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Australians are on lockdown, so going outside to take out the trash is an opportunity to put on a show. Host Marco Werman tells us about the “Bin isolation outing” Facebook group, which has amassed more than half a million members in under two weeks. 

To talk about the pandemic is to talk about numbers: the number of infections, deaths, recoveries, respirators needed, or the number of points the Dow dropped. Italian writer Paolo Giordano used to find comfort in numbers, but not these days. Marco Werman talks to the physicist-turned-writer, who just released the book, “How Contagion Works: Science, Awareness and Community in Times of Global Cris...

Astronaut Cady Coleman, who spent nearly six months living on the International Space Station, shares lessons on surviving social isolation. The World's Amanda McGowan reports.

Businesses, including some manufacturing and construction firms, are reopening in Spain as new cases of Covid-19 begin to decline. But most Spaniards are still stuck in their homes, and some say lifting restrictions now is needlessly endangering lives. The World's Marco Werman speaks with Madrid resident and landscape architect Beatriz Garcia Rios.

Many of the healthcare workers battling Covid-19 in places like New York and California are undocumented immigrants, working in the US because of DACA, an Obama-era program that enables some to receive work permits. But their ability to continue working now could hinge on a Supreme Court decision about whether to shut the program down. The World’s Marnette Federis has our story.

We hear music by Vusi Mahlasela, written for Nelson Mandela while he was in prison. A reminder from Marco that when times are tough, it can be helpful to think of others who've had it worse. 

Why do pandemics happen? That's a question religious thinkers have been trying to answer for a long, long time. The World's Matthew Bell talked with some faith leaders about how they put things like COVID-19 into a religious perspective. 

We hear from listener Ali, from Portland,Oregon, a recent convert to Islam who misses gathering to pray with others. 

Buddhists believe the path to enlightenment requires periods of detachment from the world. So self-quarantine offers an opportunity. The World's Marco Werman checks in with Karma Lekshe Tsomo, a Buddhist nun and professor of world religions at the University of San Diego, to talk about the role of meditation and reflection during the spread of COVID-19. 

In his response to Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is appealing to Hindu beliefs, while Muslims are being blamed for spreading the disease. The World's Rupa Shenoy reports.