Covid-19 and Public Mourning
Ryan Brown discusses the ways we have – and have not – publicly mourned those who have died from Covid-19
Filtering Noisy Advice during Lockdown
Alix Gallagher shares a 2021 lockdown experience, studying at home while filtering the noise from increasing amounts of advice.
Reading Banner’s Communicative Biocapitalism in the Time of Covid-19
What happens to the ‘patient’s voice’ when it participates in the creation of biocapital via digital health platforms? What is the significance of Olivia Banner’s concept of ‘communicative biocapitalism’ in the era of the Covid-19
COVID and its Metaphors
Francisca Bartilotti Matos discusses the metaphors we use to describe COVID-19 and the effect these metaphors have.
Postapocalyptic Peoples? Covid-19, Public Health, and Native Americans
In this post, Anna Kemball reflects on the framing of Native Americans as ‘postapocalyptic’ people in the context of Coronavirus. She discusses the missing public health data on Native American rates of Covid-19 amidst
Private Islands in COVID-19
Lottie Hughes reflects on the public, the private – and Kim Kardashian – during the COVID-19 pandemic
‘Look Out for Changes in Behaviour’: Encephalitis Lethargica and COVID-19
Kate McAllister reflects on parallels between COVID-19 and the early twentieth century epidemic of Encephalitis Lethargica.
Casual Sex on Campus: A History
Kristin Hay discusses the moral panic around student populations after increased access to the contraceptive pill
Listening to the Silence: On Reading Blu’s Hanging During a Pandemic
Reading Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s novel Blu’s Hanging during lockdown, Julia Brown considers the significance of silence during a pandemic.
Contagious! Visiting an Exhibition on Epidemic Diseases
What do objects from a bygone age tell us about epidemics today? Since opening in June, the exhibition Contagious! reflects on the history of pandemics, including patients’ painful experiences, coping and containment strategies, and examples of ground-breaking medical research. Ruben Verwaal reports on his recent visit.