COVIDCalls

Today I am joined by Cassie Alexander, a registered nurse who has just published the book The Year of the Nurse about critical care in the pandemic. Cassie Alexander is a registered nurse of fourteen years -- burn, critical care transport, and ICU -- and a paranormal romance author. Her most recent novel is Year of the Nurse ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095PWYG3B/ forthcoming late July), a...

Today I am joined by doctor Sonali Vaid, a public health advocate based in India—we will be talking about COVID-19 in India. Dr. Sonali Vaid is a medical doctor with a Master’s in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health. For over a decade she has worked to improve the quality and safety of healthcare. Her work has spanned several countries in Asia and Africa. She has consulted for i...

Today I am joined by Sari Altschuler, founding director of the Health, Humanities, and Society program at Northeastern University Sari Altschuler is associate professor of English and founding director of Health, Humanities, and Society at Northeastern University. Her work has appeared in leading journals, including American Literature, American Literary History, PMLA, and the medical journal Lanc...

Today I am joined by a co-host, Eleanor Mayes—and let me introduce Eleanor! Hi I’m Eleanor Mayes, I currently serve as a production assistant and transcription director for COVIDCalls. I recently completed my masters in materials science and engineering at the University of Minnesota this past semester, and previously attended the university of Chicago for my undergraduate degree. I will attend UC...

Today I welcome medical sociologist Kiheung Kim to talk about the many different aspects of COVID in South Korea. Before I get started with Kiheung Kim, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that today marks the 300th episode of COVIDCalls.  When I started doing COVIDCalls in March of 2020 it was a resource for daily discussion when information about how to react to the pandemic was literally e...

Today, I will be closing out my guest hosting! For the past two Mondays, I’ve been honored to spend this time with you all. One year ago, Scott invited me to be a guest on the podcast to discuss disaster research, race, emergency management, and vulnerable communities. On that episode, I talked about the importance of redefining concepts like vulnerability and expanding how we understood the socia...

Today I welcome Wired magazine writer Adam Rogers back to COVIDCalls. Today’s guest is Adam Rogers.  Adam writes about science for Wired Magazine. Before coming to WIRED, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT and a reporter for Newsweek. He is the author of the New York Times science bestseller Proof: The Science of Booze. NEW story up yesterday titled, An Old Source for Potential New C...

Today I welcome Agnes Agnes Arnold-Forster and Sam Schotland to discuss pandemic stress and burn out among health care workers. Dr Agnes Arnold-Forster is a historian of medicine, work, and the emotions. She is a postdoctoral researcher in the Social Studies of Medicine Department at McGill University, and has published on the history of cancer, surgery, and the emotions of healthcare labour. Sam...

Today I welcome political scientist Prakash Kashwan to discuss COVID-19 in India. Prakash Kashwan is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Research Program on Economic and Social Rights, Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut, Storrs. He studies how social and political context shapes outcomes related to the environment, economic development, and social just...

Today I welcome Emma Green, staff writer for the Atlantic magazine and author of the recent article “The Liberals Who Can’t Quit Lockdown.” My guest today! Emma Green is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covers politics, policy, and religion. In 2019, she won three first-place awards from the Religion News Association, and she was recently named the laureate of the 2020 George W. Hunt, S.J...

Today I welcome Carlee Purdum, Assistant Research Professor at the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center at Texas A&M University, to talk about COVID-19, the US prison system, and incarcerated people. Carlee Purdum, Ph. D., is an Assistant Research Professor at the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center at Texas A&M University. Her work focuses on the impact that hazards and disasters have on prisons...

Today, and next week Monday, I will be your guest host! Exactly one year ago, Scott invited me to be a guest on the podcast to discuss disaster research, race, emergency management, and vulnerable communities. On that episode, I talked about the importance of redefining concepts like vulnerability and expanding how we understood the social construction of disasters. As a guest host, I’d like to co...

Welcome to the 292st of the COVIDCalls, a daily discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic with a diverse collection of disaster experts. My name is Scott Gabriel Knowles, I am a historian of disasters at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.  I’m coming to you live from Daejeon, SK. Today I welcome medical Colleen Derkatch to discuss the rhetoric of biomedicine and medical expertises i...

Welcome to the 291st of the COVIDCalls, a daily discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic with a diverse collection of disaster experts. My name is Scott Gabriel Knowles, I am a historian of disasters at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.  I’m coming to you live from Daejeon, SK. My guest today is Colleen Derkatch is Associate Professor of rhetoric in the Department of English. Her...

Welcome to the 290th of the COVIDCalls, a daily discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic with a diverse collection of disaster experts. My name is Scott Gabriel Knowles, I am a historian of disasters at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.  I’m coming to you live from Daejeon, SK. Travis Chi Wing Lau joined the Kenyon faculty in 2020 and is Assistant Professor of English. His researc...

Hello everyone! Welcome to the 289th episode of the COVIDCalls, a daily discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic with a diverse collection of disaster experts. My name is Felicia Henry, I am a PhD Student in the Department of Sociology and Criminal justice at the University of Delaware.  I’m coming to you live from Wilmington, Delaware. For the next three Mondays of June, I will be your guest host! Exa...

Today I welcome Professor Bin (HSU) Xu to discuss COVID-19 and the legacy of the Sichuan Earthquake in China, alongside cultures of mourning around the world today. Bin Xu is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Emory University. His research interests lie at the intersection of politics and culture, including collective memory, civil society, cultural sociology, and social theory. He is the aut...

Today I welcome Sara McBride and Bernadette McBride back to COVIDCalls for a follow up on their lives and work in the 14 months since we first talked. Bernadette McBride has a Masters in Nursing from Gonzaga University and a Masters in Health Education from Whitworth University. She is a registered Nurse Practitioner in Washington State, specializing in geriatric family practice. Bernadette former...

Today I welcome Jenny McConnell Frederick, Artistic Director of the Rorschach Theatre to talk about theatre and performance in pandemic times. Jenny McConnell Frederick is a Washington, DC-based Director, Producer and strong believer in impossible theatre.  She's the co-Artistic Director of Rorschach Theatre which she founded in the summer of 1999 with Randy Baker.  She has directed, produced and...

Today I welcome Indiana University medical school professor Gabriel Bosslet for a discussion of a pulmonary specialist’s life in the pandemic. Gabriel Bosslet is associate professor of clinical medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and is the Program Director for the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship.  Since the pandemic began, he has cared for COVID patients in the I...

Today I welcome Ruth Carlitz for a discussion of COVID in authoritarian regimes. Ruth Carlitz, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tulane University, where she teaches courses on international development and African Politics. Her research focuses primarily on the politics of public goods provision in low-income countries, from the perspectives of both governments and citizens....

Today I welcome journalist Bob Huber to talk about family life in the pandemic. Bob Huber is a longtime magazine editor and writer; his home base for the past 3 decades has been Philadelphia magazine, where he was features editor for a decade. Huber has written features for Esquire, GQ, Details and other national magazines, and has won many awards for his journalism; his work has been anthologized...

Today I welcome Maya Goldenberg, Tara Haelle, Ross Silverman, and Dorit Reiss for a roundtable discussion on COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination. Dorit Rubinstein Reiss is a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Increasingly, her research and activities are focused on legal issues related to vaccines, including exemption laws and tort liability related to non...

Today is a discussion of THE COVID CRISIS IN ELDER CARE with Lori Smetanka and Jasmine Travers. Lori Smetanka is the Executive Director of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, the leading national nonprofit advocacy organization representing consumers receiving long-term care and services in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home and community based settings. Lori h...