Were the Covid Lockdowns Worth It?
20 March - 49 minsFive years ago, at the urging of federal officials, much of the United States locked down to stop the spread of Covid. Over time, the action polarized the country and changed the relationship between many Americans and their government.
Michael Barbaro speaks to Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee, two prominent political scientists who dispute the effectiveness of the lockdowns, to find out what they think will be required when the next pandemic strikes.
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Guest: Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee, authors of In Covid’s Wake: Ho...
Series Episodes
An American Pope
The world’s 1.4 billion Catholics have a new pope, and for the first time, he is from America. Jason Horowitz, the Rome bureau chief of The New York Times, introduces us to Pope Leo XIV.
28 mins
9 May Finished
A Frightening Moment to Fly
A 90-second failure of Newark Airport’s air-traffic safety systems, which blacked out communication to planes carrying thousands of passengers, has exposed a new level of crisis in air travel. Kate Kelly, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, explains what the problems at one of the country’s biggest airports tell us about air-travel safety in the United States.
31 mins
8 May Finished
What Warren Buffett Understood About Capitalism
A few days ago, Warren Buffett, the most successful investor in history, said he would retire as C.E.O. of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate that he built into a trillion-dollar colossus. Andrew Ross Sorkin, who has covered Mr. Buffett for many years, discusses the career of the man who both personified and critiqued American capitalism.
27 mins
7 May Finished
A Climate Warning From the Fertile Crescent
As the Middle East braces for another year of extreme heat, climate change is turning the soil to dust in the landscape that has long been known as the fertile crescent — and water has become a new source of conflict. Alissa J. Rubin, who covers the Middle East, tells the story of Iraq’s water crisis and what it means for the world.
28 mins
6 May Finished
You Have Questions About the Economy. We Have Answers.
At a time of enormous economic upheaval and uncertainty prompted by President Trump’s trade war, we asked our listeners what they wanted to understand about this financial moment. Ben Casselman, the chief economics correspondent for The New York Times, tries to answer some of those questions.
32 mins
5 May Finished
The Sunday Read: ‘This Is the Holocaust Story I Said I Wouldn’t Write’
When Taffy Brodesser-Akner became a writer, Mr. Lindenblatt, the father of one of her oldest friends, began asking to tell his story of survival during the Holocaust in one of the magazines or newspapers she wrote for. He took pride in telling his story, in making sure he fulfilled what he felt was the obligation of all Holocaust survivors, which was to remind the world what had happened to the Jews. His daughter Ilana knew it was a long shot but felt obligated to pass on the request — it was her father, after all. Taffy declined because after a life hearing about the Holocaust, she said, she was “all Holocausted out.” But, years later, when she learned of Mr. Lindenblatt’s imminent passing, Taffy asked herself what would become of stories like his if the generation of hers that was supposed to inherit them had taken the privilege that came with another generation’s survival and decided not to listen? So here it is, an old Jewish story about the Holocaust and a man who somehow survived the pernicious, organized and intentional genocide of the Jews. But right behind it, just two generations later, is another story, one about the children and grandchildren who have been so malformed by the stories that are their lineage that some of them made just as eager work of running from it, only to find themselves, same as anything you run from, having to deal with it anyway.
1 hour 6 mins
4 May Finished
