Social Distance Podcast

My third conversation with Lisa. Her mom, Rene, was hospitalized with Covid symptoms on June 24th, and intubated by June 30th. Lisa spoke with me on Sunday, July 12th, at 0830 Melbourne time. From Lisa: 'Thank you for all the kind words and sharing. Some folks have asked about donations - we have chosen the Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation (http://affcf.org) in memory of Rene Self. Mom was a foster child herself and worked with the needful her whole life.'

When I first spoke with Lisa on 16th of June 2020, the State of Arizona had recorded 39,097 cases of Covid-19 in total and 1,219 deaths. When we caught up again on July 5th 2020 those numbers were 98,103 cases and 1,825 deaths. Lisa's mother is one of those cases, and at the time of recording was on a ventilator in an intensive care Covid ward in Phoenix.

Kevin McManus is a public defender in the city of San Antonio, Texas. We spoke on Friday 26th June 2020, at which point the USA had 2,452.567 confirmed cases of Covid and 122,550 confirmed deaths. We talk summer in San Antonio, local and national responses to Covid, Ireland, activism and the growing spike in cases in TX. At the time of writing - Saturday 28th - the US has 2,469,441 confirmed cases. Johns Hopkins University COVID Tracker: https://www.covidtracker.com/

On 16th of June, the State of Arizona reported 2,392 new cases of Covid-19. The day before, 1014. To date there have been 39,097 cases in total, and 1,219 deaths. Lisa Phillips talks to me about trying to stay sane and safe in a state where many people resolutely refuse to take Covid-19 as a serious personal threat. We talk about home working, crazy conspiracy theories and Covid-Karaoke. Which is actually just Karaoke, but ignoring the Covid bit.

Jeez a week can seem like a long time. Chris and me recorded this conversation a week ago - on May 28th 2020 - down a messy line from Glasgow, Scotland. It was a couple of hours before the easing of some Covid restrictions in Scotland. In the intervening days Covid-19 has been shifted off the front pages a bit by the un-folding events in the USA. It sort of seems like a world ago. Chris and me touch on UK deaths from Covid-19; Dominic Cummings and UK government hypocrisy; writing under lockdown and some thoughts on Spain's emergence from lockdown. And trying to understand people who you don't understand.

A conversation about systemic racism in the USA, police violence against protestors in Seattle and the fucked up nature of the mayoral response to the protests. Sarah is a journalist and educator in Seattle. Her article 'Disaster Progressivism' is here: https://southseattleemerald.com/2020/05/21/disaster-progressivism-having-the-guts-to-imagine-more/

"...like when I drive by in the car and I'm seeing some guy lying in the street I'm like, 'That's a human being. Lying on the street...' That to me is just deep, deep injustice...The most marginalized, the most traumatized, and yeah you know what? You, can sleep in the street as well too." If the urgency of the Covid-19 response is teaching us anything, it's that where there's a will there can be a way. Simon Colgan's a doctor in Calgary in Canada, where he founded CAMPP, an agency to provide palliative care for people who are homeless or in vulnerable housing situations. Amongst other things, he says, if a pandemic can lead to a city finding accommodation for homeless people in very short order, why can't it happen in 'normal' circumstances? He talks about the privilege of working in palliative care; the regrettable need to evaluate health services in terms of value for money; the deserving and undeserving poor and how his Northern Ireland beligerence contributes to his sense of social justice. You can make a donation to support the work of CAMPP here: https://netcommunity.ucalgary.ca/CAMPP You can find details of their work here: http://campp.ca/ And you can watch the film featuring Shawn and Barbie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TKLjEOA4IQ#action=share

Sunday Essa was working as a receptionist in a small hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, when the lockdown there came into effect on March 30th. Since then he hasn't been able to work. A phased easing came into effect on May 4th, but Sunday is one of many who are still unable to even look for work until the next stage of the process. We spoke on Wednesday 20th May 2020.

Until March of this year, Aminat Chokobaeva was based in Kazakhstan, where she's an academic at Nazarayev University. She returned to her home city of Bishkek in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan in March this year as her grandmother was gravely ill. Aminat is still there, weeks after her grandmother died. She shares her experiences of losing a loved one and planning a funeral in lockdown times, and the prospect of teaching online for the foreseeable future. And we also touch on the fascinating nature of Aminat's grandmother's work - she was an administrator during the years of Soviet rule and the early years of independence. This conversation was recorded on Monday 18th May 2020.

What happens when a system that's designed to be cruel to the 'undeserving' poor suddenly has to be used to help the 'deserving' poor as well? In March 2020 freelance writer Tom Hawking wrote in the Guardian Australia about his encounter with Centrelink, the Australian government's agency responsible for administering welfare payments. Tom's piece touches on sticky questions like (and I'm paraphrasing here) "What becomes of the treasured myth of the dole bludger if we're all on the dole?" So I gave him a ring and we had a chat - about how each Australian government tries to outdo its predecessor with a 'tough-on-benefits-claimants' stance, and about working as a freelance writer when nobody's commissioning pieces. Tom Hawking's piece for Guardian Australia is here: 'The Australian welfare system has always been needlessly cruel. Now it's punishing half the country.' https://bit.ly/2Wu1W8z And you can find more of his work here: https://www.tomhawking.com/

What happens when you have one state containing four countries and one of them starts to relax lockdown rules before the other three, even as infection rates continue rising? Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are about to find out. On May 10th the UK government - led by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson - announced that restrictions would begin to ease, kind of, but kind of not. Well, maybe. Ehm...but...'Stay Alert.' Confused? You're not alone. From Scotland, writer Chris Dolan gives me his perspective on the Scottish response to the muddled messages emerging from Westminster, and his personal thoughts on how we might shape the future world into which we're now headed.

'Contact tracing.' It's just one of the terms that's become part of our everyday vocabulary in the past few months (like 'social distancing' and 'flattening the curve'.) But what does it mean? How does it actually work? 'It's a bit like being an investigator,' Colette Cunningham tells me in this conversation. She is a lecturer in the school of public health at University College Cork, in Ireland. She's worked in public health for many years in many different countries, so she brings - if I'm being honest - an awesome range of experience to her work during Covid-19 crisis in Ireland. We talk about inequalities in the impact of Covid-19 - on homeless people, asylum seekers and other vulnerable populations. About mental health consequences of the economic fallout. About bringing international expertise to bear on a public health emergency in Ireland. And having a weekend off, at last. Colette Cunningham directs the Online Master of Public Health (MPH) course at University College Cork, in Ireland. You can find details here: https://www.ucc.ie/en/publichealth//people/estaff/ccunningham/ We spoke on Saturday May 9th, 2020.

Montreal in Quebec has been especially hard hit by Covid-19. Stacey Zammit joins me to reflect on the uncertainty facing the city she loves as the spring arrives. She also talks about her work with Land Portal. Land Portal's website describes its purpose pretty concisely: 'Securing Land Rights Through Open Data.' So we touch on the unfolding impacts of Covid-19 on vulnerable populations worldwide, particularly those many of whom are dependent on casual labour and live in informal settlements. You can find more about Land Portal here - and seriously, you should check it out. There are lots of really interesting, different perspectives on the impacts of the crisis in different places. https://landportal.org/

At the time of writing (7th May 2020) Sri Lanka has officially recorded nine deaths from Covid-19, which is a very small proportion of the population. Malathi de Alwis is a socio-cultural anthropologist based in Colombo. She joined me to offer some context for the government's handling of the pandemic and the idea of curfew; the impact of migrant workers from Sri Lanka returning home; and the radicalization of victims of Covid-19. And we chat about Malathi's research into disappearance, the uses of maternalism in political protest, and the importance of remembering. One of Malathi de Alwis's most recent projects is The Archive Of Memory: http://historicaldialogue.lk/link/archive-of-memory/ The Archive uses 70 narrative fragments to reflect on each year since Sri Lanka gained its independence from Great Britain, each tied to a specific physical object. 'They recall turning points in our history through mundane, everyday objects as well as unique artifacts and souvenirs. Such an exercise not only entails the collection of oral histories but also looks at objects as aide-mémoire or mnemonic devices.' I spoke with Malathi de Alwis on Wednesday 6th May 2020.

It's the first day of post-lockdown life in Italy. I say post-lockdown life, but partial post-lockdown life is probably a more accurate description. Travel within your own region is allowed, as are visits to relatives provided you wear a mask. Radio producer and translator Amanda Hargreaves takes me on a walk to the fruit shop to get oranges in warm sunshine and we chat about lockdown haircuts, traffic jams and what the future might or might not look like.

A chat with a news editor based in Bejing. Touching on the nature of the city to an outsider, competing narratives about the origins of COVID-19 and the challenge of getting reliable information in a tightly controlled society.

Lars Stegelmann is an engineer and a friend who I met first en route to a wedding in northern California in 2008. I picked him up in San Francisco and we drove up the coast, and I have this vivid memory of him, late on the night of the wedding, dancing with a floor brush. Anyway, after a long spell living near Kingston, Ontario, he returned to Germany in the summer of 2019. We spoke on Thursday 28th of April 2020, about supply chains (Lars works in global operations for Bombardier, the aircraft and rail manufacturer), paradigm shifts (yes, I really did use that phrase) home working and home schooling.

Maintaining good sanitation in a city that's partially underwater is a huge challenge. Simon Peter Mwesigye lives and works in Kampala, Uganda, where the level of Lake Victoria is the highest it's been in decades. He talked to me about the difficulties that poses for people living in low lying areas, often in informal settlements. Recorded on Thursday 23rd of April at 2200 Melbourne time.

Everlyne Nairesiae is a Kenyan, working for UN-Habitat in Nairobi. She is a land tenure and gender specialist, and talks to me about the challenges faced by vulnerable communities in both rural and urban settings as a result of COVID-19. Recorded on Wednesday 22nd of April 2020 at 2030 Melbourne time.

Ali Igmen is Professor of History and Director of the Oral History Program at California State University at Long Beach. I asked him if there's anything to be learned from the experience of former Soviet republics when it comes to seismic changes to a way of life; about how it feels to be in California after nearly a month of the 'Shelter In Place' order. We talk about Kyrgyz theater during the Soviet era - about which I know almost nothing - and several other matters. And once again, I get anxious about authoritarian governments.

Episode 8 - Katy Connors in Portland, Oregon. Katy Connors is Operations Manager for two restaurants in Portland, Oregon. Her husband is a chef. They were both laid off on the same day. We chat about watching a catastrophe coming towards you and taking refuge in community. About uncertainty (if you listen to other episodes you'll be sensing a theme here...) How the restaurant industry as whole will be utterly transformed when we emerge from the current crisis. Rationing your exposure to Trump. And I get anxious again about the police and government hoarding power like a panic shopper buying up all the flour and bog roll.

'No cars, no noises, apart from ambulances.' Giulia Baldinelli is a social scientist who was born in Rome and lives there still. She talks about a noisy city strangely quiet, the impact of the current crisis on some of the most vulnerable in society, and the difficulty of imagining what kind of country Italy will be when it emerges from its current struggle. Recorded on Tuesday 15th of April 2020.

Hana Zahir is an economist who specializes in gender issues. She works for the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan, based in Lahore. It's a city she describes as vibrant, cosmopolitan and - now - uncharacteristically quiet. We begin with a bit of background about Hana's work evaluating the impact of government policies on society. From there we touch on the legal rights of women to inherit land in Pakistan; the seasons of the city; the impact of the current pandemic on day to day life and how the most vulnerable groups in society are faring. A fascinating perspective on the global pandemic. Recorded on April 10th 2020 at 1600 Lahore time.

Kate Burke is a musician: a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist based in rural New South Wales. In this chat we range far and wide: the impact of the pandemic on musicians; similarities between the bush fire crisis and the current situation; local, diverse activism; the decline of traditional party politics; family and the possibility of positive change. You can find The New Graces album Kate was talking about here: https://thenewgraces.com/ And links to her other work: lukeplumbandkateburke.com kateandruth.com troubleinthekitchen.com

Poet Pádraig Ó Tuama on strange times, COVID-19 responses from the Republic of Ireland and UK governments, and the challenges ahead for all of us. You can find links to Padraig's work here: http://www.padraigotuama.com/

Chris Dolan is a writer living and working in Glasgow, in the west of Scotland. He and I worked on a couple of doccos together back in the early 2000s, and we had a great time. But this is the first time we've reconnected since, which seems strange, but in keeping with the times I suppose.

Marcie Sillman is senior reporter for Arts and Culture at KUOW, one of the public radio stations in Seattle Washington. Kirkland, just to the east of Seattle, was one of the first US cities to report a surge in cases of COVID-19. Recorded on Thursday 26th March at 0700 Melbourne time (AEDT).

First chat. I used to work with Amanda Hargreaves in Scotland. She's a freelance radio producer living in Rome. After seven years there, she and her family were just on the cusp of moving back to the UK. Then COVID-19 happened. Recorded on Tuesday 24th March 2020 at 1500 Rome time.