Podcast of the Plague Year

In this two-part episode, we're exploring apocalyptic tendencies and ideologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Life during the pandemic has been a long journey of loss, illness, and challenge. Although the vaccine offers hope for the future, many feel as though they're living through the apocalypse. Where do these ideas come from? What sources are being drawn upon in these ideas? To address these questions, we interviewed two scholars who study the book of revelation, biblical literature, and apocalyptic tendencies.

In this two-part episode, we're exploring apocalyptic tendencies and ideologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Life during the pandemic has been a long journey of loss, illness, and challenge. Although the vaccine offers hope for the future, many feel as though they're living through the apocalypse. Where do these ideas come from? What sources are being drawn upon in these ideas? To address these questions, we interviewed two scholars who study the book of revelation, biblical literature, and apocalyptic tendencies. 

In this episode, we at the Podcast of the Plague Year were granted the opportunity to record interviews with two organizations assisting refugees that have been relocated to Arizona - RICE and Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest. 

Refugees are those who have been forced to flee their country because of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, or political opinion. Almost 3 quarters of a million refugees have been resettled in the United States since 2008; they often come with very little resources to begin life anew once resettled. Life for refugees during resettlement comes with hope, but also the struggles to learn a new language, navigate new employment and educational systems, and integrate into a new society. It is easy to imagine how a pandemic could intensify already existing struggles.

A cursory look into A Journal of the Plague reveals that the pandemic is nondiscriminatory, all of us are affected. Yet, the reality is that COVID-19 is having more impact on certain populations in American communities.

Arizona State University’s Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict partnered with the Henry Luce Foundation to provide rapid relief funding to marginalized communities in the southwest. As part of the rapid relief program, the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict is collaborating with A Journal of the Plague Year and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication to raise awareness about the marginalized communities that were assisted via this grant. 

By joining this “Southwest Stories” project, we at the Podcast of the Plague Year were granted the opportunity to spotlight one Native American community in Arizona - the White Mountain Apache Tribe.

Millions of people’s schedules are structured by educational institutions across the country. Pre-schoolers to middle schoolers to university students, all know that around August and September their semesters will begin. It’s not only time to think about school supplies and maybe a new pair of shoes, it’s time to alter that summer schedule, wake up early, and be ready for school. Teachers, school administrators, custodians, and other staff give their energy to making sure our kids will be properly cared for and receive the best education possible.

Then the pandemic happened. Schools shut down. Kids were sent home. Likewise, many parents went home to work. They were all at home - together, attempting to make life work. Our topics for our third podcast are the intermingling of education, parenting, and home life.

Many aspects of life have changed drastically due to the pandemic. Social distancing, face masks, and limiting our interactions are common now. We’re learning to set aside what we thought as “normal” in many ways. One loss is particularly noticeable when searching through the Journal of the Plague Year archive - sports. Both athletes and fans alike are affected, and the pandemic has shown how important sports are to the American culture. Seasons have been canceled, the Olympics have been postponed, and athletes are slowly returning to play in empty stadiums.

American dissatisfaction during the pandemic is felt across the country leading to organized forms of protests. This episode spotlights two forms of protests during the pandemic. The first is a form of physical assembly, while the second is based on the cacerolazo technique of banging pots and pans. Our host, Terry Shoemaker, interviews guests in California and New Orleans trying to answer the question, "What does protesting look like when you can't congregate?"