“Political Misfits” Bob Schlehuber and Jamarl Thomas were joined by Dr. Dady Chery, associate professor of biology, co-editor-in-chief of News Junkie Post and author of "We Have Dared to Be Free," to discuss COVID-19 and how RNA viruses like this coronavirus get a huge assist from climate change and urbanization. COVID-19 also got an assist from classism, she said: the first travelers spreading the disease were arriving in airports in suits, and staff there were reluctant to test them. In many ways, COVID-19 began as a disease of the rich. And now, of course, it’s everywhere.
We also got an update from Paul Jones, president of the Columbia Heights tenants association, on the lack of assistance and information the seniors and vulnerable people in his neighborhood have received from their government so far. As airlines, casinos and other industries clamor for government cash taken from taxpayers, who will make sure those actual taxpayers get relief, too?
Guy McPherson, scientist and professor emeritus of natural resources and ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, brought good news, telling the Misfits we don’t have to worry about the Yellowstone supervolcano - but we still should be living as though we’re in planetary hospice.
Eleanor Goldfield, frontline activist and journalist focusing on radical and censored issues and co-host of the podcast Common Censored, discussed the irresponsible decision to continue Democratic primaries during a pandemic. With the DNC realizing that the Sanders movement isn’t actually made up of Democratic hostages, they’re happy to see turnout drop, so they can find a way to blame it on Sanders and avoid a much-needed conversation about healthcare. They can’t block this powerful movement completely, however, and this could be a time for a new alignment of political will and social might.
The pandemic is also a convenient way to bury the latest Russiagate embarrassment, with even the “troll farm” lawsuit dying an ignominious death.
The Misfits were also visited by Eduardo Machado, author of the play “Celia and Fidel,” which offers a creative and complex look at the US, Cuba, and what binds us.
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