Cell Strain
06/18/20 • 45 min
2 Listeners
In the 1950s, polio spread throughout the United States. Heartbreakingly, it affected mainly children. Thousands died. Thousands more were paralyzed. Many ended up surviving only in iron lungs, a machine that breathed for polio victims, sometimes for years. Scientists raced to find a vaccine. After a few hard years of widespread quarantine and isolation, the scientists succeeded. The discovery of the polio vaccine was one of the brightest moments in public health history. But a vaccine required Americans to believe in a truth they couldn’t see with their own eyes. It also raised questions of access, of racial equity, and of the federal government’s role in healthcare, questions whose legacy we’re living with today.
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In the 1950s, polio spread throughout the United States. Heartbreakingly, it affected mainly children. Thousands died. Thousands more were paralyzed. Many ended up surviving only in iron lungs, a machine that breathed for polio victims, sometimes for years. Scientists raced to find a vaccine. After a few hard years of widespread quarantine and isolation, the scientists succeeded. The discovery of the polio vaccine was one of the brightest moments in public health history. But a vaccine required Americans to believe in a truth they couldn’t see with their own eyes. It also raised questions of access, of racial equity, and of the federal government’s role in healthcare, questions whose legacy we’re living with today.
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Project X
2 RecommendationsThe election of 1952 brought all kinds of new technology into the political sphere. The Eisenhower campaign experimented with the first television ads to feature an American presidential candidate. And on election night, CBS News premiered the first computer to predict an American election — the UNIVAC. Safe to say, that part didn’t go according to plan. But election night 1952 is ground zero for our current, political post-truth moment. If a computer and a targeted advertisement can both use heaps data to predict every citizen’s every decision, can voters really know things for themselves after all?
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The Computermen
In 1966, just as the foundations of the Internet were being imagined, the federal government considered building a National Data Center. It would be a centralized federal facility to hold computer records from each federal agency, in the same way that the Library of Congress holds books and the National Archives holds manuscripts. Proponents argued that it would help regulate and compile the vast quantities of data the government was collecting. Quickly, though, fears about privacy, government conspiracies, and government ineptitude buried the idea. But now, that National Data Center looks like a missed opportunity to create rules about data and privacy before the Internet took off. And in the absence of government action, corporations have made those rules themselves.
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The Last Archive - Cell Strain
Transcript Summary
In the intriguing episode titled "Cell Strain" of The Last Archive podcast, host Jill Lepore explores the captivating story of Avida Kulpe Hobby, the first Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the United States. This episode delves into the relentless polio epidemic that struck the nation in 1952, leaving countless children crippled. The breakthrough of the polio vaccine by virologist Jonas Salk marked a turning point in medical history, but it also brings attention to racial disparities in healthcare, as it was developed using cells from Henrietta Lacks, a black woman. Secretary Hobby played a pivotal role in addressing the crisis, but faced criticism for the vaccine's distribution. The episode further explores the origins of vaccine skepticism, the perseverance of individuals affected by the disease, and the significance of trusting science for the greater good. With its blend of history, personal narratives, and current relevance, "Cell Strain" offers a compelling and thought-provoking perspective on the impacts of disease, race, and healthcare in American society.
Transcript
Pushkin. There's a place in our world where the known things go. A corridor of the mind, lined with shelves, cluttered with proof, stalked like a biological laboratory, with microscopes, stacks of slides, trays of glass vials, each topped with a black rubber stopper. This label says live virus. Oh God.
Speaker 1There's a storage closet here, crowded with crutches and splints and braces, lined up by siz
Cell Strain Top Questions Answered
How were diseases caused by viruses taught in schools in the 1950s?
Films like "Sniffles and Sneezes" were shown in schools to educate about diseases caused by viruses.
Who played a key role in addressing the polio crisis in the 1950s?
Avida Hobby, the US's first Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, played a key role in addressing the polio crisis.
What opposition did vaccination programs face in the 1950s?
Vaccination programs faced opposition from anti-vaxxers who believed in conspiracy theories about forced vaccination.
How did polio epidemics affect children in the early 1900s?
Polio epidemics hit the US, particularly New York, in the early 1900s, affecting mostly children.
What were HeLa cells used for in the 1950s?
Tuskegee established a cell factory in 1953 producing HeLa cells for Salk vaccine field trials, which were crucial for the research.
What negative effects did the distribution of the polio vaccine in the US face?
The distribution of the polio vaccine in the US was not well-planned, causing cases of polio due to insufficiently produced vaccines.
What led to a decline in vaccination rates for polio?
Parents became afraid of the polio vaccine, causing a decline in vaccination rates.
What did opposition to the polio vaccination become a political argument about?
The controversy surrounding polio vaccination became a political argument about public health and socialized medicine.
What claim led to an anti-vaccination movement?
The claim that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine causes autism led to an anti-vaccination movement.
When did the US face the worst polio epidemic in its history?
In 1952, the United States faced the worst polio epidemic in its history, with 58,000 Americans infected.
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