With the pandemic still crawling along, and with so much of the dominant narrative telling us it’s over, we thought it would be helpful to have a discussion about the plague. So our good friend, philosopher and writer and editor at Spectre Holly Lewis, joins us to talk disease, capitalism, ideology, and reclaiming our cultural experiences for the sake of resistance and joy. We discuss the repeated assertion the pandemic is over, only to face another surge, another variant, and more deaths, as well as the split between the right-wing, liberal, and a left approach to the virus and what it really would mean to “learn to live with the pandemic.” Also, a faulty computer is deciding people’s deaths. Good luck.
Articles discussed in this episode:
Daniel Sarah Karasik, “Against Pandemic Realism,” Midnight Sun.
“Missing Days,” Locust Review, issue 7. (On its way to subscribers mailboxes, also posted on the Locust Review Patreon for subscribers…),
Kallie Cox, “Born Again Labor Museum offers free Communist Manifestos,” The Southern Illinoisan.
Shirin Ali, “'Huge, huge numbers': insurance group sees death rates up 40 percent over pre-pandemic levels,” The Hill.
Book and pamphlets discussed:
Albert Camus, The Plague
Mike Davis, The Monster Enters: COVID-19, Avian Flu, and the Plagues of Capitalism (Verso, 2022)
Hal Draper, The Mind of Clark Kerr (October 1964)
Daniel DeFoe, Journal of the Plague Year
Mary Shelley, The Last Man
Locust Radio is hosted by Tish Turl and Adam Turl, and produced by Alexander Billet and Drew Franzblau. Music by Omnia Sol.
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