Mass for Shut-ins: The Gin and Tacos Podcast
News:Politics
Guest: David Parsons (@davidlparsons) from the excellent history podcast Nostalgia Trap joins me to discuss Gerald Ford's disastrous rollout of a nationwide vaccination program in 1976 to combat a swine flu pandemic that didn't materialize. Vaccine recipients developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which is sometimes fatal, at a rate 8.8 times higher than the unvaccinated, making this event the foundation of the modern American anti-vax movement. But a closer look reveals that those numbers may not be what they seem, and certainly not what anti-vaxxers use them to mean.
Despite our interest in this poorly-remembered historical event, neither David nor your host endorse any vaccine-related conspiracies, and encourage you to do as we are doing: getting the COVID vaccine at the earliest opportunity.
The cocktail of the month is the Typhoid Mary. Has history been unkind to her? Yes, but it turns out she really was kind of a dick.
Question Cathy returns with the mailbag, where we cover the 9th Amendment, Biden's first month, and Wegman's.
Please support Mass for Shut-ins, an independent and ad-free podcast, via Patreon. Contact me via Facebook, Twitter (@edburmila), or the venerable website Gin and Tacos.
Thanks: David Parsons, the bands that contribute music (Waxeater, IfIHadAHiFi, The Sump Pumps, Oscar Bait), Zachary Sielaff, Question Cathy, and all Patreon supporters, subscribers, and listeners.
034 - Ryan Cooper (Left Anchor, American Prospect)
Minicast E2: The Contest Everybody Won
Minicast E1: Carter Glass of the Glass-Steagall Act
033 - Bunion Derbies
Minicast D8: The Cantaloupe that Changed the World
Minicast D7: The Giant Ruby Affair
Minicast D6: New Vietnam Theme Park
Minicast D5: The Grandfathered Spitballers
Minicast D4: John Brisker, NBA Star Turned Ugandan Mercenary
032 - Jen Howard (Clutter)
Minicast D3: Free Cars
Minicast D2: Agatha Christie Disappears! Sort of!
Minicast D1: The Poet Laureate of Kiribati
030 - Mike Konczal, Freedom from the Market (2021)
Minicast C10: The Hidden Politics of "The Night Before Christmas"
Minicast C9: I Beg Your (Presidential) Pardon (Power)
029 - Post-Election All-Mailbag Episode 2020
Minicast C8: Brazil Begs and Barters into the 1932 Olympics
Minicast C7: Harold Hering asks, what if the president tries to launch nukes while out of his mind?
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