An Army of Normal Folks - The Army That Eradicated Polio

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

For Shop Talk, Tom Purcell celebrates the 70th anniversary of the polio vaccine. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shop Talk number 49, I am not Bill Courtney. Hey guys, this is Alex Cortez. I failed in my duties as a producer to get enough shop talks from Bill. He has been out of town for three weeks and we did not get enough of them, so you are stuck with me. Good luck, y'all.

But thankfully this week for Shop Talk, we actually have a great story from a nationally syndicated columnist named Tom Purcell who sent a story into us and it's about a big 70th anniversary milestone in the country's history that you're about to hear about right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI-fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked.

Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts. This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg, and Kaleidoscope, about the rise of deepfake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Israel Gutierrez, and I'm hosting a new podcast, Dub Dynasty, the story of how the Golden State Warriors have dominated the NBA for over a decade. The Golden State Warriors once again are NBA champions. Today the Warriors dynasty remains alive in large part because of a scrawny six foot two

Hooper who everyone seems to love. For what Steph has done for the game, he's certainly on that Mount Rushmore. Come revisit this magical Warriors ride. Listen to Dub Dynasty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Bob Pitman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia. I'm excited to share my podcast with you, Math and Magic, Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. This week I'm talking to the CEO of Moderna, Stephane Bancel, about how he led his team through unprecedented times to create, test, and distribute a COVID vaccine all in less

than a year. He becomes a human decision to decide to throw by the window your business strategy and to do what you think is the right thing for the world. Join me as we uncover innovations in data and analytics, the math, and the ever-important creative spark, the magic. Listen to Math and Magic, stories from the frontiers of marketing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm ready to fight. Oh, this is fighting words. Okay, I'll put the hammer back. Hi, I'm George M. Johnson, a bestselling author with the second most banned book in America.

Now more than ever, we need to use our voices to fight back. Part of the power of Black queer creativity is the fact that we got us, you know? We are the greatest culture makers in world history. Listen to Fighting Words on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family.

They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit adoptUSkids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. And we now hear from nationally syndicated columnist Tom Purcell. She came home with a high temperature, feeling very ill.

The next morning, her legs gave out when she tried to get out of bed. By the evening, she was so weak she could barely move. It was 1951 when Polio struck her. She was 12 years old, just starting the 8th grade. The nation was in a panic then. The ambulance driver wouldn't take her to the hospital, fearing that other patients might become infected. Her uncle had a car though.

Despite unknown risks to his own family, he drove her to the hospital. Her father told her not to worry. To placate her, he said she had a new virus called Virus X. She found it odd then that she was placed in the polio ward with other children. She told the nurse she didn't have polio. She had Virus X, just like her father told her. The nurse nodded knowingly but said there was a possibility it was polio. Now the girl was really worried. Worried about her family.

She wrote her parents a letter. She hinted that she might have polio but that she was going to be okay. Her father cried out loud when he read it. The county health department quarantined her family for two weeks, posting a notice on the family's front door. Only her father could come and go for work. Within 15 days, Polio had ravaged her body, partially paralyzing her limbs and weakening her neck. She was moved to the DT Watson home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to begin

her long and painful rehabilitation. A year later, she returned home with a full back brace, leg braces, and crutches. The principal recommended she not return to school, fearing for her safety. But her father insisted she be treated like anyone else and back to school she went. Friends took turns driving her to school. Classmates carried her books. The school adjusted her schedule so she only had to navigate the stairs once each day. Her rehab continued for two years. Though she would always need crutches, the braces eventually came off.

Determined to be independent, she decided to walk to school one day, over a mile up a steep Pittsburgh hill. Soon, she walked every day. Beautiful and lively, she made many friends. Her senior year, her classmates voted her Queen of Carrick High School for a spring social event. Eventually, she married, had four children, and now has eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Now 86, she has lived a wonderful life with her beloved husband, who she lost recently

after 63 years of marriage. This remarkable person is my Aunt Cecilia, my mother's sister. While at the D.T. Watson home, she bravely volunteered for Dr. Salk's early trials, aiding the advancement of polio research. In recognition of her selflessness, she would later receive the Poverello Medal from the College of Steubenville. Back in the 1950s, fear and doubt about polio were rampant. But the nation didn't dwell on problems. We did what Americans always do. We focused on solutions.

The March of Dimes mobilized millions to raise money so that Dr. Salk and other researchers could carry on. Well, 70 years ago, on April 12, 1955, the vaccine was declared safe and effective. It's easy to see the clarity of past successes, but harder to find it in today's challenges. The country appears divided with many voices focusing on what is wrong. But we know the best way forward is to unite and focus on what we can make right. Just as my aunt Cecilia did. And thank you so much, Tom, for a beautiful story about your aunt.

As you guys just heard, on April 12th, 1955 was when the first polio vaccine was licensed and was rolled out massively across the country. So the 70th anniversary was just a few days ago. And you guys, you know, I'm only 36. I do not have much familiarity with polio and I'm guessing that's true for a lot of folks my age and younger and probably even many folks

of every ages across the country. So I decided to do a little bit more research for this shop talk and I was curious what the peak was like with polio in the country. And it was in 1952 with more than 21,000 paralytic cases across the country. And as you heard Tom mentioned too, I mean, people were just so afraid of getting this virus from other people that they were crossing the street to avoid people, you know, had polio or, you know, the ambulance wouldn't even pick his anub.

So this vaccine was a huge deal to help eradicate that. And to the point where it's really not an issue in the U.S. anymore. A couple other things that we may be a little bit familiar with, but I'd love to dive deeper into is FDR. Many people know had polio and FDR was also the founder of March of Dimes.

And he actually became the face on the dime in 1946. In March of Dimes grew to the point that they had 3 3100 chapters of it across the country, this grassroots movement, their own army of normal folks who raised money, and their grassroots funding went to a ton of different researchers out there, including this young physician named Dr. Jonas Salk. And I found this next part fascinating. After he developed the vaccine, it was then tested in a ginormous field trial in 1954 that involved 1.8 million school children who became

known as the polio pioneers. That's its own RVNormal folks right there, guys. I mean, that is a lot of bravery for these kids and their parents to have their kids tested by this then unknown thing and something that we've all been the beneficiaries of. And this vaccine has been so effective that the last case of wild polio virus in the US was in 1979. Unfortunately, it has plagued more of the world for a longer period of time. And I found this really cool that Rotary International has been a big part in helping reduce it. Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative,

we reduced polio cases by 99.9% since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979. Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion in countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. And Rotary's advocacy efforts have also encouraged governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort. Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but it's crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio-free. If all eradication efforts stop today, within 10 years polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year. And of course it comes back to an army of normal folks

on so many levels. Those who got involved with the March of Dimes, those who were the polio pioneers and all the Rotary Club members across the country who've been involved in eradicating it worldwide. All right guys, shop talk number 49, the 70th anniversary of the polio vaccine. Thanks to our friend, Tom Purcell.

You could check out his work at tompurcell.com or email him at tomatompurcell.com. And as always, if you have ideas on shop talks, email us at army at normalfolks.us or bill at normalfolks.us. I hope you will subscribe to the podcast, rate and review it, share it with friends and on social, go to normalfolks.us and join the army. Consider becoming a premium member. Any and all of these things that will help us grow. An army

of normal folks. I'm Alex Cortez. Until next time, do what you can. In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI-fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts. This is Levertown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg, and Kaleidoscope, about the rise of deepfake pornography and the battle to stop it.

Listen to Levertown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Israel Gutierrez, and I'm hosting a new podcast, Dub Dynasty, the story of how the Golden State Warriors have dominated the NBA for over a decade. The Golden State Warriors once again are NBA champions. Today, the Warriors dynasty remains alive,

in large part because of a scrawny six foot two hooper who everyone seems to love. For what Steph has done for the game, he's certainly on that Mount Westmore. Come revisit this magical Warriors ride. Listen to Dubb Dynasty on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I am Bob Pitman, Chairman and CEO of iHeart Media.

I'm excited to share my podcast with you, Math and Magic, Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. This week, I'm talking to the CEO of Moderna, Stephane Bancel, about how he led his team through unprecedented times to create, test, and distribute a COVID vaccine all in less than a year. It becomes a human decision to decide to throw by the window your business strategy and to do what you think is the right thing for the world. Join me as we uncover innovations in data and analytics, the math,

and the ever-important creative spark, the magic. Listen to Math & Magic, stories from the frontiers of marketing on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm ready to fight. Oh, this is fighting words. Okay. I'll put the hammer back. Hi, I'm George M. Johnson, a bestselling author with the second most banned book in

America. Now more than ever, we need to use our voices to fight back. Part of the power of black queer creativity is the fact that we got us, you know? We are the greatest culture makers in world history. Listen to Fighting Words on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before.

I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from Foster Care. Visit adoptUSkids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUS Kids, adopting a teen from foster care. Visit adoptUSkids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUS Kids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

and the Ad Council.