March 2020 Metacast

Transcript

(Alasdair) Hi everyone, Alasdair here.

We’re not going to ask how you are right now, because we have a pretty good idea. You’re fine. You’re FINE. You’re the same version of fine as everyone right now, the one Aerosmith sang about. The one where you’re alternately anxious, terrified, furious and calm.

We empathise. We’re the same.

This metacast was originally written nearly two weeks ago now. It’s been edited every single day since, because that’s how so many of us are living our lives at the moment. Day to day. Change to change.

We’re not going to dwell on the details because that’s all we’re sometimes capable of doing. This is deeply frightening on every level and will be for … the foreseeable future we think. Anyone who says differently is not someone you should be standing within 6 feet of. Literally and metaphorically.

As a friend of mine put it, ‘I’m tired of being part of a major historical event’ and we all are.

No one is making light of the situation. I’m just going to remind you of this: it will pass. Before and after that time, a lot of us are going to be spending a lot of time alone and, in some cases, seriously ill. In situations like this, certainty is both in short supply and a form of kindness. I know a lot of my core anxiety in the last year (or as it’s otherwise known, March) has been tied up in that uncertainty.

Here’s how we at EA want to help.

First, our new episodes will continue on their normal release schedules every week. We’re taking the Escape in Escape Artists seriously, and fiction is the refuge of many. One change: if an episode deals with disease, pandemics or related topics, we’ll absolutely warn you up front both in the episode and on the website.

Second, we’re making an effort to step up our social media presence on Twitter, Discord, our forum and our Patreon page. We’re going to start rolling out Twitch events. Come by and say hello or just log in and leave us in the background if you’re in need of familiar voices.

Third, our back catalogue has over 2400 episodes. No matter what form of escape you need, chances are good we have something that will fit the bill. Have requests for playlists or topics? Let us know. Our experts are standing by.

Fourth, the EA family has started up the hashtag #EscapeRead across social media. We’ll be talking about how we’re tackling our TBR piles and taking solace in fiction. The more the merrier.

(Marguerite) Hello all, this is Marguerite.

We’ve all been receiving emails from companies about what they’re doing to tackle the pandemic and if you’re like me, the only thing that interests you in those messages is how the company is ensuring the health, safety, and security of their teams. Here’s what EA is doing.

To date, we haven’t heard of any cases of Covid-19 among the EA family. How accurate that is, no one knows – many countries like the US and UK have completely failed to adequately test for the virus. But we’re unbelievably grateful our people are doing okay so far.

We’re in near-daily contact with our teams to make sure they have support and good communication. We are so lucky to work with a brilliant collection of people around the world, and their individual and collective outreach has been awe inspiring.

There has been no change to our editorial teams to date as a result of the pandemic. We don’t anticipate any, though of course as things go on we encourage them all to make the choices that are right for them and their circumstances. School closures or employers may be placing new or unaccustomed demands on them, and that has to take priority. For some, creative work is impossible in the current environment and we respect that. For others, it’s a refuge we are honored to be able to offer.