.abc15.com/news/state/arizona-sees-first-case-of-human-bird-flu-in-pinal-county-health-officials-report#google_vignette
LA Times story on another early human case:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-12-07/possible-h5n1-case-in-marin-co-child-source-of-infection-unknown
Scientific American story about the dangers of this influenza strain:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bird-flu-virus-is-one-mutation-away-from-adapting-to-human-cells/
NPR story on raw milk and bird flu:
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/06/nx-s1-5220272/testing-usda-bird-flu-raw-milk-california
https://www.instagram.com/theendoftheworldwms/
https://youtube.com/@TheEndoftheWorldwMS?si=xmj-2e0s58JdN8-B
https://linktr.ee/endoftheworldwithmichaelandstu
This week we are discussing avian flu and the possibility that it might be the next pandemic ahead of us, just over the horizon. We get into the history of influenza outbreaks originating in domesticated animals, such as, most famously, the so-called "Spanish flu" of 1918 in order to calibrate how potentially worrying such an outbreak could be should it arise, particularly in the post-COVID political context in which we now live.
We also discuss the recent assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson (we mistakenly call him Brian Johnson in the episode, apologies), the sudden fall of the Assad regime in Syria, as well as a worrying new disease which has recently emerged in Congo.
Reuters story on the Congo mystery illness:
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-sends-experts-help-congo-diagnose-mystery-disease-2024-12-06/
ABC News story on early human cases of avian flu:
https://www.abc15.com/news/state/arizona-sees-first-case-of-human-bird-flu-in-pinal-county-health-officials-report#google_vignette
LA Times story on another early human case:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-12-07/possible-h5n1-case-in-marin-co-child-source-of-infection-unknown
Scientific American story about the dangers of this influenza strain:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bird-flu-virus-is-one-mutation-away-from-adapting-to-human-cells/
NPR story on raw milk and bird flu:
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/06/nx-s1-5220272/testing-usda-bird-flu-raw-milk-california
https://www.instagram.com/theendoftheworldwms/
https://youtube.com/@TheEndoftheWorldwMS?si=xmj-2e0s58JdN8-B
https://linktr.ee/endoftheworldwithmichaelandstu
Previous Episode
Episode 45: It's a Godawful Small Affair
This week we are covering the 2005 Spielberg/Cruise film War of the Worlds. Made in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the film attempts to make some kind of connection between the H.G. Wells's classic story of alien invasion and the events that had so recently shaken the foundations of America...and it fails to do so, at least in a manner that we found at all convincing or philosophically interesting. But fear not! In this episode you also get to hear the "legendary" story of Stu's IRL encounter with Mr. Spielberg, as well as how Michael once saw Dave Matthews open for Barack Obama.
We also get into a bit of the history of the story, briefly discussing Wells's novel as well as Orson Welles's famous 1938 radio adaptation, which allegedly set off a panic across the United States. What is it about this tale that causes it to return in moments of cultural uncertainty?
We open the episode with a brief conversation about the news of Joe Biden's pardoning of his son Hunter. Would we have done the same? To find out, you must listen.
This episode contains spoilers for War of the Worlds.
https://www.instagram.com/theendoftheworldwms/
https://youtube.com/@TheEndoftheWorldwMS?si=xmj-2e0s58JdN8-B
https://linktr.ee/endoftheworldwithmichaelandstu
Next Episode
Episode 47: There's a Madman Living in Waco
This week we're covering the siege of the Branch Davidian compound by federal authorities in 1993, paying particular attention to the group's leader, the enigmatical rock musician turned would-be messiah, David Koresh. We go through the history of the Branch Davidians, tracing their roots back to the "Great Disappointment" of William Miller and the history of schismatic Adventism before diving into the history of Koresh's sect. Towards the end of the episode Michael gives his account of his 2018 visit to the site of the Mount Carmel compound and his meeting with one of the surviving members of the Branch Davidians.
We open the episode up by discussing the recent drone sightings in and around Northern New Jersey. Michael thinks they are up to something, while, as usual, Stu is "skeptical" that this means anything ominous.
https://www.instagram.com/theendoftheworldwms/
https://youtube.com/@TheEndoftheWorldwMS?si=xmj-2e0s58JdN8-B
https://linktr.ee/endoftheworldwithmichaelandstu
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