What Covid Revealed (Notes from America with Kai Wright)

Oct 05 2024 13 ep. 15

What Covid Revealed (Notes from America with Kai Wright) Podcast artwork

COVID-19 revealed hard truths about our society, but it could also force us to make new choices and transform our lives.

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Writer Siri Hustvedt on James Baldwin’s Complexity

In the third episode of “Notes on a Native Son,” host Razia Iqbal sits down with the celebrated writer of novels and essays, Siri Hustvedt. When Hustvedt was invited to record a conversation for the podcast about her favorite passage from the work of James Baldwin, the timing in so many ways couldn’t have been worse — it turned out to be the last few weeks of life for her h

Civil Rights Lawyer Bryan Stevenson on James Baldwin’s Courage

Host Razia Iqbal sits down with the celebrated civil rights lawyer and activist Bryan Stevenson, a man as dedicated to his chosen profession as James Baldwin was to his. Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, based in Montgomery, Alabama, which has not only transformed the conversation about the disproportionate numbers of incarcerated Black Americans, but has al

Collective Loss, Collective Care

More than half a million Americans - our family, friends, neighbors, loved ones - have lost their lives to the virus over the past year and our collective grief continues to compound, but communities have come together in remarkable ways to take care of themselves. Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Gregory Porter checks in with us on the first anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemi

Lessons From a Year in Isolation

A first draft of history for 2020, told through three very personal efforts to find -- and keep -- human connection amid a pandemic. We hear from 13-year-old Adiva Kaisary about how 2020 has complicated her relationships with her school friends and new neighborhood. Producer Veralyn Williams brings us a story from WNYC’s own reporter Cindy Rodriguez who faced COVID-19 head-on th

Tell It To Me Straight, Doc

Two Black physicians describe the racist history the medical world carries into the COVID-19 vaccine rollout -- and answer listeners’ questions about why we should still get vaccinated. A recent Pew Research Center survey, among others, revealed that Black Americans are by far the most likely to know someone who’s been hospitalized or killed by COVID-19. It also found Black pe

ACT UP, Fight Covid

The HIV epidemic is nearly 40 years old. So what can we learn from that pandemic, as we approach a year of living with COVID-19? When COVID-19 overwhelmed New York City this spring, our executive producer Karen Frillmann was reminded of life in this city in the 1980s. She reached back into the far corners of a closet in her apartment, and dug out a recording that she made decades a

Inside the Pandemic's First Days

After a summer of outdoor dining, hiking, and staying indoors, New York City is on alert… again. Localized COVID spikes across the city have prompted lockdowns of schools and businesses, but the pandemic is back on all our minds, following the diagnosis and hospitalization of President Trump and many of the people around him. Dr. Oxiris Barbot M.D., the former commissioner of the

Rage, Grief, Joy

After months of fear and mourning amid a global pandemic, we’re now in the streets. This week, we talk about catharsis and the ways we gather to fight, to grieve and to show up for each other. We hear from Shanika Hart, First Lady of The Gathering Harlem, on being a Black mom, fighting for Black lives. And we learn about the life of beloved Brooklynite Lloyd Porter, who died of C

Keeping Released Prisoners Safe and Sane

It’s hard enough when there’s no pandemic to keep mentally ill inmates from falling through the holes in a patchwork system. Now it’s harder than ever. A huge number of people who are locked up in this country are mentally ill or addicted to drugs or both. This episode, we go to Cleveland, Ohio to follow a psychiatrist and a social worker as they, first, try to find and, then

Why Covid-19 Is Killing Black People

As black people die from Covid-19 at disproportionate rates, the disease is highlighting health disparities we’ve long known about. Kai Wright speaks with Arline Geronimus, a public health researcher, about what happens to black people’s bodies — on a cellular level — while living in a racist society. Plus, we hear from senior producer Veralyn Williams’ dad, an essential