COVID Demoted

Do you feel numbed by reports of pandemic death tolls in the hundreds of thousands?

Do thoughts of mortality make you reach for a distraction of any kind?

There's a good reason that death is uncomfortable to think about. We all have to face it some day. Ernest Becker gave this problem a new dimension in his 1973 book The Denial of Death.  In this episode of COVID Demoted we interview Deborah Jacobs and Lyla Rothschild of the Ernest Becker Foundation about death anxiety in the time of COVID.  

Jean-François Veilleux is the Communications Coordinator at Santropol Roulant. The Roulant’s Meals on Wheels program delivers fresh meals to Montreal’s community of seniors and people with low mobility or loss of autonomy. Instead of pulling back their services as the pandemic started to gain momentum in Montreal, Santropol Roulant decided instead to continue to deliver meals and even push themselves to deliver more meals to more clients throughout the pandemic. Jean-Francois shares some of the challenges the Roulant has faced since the start of the pandemic, as well as how the community is coming together to continue to support those who depend on the program.

If you want to learn more about Santropol Roulant or make a donation, please visit santropolroulant.org.

Jessie Curell is the Director of Hands On Media, which offers media and digital literacy training for students and educators in Canada and internationally. In this episode, she shares with us the four steps of her Media Literacy Game Plan, which includes how to engage with media and think critically in a time where media is very present, and very heightened.

Part 1: Coronavirus in rural Tuscany

Tiziana and Giorgio live in the rural area between Siena and Grosseto, Tuscany, not only far away from the epicentre of the Italian epidemic, but even distant from villages and towns. Yet their immediate families live in the provinces of Bergamo, dramatically hit by the COVID-19. Affected by the severe restriction set by the government, and in close communication with the land of their origins, they try to make sense of an event that suddenly and quickly became history of their country. 
They answered about how easily one can get infected, how the restrictions were received and accepted by the population, and what they hope for the future. 
The interview ends on a hopeful note, witnessing how all around them nature is responding to this unusual and unexpected situation.

Part 2: To catch the unexpected as a chance. Covid-19 in Bottanuco

Lombardia is the Italian region most affected by the Coronavirus. A month ago (21 February 2020) a 38 years older was taken to the first aid at the hospital of Codogno for a sever case of pneumonia. It was Italy first official case of COVID-19. Since then the casualties only in the region of Lombardia are 3095 on a population of 10 millions. 

Yet even in Lombardia the situation varies from town to town. In certain villages coffins are so many that there is no room to stock them, and need to be transported away by army trucks. People are left to mourn their departed without the possibility of a funeral, and are left with the sound of the ambulances as only requiem. 

At the same time other towns have been almost spared by the epidemic. This is the case for Barbara’s town: Bottanuco. Barbara shares with us her process to generate a new daily life and the careful attention for the unexpected surprises revealed by unexpected situation. Her words offer an inspiring suggestions of how to catch the unforeseeable as a chance. 

Alison lives in Seattle. Her son tested positive for COVID-19 and they are now under quarantine. In this unedited phone conversation, Alison shares her experience of Coronavirus coming to Washington state, and how she got her son tested after his school was shut down. This interview was recorded on Sunday, March 15. Note: This is a mostly un-edited phone conversation. The purpose of this podcast is to rapidly disseminate first-hand accounts and unfiltered voices of real people living through the pandemic. Please excuse any poor quality in the recording. If you have a story you'd like to share on this podcast, please contact info@surplace.co.