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In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, cruises were the poster-child of viral spread. For the world’s largest cruise company, Carnival Cruise Line, the problems began in February and quickly escalated, as more passengers and crew fell ill, and Carnival struggled to dock its cruise liners. As ships went from floating cities to floating quarantines, what did the bosses know, and when did the...

More than 700 cases of COVID-19 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota can be traced back to the city’s Smithfield pork packaging plant. Weeks before the coronavirus outbreak was confirmed, employees were asking for protective measures that didn’t materialize until it was too late. And Smithfield isn’t unique: Meatpacking facilities across the country are also struggling to minimize the spread of the virus....

No one thought 2020 was going to be a boring election year. Several key Senate seats are in play, presenting Democrats with a real shot at winning back the chamber. However, with an unstable economy and a critical phase of the campaign cycle going virtual, candidates are facing new challenges.  Guest: Jim Newell , Slate’s senior politics writer Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free pod...

Ever since COVID-19 surfaced in Florida, local journalists began wondering how the virus was going to impact nursing home residents and employees. For weeks the facilities and the state's health department were reluctant to release data on the more than 600 assisted care centers. On Saturday, Governor Ron DeSantis finally released a list of nursing homes with confirmed cases, but only after pressu...

Before the U.S. can start opening back up, states will need to put systems in place for “contact tracing,” or meticulous tracking of the disease within communities. South Korea’s extensive tracing program has all but eliminated the spread of the virus within its borders. What will it take for the U.S. to do the same? Guests: Raphael Rashid , a freelance journalist, and Dr. Mike Reid , professor at...

Before the U.S. can start opening back up, states will need to put systems in place for “contact tracing,” or meticulous tracking of the disease within communities. South Korea’s extensive tracing program has all but eliminated the spread of the virus within its borders. What will it take for the U.S. to do the same? Guests: Raphael Rashid , a freelance journalist, and Dr. Mike Reid , professor at...

The summer is going to be marked by the slow process of learning to live with coronavirus looming. The United States is going to have to rethink what “normal” means. Guest: Ed Yong, Science writer for The Atlantic Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back in January, the Trump administration was caught flat footed in its response to the coronavirus pandemic. Politico’s Dan Diamond took a look back at the past 20 years of pandemic preparedness in the United States and found that former administrations weren’t exactly proactive either.  Guest: Dan Diamond , Health Reporter for POLITICO Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast fe...

Washington is still struggling to put the U.S. economy on ice while we wait out the coronavirus. Maybe you’re expecting your government check this week. Maybe you’re a small business owner looking for a loan. Is help on the way? And, if not, what’s the hold-up? Guest: Jordan Weissmann , Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast...

At hospitals throughout the country another fight is beginning to spill into the public eye. This one between hospital administrators and their workers who have been put in harm's way. As nurses push for better working conditions, COVID-19 is laying bare a tension that has existed in hospitals and the health care system for many, many years. Guest: Zenei Cortez, RN at Kaiser Permanente South San F...

As governments around the world try to predict the toll and duration of the coronavirus, they’re turning increasingly to a handful of forecasting models for answers. But many of the leading models differ drastically in their approach and methods. What do we need to know about these forecasts? And what are their limitations? Guest: Jordan Ellenberg , mathematics professor at the University of Wisco...

As governments around the world try to predict the toll and duration of the coronavirus, they’re turning increasingly to a handful of forecasting models for answers. But many of the leading models differ drastically in their approach and methods. What do we need to know about these forecasts? And what are their limitations? Guest: Jordan Ellenberg , mathematics professor at the University of Wisco...

The Navy prides itself on being ready for just about anything. Sailors are even trained to fight fires, if need be. But when the coronavirus started rapidly spreading aboard the USS Roosevelt in early March, the ship’s captain sent out an SOS. Instead of a calm and collected response, the Navy’s top leadership imploded.  Guest: Adam Weinstein , national security editor at The New Republic.  Slate...

By now, Americans are getting used to the patterns of the coronavirus. It largely preys on the elderly and people with certain underlying health conditions. But as cities and towns start compiling the racial data of COVID-19 patients, new trends are making public health officials sound another alarm. Black people are getting sick and dying at shocking rates—and the virus is only part of the reason...

Concerns over the coronavirus outbreak are colliding with partisan trench warfare in Wisconsin. Voters are stuck in the crosshairs.  Guest: Mark Joseph Stern , Slate’s courts and law correspondent.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rikers Island was not built to slow a pandemic. Buildings are decrepit, and the churn of guards and new inmates makes infectious diseases incredibly hard to contain. Over the past several weeks, Rikers has released more than 600 inmates in an attempt to lessen the public health threat posed by a Covid-19 outbreak in the jail complex. But it’s not clear that will be enough. Guest: Rachael Bedard ,...

This week, workers at Amazon, Whole Foods, and Instacart have announced mass strikes across the country. Though demand for these services is high, pay and protection is low. What exactly do we owe to the delivery workers at the front lines of the pandemic? And with these companies hiring in record numbers, can the strikes succeed? Guests: Heidi Carrico, founding member of the  Gig Workers Collecti...

This week, workers at Amazon, Whole Foods, and Instacart have announced mass strikes across the country. Though demand for these services is high, pay and protection is low. What exactly do we owe to the delivery workers at the front lines of the pandemic? And with these companies hiring in record numbers, can the strikes succeed? Guests: Heidi Carrico, founding member of the Gig Workers Collectiv...

“Politically incorrect since 1971.” That’s the unofficial motto of Liberty University, an evangelical college located in Lynchburg, Virginia headed by Jerry Falwell Jr. The school and its president take pride in bucking conventional wisdom, so when Jerry Falwell Jr. began to downplay concerns over COVID-19, echoing the rhetoric of the White House in early March, students and staff took notice. Rut...

The CDC could soon be changing its guidelines on whether the American public should be wearing masks to combat the spread of COVID-19. What does the data say about mask usage? And how do we calculate the answer for ourselves? Guest: Aaron E. Carroll , professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. He blogs at a website called The Incidental Economist . He’ll also answer your cor...

As COVID-19 cases continue to mount across the country, many states are still preparing for the virus to hit their populations with full force. In Florida, state officials have voiced concerns about shutting down the economy, while local officials have noted surging hospitalizations in their cities. Now, some mayors are no longer waiting for the governor to order a lockdown.  Guest: Jane Castor ,...

Just a few weeks ago, officials were saying the coronavirus outbreak posed a relatively low risk for people living in New York City. How did health experts and government officials misread the threat so completely? And what can the rest of the country learn from what’s happening in New York now? Guest: Elizabeth Kim , senior editor for Gothamist and WNYC.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and...

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence.  Sign up now  to listen and support our work. The United States failed to roll out widespread testing in the early days of the pandemic. Now it faces critical shortages of supplies as it scrambles to track the disease around the country. Until testing is available at scale, Americans won’t be able...

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence.  Sign up now  to listen and support our work. The United States failed to roll out widespread testing in the early days of the pandemic. Now it faces critical shortages of supplies as it scrambles to track the disease around the country. Until testing is available at scale, Americans won’t be able...

What happens when the people on the frontlines get sick? An ER doctor shares her experience with coronavirus as doctor and patient. Guest: Dara Kass , Emergency medicine physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.