The Quarantine Tapes

“The consequences of having no real infrastructure concerning social welfare is coming home to roost, right now. " In this episode of The Quarantine Tapes, author and activist Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor discusses social movements in response to crisis, how crisis exposes inequalities, and the ways in which capitalism disrupts our humanity.

“It's a different way of being a doctor - where fear is pervasive. I’ve seen this shift to this kind of new world, and now we’re waiting to see what happens.”

Today's talking points: Shadow Governments, COVID-19 lessons from the Berggruen institute's time in China, the ultimate capacity of government, equality, and visions of economic restructuring and free distribution. ‘We have to arm each citizen with more or better social and economic minimums, access and ability to integrate from an information standpoint, into a greater world’.

In this episode Paul and Melody discuss the idea of learning to live with oneself in a moment of crisis like the one we are living in. There is also advice from Melody - and how we can ground ourselves in the present, in the everyday activities we partake in.

Today on the #QuarantineTapes, Paul Holdengräber sits down with English philosopher and Hans Jonas Professor at the New School for Social Research, Simon Critchley, for a rich discussion on the importance of philosophy in this moment, the relationship between fear and anxiety, the decline of imperial power structures, art as catharsis, and much more.

In Today’s episode, accomplished Indian book publisher Naveen Kishore discusses how the pandemic is growing in India, new normalities, humans communicating in fundamentally different ways, and the hope for instinctive compassion.

In this episode Paul talks to Sister Judy Vaughan about how the pandemic is affecting the homeless, the difficulties of running an organization that seeks to welcome people with open arms in this era, and how her faith has allowed her to maintain hope in the face of challenge.

In this episode Paul speaks with poet, artist and musician Saul Williams who has just recently returned to LA from a 4 month project in Rwanda. They discuss musical insights from Fela Kuti, acquiring film gear and face masks in Kigali, and how America's unique relationship with itself is shaping the way the country deals with this pandemic.

Today Paul makes a call to Japan to speak with Pico Iyer. Pico Iyer is the author of 15 books, translated into 23 languages. Two of his most recent books, The Art of Stillness, and Autumn Light (a meditation on impermanence), may seem eerily relevant right now.

The Quarantine Tapes: a daily program from Onassis LA and dublab. Hosted by Paul Holdengräber, the series chronicles shifting paradigms in the age of social distancing.