Mini-Episode: Dr. Loring Miner

In this mini-episode, we tell the story of Dr. Loring Miner, a physician in Haskell County in southwest Kansas who, in early 1918, may have encountered the first outbreak of the flu pandemic. Dr. Miner was a little different than the stereotypical country doctor. Dr. Miner was "gruff" and one who "didn't suffer fools," but he also was extremely dedicated to his practice, traveling over hundreds of square miles to attend to patients. He loved the classics and read the great works of Greek literature … in Greek! He embraced the germ theory of disease and built a home laboratory complete with a microscope. We'll hear from historian John Barry explain why Dr. Miner was such an unusual doctor given the state of medical education at the time.