September 1918: War, Plague, and The World Series

Published: Nov. 6, 2018, 8:30 a.m.

b'In the late summer of 1918, a division of Massachusetts militia volunteers led the first unified American fighting force into battle in France, turning the tide of World War I. Meanwhile, the world\\u2019s deadliest pandemic\\u2014the Spanish Flu\\u2014erupted in Boston and its suburbs, bringing death on a terrifying scale, first to military facilities and then to the civilian population. At precisely the same time, amidst the surrounding ravages of death, a young pitcher named Babe Ruth rallied the sport\\u2019s most dominant team, the Boston Red Sox, to a World Series victory\\u2014the last the Sox would see for eighty-six years.

In this episode I I talk with Google executive Skip Desjardin about September 1918, a moment in history almost too cinematic to be real.'