America Amplified: Life, Community, and COVID-19

The stay-at-home orders to curb the coronavirus pandemic have canceled sports, closed museums and moved church services online. These are all places where we have traditionally found community, and people have had to turn to other ways of creating that sense of communal experience. Hosts Brian Ellison of KCUR of Kansas City and Maiken Scott of WHYY in Philadelphia explore how different groups are still finding that connection during the pandemic. How are these groups adapting? How do they plan to move forward, as localities ease restrictions on gatherings? What are our long-term concerns? Guests include: The Rev. Alyn E. Waller, Senior Pastor of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia; Kaitlin Abdelrahman, organizer with On Call Halal, which delivered meals to hospital staff in Kansas City to break the daily fasts required during Ramadan; Mariya Dostzadah Goodbrake, executive director of Global FC, which works with refugee youth in Kansas City to provide access to soccer opportunities; Dr. Joi Lewis, who works on the ground to create healing space to address trauma and grief in Minneapolis; and Boi Boy, Kansas City artist and drag performer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The coronavirus pandemic’s impact on our health care system may be seen in more ways than in how we manage people with COVID-19. Since March, routine care, scheduled surgeries and wellness exams have been put mostly on hold or done via teleconference. Primary care physicians are at the front lines of care and can help identify issues before they develop into something more serious. Hosts Maiken Scott of WHYY in Philadelphia and Brian Ellison of KCUR in Kansas City discuss what the future of health care may look like. Will physicians rely more on telemedicine? How will this affect the future of the medical profession? What should patients expect of their physicians? You'll hear from: Dr. Neda Frayha, internist and primary care physician in Baltimore; Shantell Williams, recent Truman Medical Center patient; Dr. Catricia Tilford, Pediatrician  at Samuel U. Rodgers Health Clinic; and Raina Merchant, Director of Penn Medicine Center for Digital Health.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the cancellation of long-standing festivals, new rules at theme parks, and concerns over traveling, this summer will be like no other in recent memory. Hosts John Dankosky of New England Public Radio and Rose Scott of WABE in Atlanta discuss the loss of summer as we knew it. We look at the impact on towns that rely on summer tourism, the loss of summer jobs, and what all this means for the future. In addition to callers from across the country, our guests include: Lora Bottinelli, Executive Director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, based in Maryland; Tom Smith, Associate Finance Professor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School; and Paul Gribble, President at Georgia Mountain Cabin Rentals in Blue Ridge, GeorgiaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A virus doesn’t discriminate, so why is it that communities of color have been more vulnerable to COVID-19? Hosts Rose Scott of WABE in Atlanta and John Dankosky of New England Public Radio examine how the coronavirus presents stark racial disparities. According to APM Research Lab, “black Americans represent 13% of the population in all U.S. areas releasing COVID mortality data, but they have suffered 25% of deaths.” Latino and Asian Americans have died at rates roughly equivalent to their population. By comparison, though white Americans represent 61.7% of the combined population, they have experienced 49.3% of deaths. Why is this happening? What is being done to help? And how can we move forward in a way that addresses their needs? In addition to callers from across the nation, our guests include: Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president and dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine; Dr. Orlando Torres of Baystate Health-High Street Health Center in Springfield, Massachusetts; and Vanesa Sarazua, executive director of the Gainesville-based Hispanic Alliance of Georgia, which has worked to combat the pandemic by connecting quarantined poultry plant employees with food assistance.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Though the CDC now recommends everyone wear a cloth mask in public, it has changed its stance in the past. Hosts Mina Kim of KQED in San Francisco and Marty Moss-Coane of WHYY in Philadelphia peel back the complicated layers to the act of wearing a face mask. It's become a divisive political issue, leading to protests and complaints from residents who don’t want to wear them. For others, it’s a matter of personal safety that has nothing to do with health. Will black men be stereotyped for wearing a mask? Now that more businesses are reopening, what’s on people’s minds about face masks? And how do we navigate tense situations? Our guests include: Seema Yasmin,  public health doctor and epidemiologist, director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative University, and an Emmy-award winning journalist; Will Joyce, mayor of Stillwater, Oklahoma, whose city reopened with a plan that included a strong recommendation for masks, requiring employees and customers to wear masks; and Chris Norris, journalist and professional drummer, currently serving as WHYY’s Community Contributor and Engagement Editor.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.