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Welcome to “COVID Conversations: Society, Politics and Economics amid the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a podcast series from the College of Arts & Sciences designed to help you make sense of the extraordinary social measures and economic impacts unfolding in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hosted by College faculty members Jonathan Weiler and Matthew Andrews, the podcast features sought-after, expert researchers on UNC’s faculty and the episodes will focus on immediate concerns driving headlines.
You can also subscribe to the podcast for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music and Stitcher. Transcripts for all episodes are available on this site and at the links below.
- Episode 1: “Herd Immunity: What does it take for a vaccine to protect a population?”
- Featuring medical geographer Paul Delamater, assistant professor in the department of geography and a fellow at the Carolina Population Center
- Episode 2: “Urban Pandemic: Why have cities had such different experiences?”
- Featuring Yan Song, professor of city and regional planning and director of UNC’s Program on Chinese Cities; and Noreen McDonald, Department Chair, Thomas Willis Lambeth Distinguished Professor, Director of Carolina Transportation Program
- Episode 3: “Politics, Polarization and the Pandemic: How a crisis tests beliefs”
- Featuring Marc Hetherington, Raymond Dawson Distinguished Bicentennial Professor of Political Science
- Episode 4: “Your Season is Canceled: Will sports lose their relevance on campus in the wake of COVID-19?”
- Andrews, whose work looks at the links between sports and American history and culture, talks with Weiler about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on sports.
- Episode 5: “Essential and Exposed: Gig workers in the lockdown economy”
- Featuring Alexandrea Ravenelle, assistant professor of sociology
- Episode 6: “Italian Plague Stories and the Meaning of Pandemics”
- Featuring Maggie Fritz-Morkin, assistant professor of Romance studies
- Episode 7: “Youth Caregivers and the Hidden Defenders of Vulnerable Families”
- Featuring Elizabeth Olson, professor and chair of geography
- Episode 8: “When Does Social Distancing Become Social Isolation?”
- Featuring Mitch Prinstein, professor of psychology and neuroscience
- Episode 9: “Infectious Diseases from AIDS to COVID-19”
- Featuring Myron Cohen, professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology at the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health and School of Medicine
- Episode 10: “Black Communities and Pandemics”
- Featuring Karla Slocum, anthropology professor
- Episode 11: “Race, COVID and the Fine Arts”
- Featuring Karen Slack, international opera singer
- Episode 12: “COVID and the Costs of Partisanship”
- Featuring Marc Hetherington, Raymond Dawson Distinguished Bicentennial Professor of Political Science