Masks, freedom, and toxic masculinity
From a brief interview with Anand Giridharadas about the American aversion to masks.
Two posts in retrospect
Two posts about the pandemic that look strange in retrospect.
A suggestion from Annie Atkins
From a series of COVID-era postcards.
Zweig’s world
In the age of the coronavirus, the title of Stefan Zweig’s memoir acquires new significance.
Sociopathy unmasked
My little corner of Illinois is a coronavirus hotspot, thanks to freedom-loving asshats of all shapes and sizes.
“Existential”
The New York Times reports on college towns in the time of the coronavirus.
Mail, real mail
The New York Times reports on snail mail in the time of the coronavirus.
“People pushed to the edge”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, writing in the Los Angeles Times: “What you should see when you see black protesters in the age of Trump and coronavirus is people pushed to the edge, not because they want bars and nail salons open, but because they want to live. To breathe.”
Letters, now
In the time of the coronavirus, Lynell George suggests writing letters.
Polls
“Coronavirus Polling,” from xkcd.
“Or a college of any kind”
Responding to a question about his contact with families of coronavirus patients, Donald Trump* yesterday went off in all directions. The slap came at the end.
Comic strips in a pandemic
The New York Times looks at comics in the time of the coronavirus.
The perils of inattention
The Washington Post reports that “U.S. intelligence agencies issued warnings about the novel coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for President Trump in January and February.”
So many
Manu Dibango. Ellis Marsalis. Bucky Pizzarelli. Wallace Roney. Adam Schlesinger. Bill Withers. All but Bill Withers from the coronavirus.
Dilettantism and sociopathy
“This is dilettantism raised to the level of sociopathy”: Michelle Goldberg on Jared Kushner’s role in the White House’s coronavirus response.
“Meaning everyone”
In The New York Times, Virginia Heffernan writes about attending virtual Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in the time of the coronavirus.
Keeping our distance
“They don’t know about social distancing. These are countries that aren’t highly sophisticated.” Not like our country, where the president stands shoulder to shoulder with the day’s cast, all of them getting to touch the same microphone. Not like our country, where the governor of Georgia learned only yesterday that people with no symptoms can transmit the coronavirus.
Rewriting history
The New York Times: “The president tried to rewrite his history with advising Americans about the coronavirus. His own words prove him wrong.” Or as a non-Times writer once put it, “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
Paranoia and magical thinking
“Last week Trump told aides he’s afraid journalists will try to purposefully contract coronavirus to give it to him on Air Force One.”
Community spread
“A resident of Washington, D.C., has been identified as the source of the community spread of coronavirus misinformation throughout the United States.”
Coronavirus advice
Advice from James Robb, pathologist.
And then there were three
Pence is “one of three people designated as the administration’s primary coronavirus official.” Pence has appointed Dr. Deborah L. Birx as White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator. And Alex M. Azar II chairs a coronavirus task force.