Death Panel

Bea speaks with Ellie Murray about why mask mandates work to reduce the impact of the pandemic, why simply "recommending" masking doesn't, and how the results of a study she co-authored directly contradict recently revived media claims that "masks work, but mandates don't."

Find Ellie's study in NEJM here: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2211029

As always, support Death Panel at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod

Find our book Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Death Panel merch here (patrons get a discount code): www.deathpanel.net/merch

Subscribe on Patreon and hear this week's full patron-exclusive episode here: www.patreon.com/posts/79655098

Bea, Artie, and Phil discuss how two narratives have recently gained significant traction in mainstream discourse: first, the lab leak theory, by way of vague speculation from government officials; and second, the idea that masking doesn't protect against covid, by way of the much-maligned Cochrane review of masking.

Get Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Runtime 1:16:40, 6 March 2023

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Bea and Abby speak with Kim Garrett about the train derailment in East Palestine as part of the ongoing disaster of industrial capitalism, the environmental impacts of not just industrial accidents but everyday industry, and how our healthcare system fails to address the needs of those put in harm's way.

Kim Garrett is an environmental health researcher working at the intersection of environmental toxicology, public health, and environmental justice.

As always, support Death Panel at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod

Find our book Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Death Panel merch here (patrons get a discount code): www.deathpanel.net/merch

Subscribe on Patreon and hear this week's full patron-exclusive episode here: www.patreon.com/posts/79282210

Bea and Abby speak with Adia Benton about how neoliberalism constrains what public health interventions are considered possible while simultaneously expanding what political issues can be depoliticized as simply a "public health issue." We also look at some of Adia's statements from early in the pandemic on the role of austerity in shaping the covid response, and discuss how development and NGO work shapes the political economy of health.

Adia Benton is a cultural anthropologist who studies global health, biomedicine, and the political economy of humanitarianism. She is a Professor of Anthropology and African Studies at Northwestern University and the author of HIV Exceptionalism: Development through Disease in Sierra Leone.

Get Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Runtime 1:31:05, 27 February 2023

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In Part 2 of this two-part series, we speak to a few people engaged in organizing and political education projects about their experiences trying to incorporate covid protections into their existing organizing work, wins and losses they've encountered, and why it's so important for the left to take covid seriously, even as the public health emergency comes to a close.

In Part 2, we speak with Becca (beginning at 02:30), Raia Small (beginning at 32:00), and Kelly Hayes (1:01:20).

As always, support Death Panel at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod

Find our book Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Death Panel merch here (patrons get a discount code): www.deathpanel.net/merch

Today's patron episode went extra long, so we felt the best thing to do considering the topic was to post the whole first half as today's public "teaser." Subscribe on Patreon and hear this week's full patron-exclusive episode here: www.patreon.com/posts/78966968

Bea and Jules speak with Vicky Osterweil about the recent open letter to the New York Times critical of apparent bias in paper's reporting on trans people.

In the first half, we get into the letter, the coverage that provoked it, and the Times' dismal response to the criticism so far. In the second half, we get into the conceptual problems with the coverage and some of the deeper issues in the liberal "just asking questions" framework.

Get Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Runtime 1:58:49, 20 February 2023

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In this two-part series, we speak to a few people engaged in organizing and political education projects about their experiences trying to incorporate covid protections into their existing organizing work, wins and losses they've encountered, and why it's so important for the left to take covid seriously, even as the public health emergency comes to a close.

In Part 1, we speak with Alex (beginning at 03:30), a student organizer at a university in the northeast US, and Reina Sultan (beginning at 54:30), a co-creator of 8 to Abolition. Part 2 will be released as next week's public episode.

As always, support Death Panel at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod

TRANSCRIPT: www.deathpanel.net/transcripts/organizing-and-covid-19-part-1

Find our book Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Death Panel merch here (patrons get a discount code): www.deathpanel.net/merch

Subscribe on Patreon and hear this week's full patron-exclusive episode here: www.patreon.com/posts/78645421

Bea, Artie, and Phil look at the fallout of the announcement that the public health emergency will end on May 11th, including a number of lines the Biden administration has used to defend the move that don't add up, and contention over what is and isn't part of the emergency declaration.

Get Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Runtime 1:13:45, 13 February 2023

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We look back at how such a basic intervention as masking during a pandemic became increasingly scrutinized, undermined, and ultimately stigmatized in mainstream discourse over the last three years.

This episode was originally a patron exclusive posted December 19th 2022. If you enjoy this episode, consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod.

Find our book Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Death Panel merch here (patrons get a discount code): www.deathpanel.net/merch

As always, support Death Panel at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod

Subscribe on Patreon and hear this week's full patron-exclusive episode here: www.patreon.com/posts/78308989

Beatrice speaks to Megan Linton about the past and present of institutionalization in Canada, the impact of the ongoing pandemic on the population in long term care and nursing homes, Canada's medical assistance in dying program, and Megan's documentary podcast series Invisible Institutions, which just wrapped its first season.

Megan Q. Linton is a writer, researcher and doctoral student who studies and challenges the political economy of institutionalization in Canada, and the producer, writer, and host of the documentary podcast series “Invisible Institutions.”

Get Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism

Runtime 1:33:29

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