Once-a-century pandemics may place the most acute stress on the infected and those who care for them, but every sector of government and civil society come under strain too. So how has the Fourth Estate performed during these nationally and personally challenging times? The record is decidedly mixed, argue Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Matt Welch on the new Reason Roundtable podcast.
So is the record of the government that those journalists cover. The gang discusses zero-tolerance enforced-distancing madness from Michigan to Mississippi, from Pennsylvania to the beaches of southern California. They also take a peek at proposed post-lockdown surveillance states to come. At least we all have time to read dystopian fiction about pandemics while watching The Prisoner!
Audio production by Ian Keyser and Regan Taylor.
‘Over Time’ by Audionautix is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Relevant links from the show:
“No, NYC Is Not Running Out of Burial Space Due to COVID-19,” by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
“U.K. Media Lobby Wants Government To Force Advertisers to Support Coronavirus Coverage,” by Scott Shackford
“Donald Trump’s Experiment in Radical Press Transparency Is Ugly and Praiseworthy,” by Nick Gillespie
“Why You Shouldn’t Trust Anyone Who Claims 80 Percent of America’s Drugs Come From China,” by Eric Boehm
“Religious Freedom Clashes With Public Health Enforcers,” by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
“Trump Has Secret Emergency Powers?” by Ronald Bailey
“Banning Alcohol Sales During the COVID-19 Pandemic Is a Terrible Idea,” by Baylen Linnekin
“The Surveillance State Thrives During the Pandemic,” by J.D. Tuccille
“Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley Will Do Everything Necessary To Combat Coronavirus (Unless It Involves Deregulation),” by Christian Britschgi
“Will Coronavirus Fears Lead to an Assault on Gun Rights?” by J.D. Tuccille
“Florida City Closes Barbershops Because of Coronavirus, but the Cops Are Still Getting Haircuts,” by Robby Soave
“3 Ways New York Botched the Coronavirus Response in March,” by Matt Welch
“As More Death Data Becomes Available, COVID-19 Looks Less and Less Like the Flu,” by Ronald Bailey
“Flawed Economic Policies Will Exacerbate the Pandemic,” by Veronique de Rugy
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