Everlyne Nairesiae is a Kenyan, working for UN-Habitat in Nairobi. She is a land tenure and gender specialist, and talks to me about the challenges faced by vulnerable communities in both rural and urban settings as a result of COVID-19. Recorded on Wednesday 22nd of April 2020 at 2030 Melbourne time.

Ali Igmen is Professor of History and Director of the Oral History Program at California State University at Long Beach. I asked him if there's anything to be learned from the experience of former Soviet republics when it comes to seismic changes to a way of life; about how it feels to be in California after nearly a month of the 'Shelter In Place' order. We talk about Kyrgyz theater during the Soviet era - about which I know almost nothing - and several other matters. And once again, I get anxious about authoritarian governments.

Episode 8 - Katy Connors in Portland, Oregon.

Katy Connors is Operations Manager for two restaurants in Portland, Oregon. Her husband is a chef. They were both laid off on the same day. We chat about watching a catastrophe coming towards you and taking refuge in community. About uncertainty (if you listen to other episodes you'll be sensing a theme here...) How the restaurant industry as whole will be utterly transformed when we emerge from the current crisis. Rationing your exposure to Trump. And I get anxious again about the police and government hoarding power like a panic shopper buying up all the flour and bog roll.

'No cars, no noises, apart from ambulances.' Giulia Baldinelli is a social scientist who was born in Rome and lives there still. She talks about a noisy city strangely quiet, the impact of the current crisis on some of the most vulnerable in society, and the difficulty of imagining what kind of country Italy will be when it emerges from its current struggle. Recorded on Tuesday 15th of April 2020.

Hana Zahir is an economist who specializes in gender issues. She works for the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan, based in Lahore. It's a city she describes as vibrant, cosmopolitan and - now - uncharacteristically quiet. We begin with a bit of background about Hana's work evaluating the impact of government policies on society. From there we touch on the legal rights of women to inherit land in Pakistan; the seasons of the city; the impact of the current pandemic on day to day life and how the most vulnerable groups in society are faring. A fascinating perspective on the global pandemic. Recorded on April 10th 2020 at 1600 Lahore time.

Kate Burke is a musician: a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist based in rural New South Wales. In this chat we range far and wide: the impact of the pandemic on musicians; similarities between the bush fire crisis and the current situation; local, diverse activism; the decline of traditional party politics; family and the possibility of positive change.

You can find The New Graces album Kate was talking about here:

And links to her other work:

Poet Pádraig Ó Tuama on strange times, COVID-19 responses from the Republic of Ireland and UK governments, and the challenges ahead for all of us. You can find links to Padraig's work here:

Chris Dolan is a writer living and working in Glasgow, in the west of Scotland. He and I worked on a couple of doccos together back in the early 2000s, and we had a great time. But this is the first time we've reconnected since, which seems strange, but in keeping with the times I suppose.

Marcie Sillman is senior reporter for Arts and Culture at KUOW, one of the public radio stations in Seattle Washington. Kirkland, just to the east of Seattle, was one of the first US cities to report a surge in cases of COVID-19. Recorded on Thursday 26th March at 0700 Melbourne time (AEDT).

First chat. I used to work with Amanda Hargreaves in Scotland. She's a freelance radio producer living in Rome. After seven years there, she and her family were just on the cusp of moving back to the UK. Then COVID-19 happened. Recorded on Tuesday 24th March 2020 at 1500 Rome time.