Voices of COVID-19

In the final new episode of Voices of COVID-19, Brian Lucas interviews NBC and MSNBC Health Analyst Dr. Vin Gupta. 

Dr. Gupta is a practicing pulmonologist and critical care physician, and an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the University of Washington. He also has a military background as a Major in the Air Force Reserve Medical Corps.

2020 was poised to be a big year for Dessa, with a concert tour planned and the launch of her podcast, Deeply Human, on the horizon. COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd changed everything. Suddenly the multi-talented rapper, singer and writer was dealing with isolation from the pandemic and anxiety about the fear and unrest gripping her community.

As she forged a new path, Dessa returned to the power of words and music. She launched her podcast, which examines human nature and why we think and behave the way we do. She also put music into the world with a project called Ides, releasing one song a month as an outlet for her creativity (and a lifeline for music lovers).  

In this episode, Brian Lucas interviews Dessa about how she coped, adapted, and hopefully emerged even stronger through the challenges of a trying year.

For many people, music was a lifeline during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing escape while also helping us process our feelings and anxieties.

In this episode, Brian Lucas interviews singer, songwriter Jeremy Messersmith, who released a series of deeply personal songs during the pandemic called Mixtape for the Milky Way.

Jeremy reveals that even as he was putting this music into the world, he dealt with fear and isolation that made it difficult to even listen to music, much less write or perform, during the pandemic.

Nicole Lewis is a reporter for the Marshall Project. During the pandemic, Nicole documented the stories of four incarcerated individuals in an incredible piece: “How we survived COVID-19 in Prison.” 

In part two of her interview, Nicole discusses conditions that contributed to the spread of COVID-19 in prisons, the challenges around vaccine hesitancy among both incarcerated people and prison staff, and the lessons we can hopefully learn about the interconnectedness of our society.

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread, incarcerated people were among the hardest hit populations in the United States. Overcrowding, substandard facilities, underlying health conditions and misinformation about the virus created a volatile mix that led to huge numbers of infected individuals.

Nicole Lewis is a reporter for the Marshall Project. During the pandemic, Nicole documented the stories of four incarcerated individuals in an incredible piece: “How we survived COVID-19 in Prison.” 

In part one of a two-part interview, Nicole discusses the conditions that contributed to the high COVID numbers in prisons, and the unique challenges incarcerated people faced just to survive.

At the one year mark of the pandemic, there are signs of progress but we are far from out of the woods.

For those on the front lines, the exhaustion and emotional toll of the last year are hard to quantify. Even as we see a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, they must remain focused on each day, each patient, each family that is touched by this virus.

In this episode, Brian Lucas interviews Dr. Thanh Neville, a physician and researcher at UCLA Health. Dr. Neville works in the Medical Intensive Care Unit. She is also the medical director of UCLA Health’s Three Wishes Program, which works to implement the final wishes for patients who are dying.

COVID-19 has put a spotlight on deep-seated issues of racism and inequity that exist in our health care system. The virus has disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities, causing more illness, more hospitalizations and more deaths.

Now, as vaccines start to roll out, this inequity is again taking a toll. In many African American communities there is strong and justifiable distrust of health care and government programs, and vaccination rates are lagging far behind.

In this episode, Brian Lucas interviews Adriene Thornton, an Infection Preventionist at Children’s Minnesota. Adriene is working to educate Black communities about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines, to hopefully get more people to participate.

Among the long list of heroes in this pandemic are travel nurses. These are nurses who sign up to get sent to locations where they are needed the most.  Right now, that means they are willingly traveling to COVID hot spots.

When the pandemic started, Brooke Hanson was working as a nurse in Arizona. But as she watched the cases start to explode on the east coast, she decided she needed to help.  She signed up as a travel nurse and was sent to New Jersey to work in a COVID hospital. 

Right now Brooke is working in Seattle, fighting COVID fatigue to continue helping patients even as the case numbers once again start to rise.

Ignoring or downplaying COVID comes from a place of privilege. Young, healthy people who have access to quality health care don't have to be as concerned.

But there are many people who don’t have that luxury, including people who have health issues that make them particularly vulnerable.

In this episode, Brian Lucas interviews Stephanie Zahrbock, a mother of two teenagers who, four years ago, was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease related to Multiple Sclerosis. She’s been in a wheelchair ever since.

Stephanie has been quarantined in her house for more than 6 months… trying to stay safe and protect herself from those who take their health and safety for granted.

For frontline health care workers, the coronavirus pandemic creates two separate worlds.

There’s the world of work, trying to help people who are critically ill. Then there’s the world at home, dealing with the isolation and uncertainty the rest of us are struggling with each day.

On top of all of this, there is an added fear: that these worlds will in some way intersect.  That an encounter with a COVID patient at work could bring the virus home to a spouse, a child, or a parent.

In this episode, Brian Lucas interviews Elizabeth Blankenship, a Physician Assistant in Austin Texas.  Elizabeth has been existing in these dual worlds since the beginning of the pandemic. She says she has been able to find a sense of calm and balance through it all, and even a renewed sense of purpose.