"We're essentially experiencing the equivalent of a 9/11 every day in terms of number of deaths; our hospital systems are overburdened. ...We're going to be dealing w/ this for some time to come, even after people get the vaccine, certainly #LongCovid is real." /2
On our new podcast, we interviewed @angie_rasmussen, one of the leading virologists, who has been a guiding light during the pandemic. Thread here to summarize, transcript and audio https://t.co/Q6CabBsKCM @cuttingforstone /1
"We're essentially experiencing the equivalent of a 9/11 every day in terms of number of deaths; our hospital systems are overburdened. ...We're going to be dealing w/ this for some time to come, even after people get the vaccine, certainly #LongCovid is real." /2
"My philosophy about public health is that you can't have it without the engagement of the public. And my philosophy about communication is that information empowers people to decide for themselves" /3
Angie reviewed parallels w/ ME/CFS
Because this is the 1st time we've had a pandemic w/ such broad effects on different organ systems ...try to understand how an acute viral infection can cause these complex, syndromic, long-term diseases like ME/CFS." /6
It's complicated. A master class here, starting with this, and will let you read on or listen to get the whole response, which gets into aerosols, too /7
"We needn't be bleaching everything in sight and disinfecting our produce, our groceries, and our mail and so forth. But we should still do good hand hygiene; we should still emphasize that we should disinfect common high-touch surfaces, such as doorknobs.../8
Translate:
"My feeling is that if risk reduction is additive, if all of these measures — masks, social distancing, and ventilation — add up and create the most exposure reduction possible"/9
More from Culture
I just finished Eric Adler's The Battle of the Classics, and wanted to say something about Joel Christiansen's review linked below. I am not sure what motivates the review (I speculate a bit below), but it gives a very misleading impression of the book. 1/x
The meat of the criticism is that the history Adler gives is insufficiently critical. Adler describes a few figures who had a great influence on how the modern US university was formed. It's certainly critical: it focuses on the social Darwinism of these figures. 2/x
Other insinuations and suggestions in the review seem wildly off the mark, distorted, or inappropriate-- for example, that the book is clickbaity (it is scholarly) or conservative (hardly) or connected to the events at the Capitol (give me a break). 3/x
The core question: in what sense is classics inherently racist? Classics is old. On Adler's account, it begins in ancient Rome and is revived in the Renaissance. Slavery (Christiansen's primary concern) is also very old. Let's say classics is an education for slaveowners. 4/x
It's worth remembering that literacy itself is elite throughout most of this history. Literacy is, then, also the education of slaveowners. We can honor oral and musical traditions without denying that literacy is, generally, good. 5/x
As someone\u2019s who\u2019s read the book, this review strikes me as tremendously unfair. It mostly faults Adler for not writing the book the reviewer wishes he had! https://t.co/pqpt5Ziivj
— Teresa M. Bejan (@tmbejan) January 12, 2021
The meat of the criticism is that the history Adler gives is insufficiently critical. Adler describes a few figures who had a great influence on how the modern US university was formed. It's certainly critical: it focuses on the social Darwinism of these figures. 2/x
Other insinuations and suggestions in the review seem wildly off the mark, distorted, or inappropriate-- for example, that the book is clickbaity (it is scholarly) or conservative (hardly) or connected to the events at the Capitol (give me a break). 3/x
The core question: in what sense is classics inherently racist? Classics is old. On Adler's account, it begins in ancient Rome and is revived in the Renaissance. Slavery (Christiansen's primary concern) is also very old. Let's say classics is an education for slaveowners. 4/x
It's worth remembering that literacy itself is elite throughout most of this history. Literacy is, then, also the education of slaveowners. We can honor oral and musical traditions without denying that literacy is, generally, good. 5/x
