In 1918, the Spanish Flu killed over 20 million people. Because of the devastation, individuals in some countries began to wear surgical masks in public to attempt to control the illness. Although the practice's effectiveness is questionable, some countries continue to wear these masks to this day for a variety of health-related reasons. In Japan however, the story is a bit more complex.

In this episode, we take a look at a new reason that the Japanese where surgical masks in public, and the implications this has for Japanese society as a whole.

Links referenced in the episode: Japanese Surgical Mask Street Interviews

Theme music written and recorded by Michael Wharton using a slowed down version of Vincent Sermonne's Brush Loop, licensed through CC BY 3.0.

Cover art featured: Harajuku (cropped) by Sean McGrath, licensed through CC BY 2.0

Unbabbled is written, recorded, and produced by Michael Wharton.