March 15, 2020
Like many of you, no doubt, I have been consumed with COVID-19 media as schools close and workplaces promote social distancing. I listened to (probably way too) many podcasts and will likely continue doing so in the following weeks, but the rapidly shifting news makes it kind of pointless to recommend any specific episodes. The featured show in this issue feels pretty timely. The latest season of An Arm and a Leg wrapped in mid-February, before the virus really hit the US, so don’t expect to encounter that here. It will, however, help promote a better understanding of the whole system, and that should hint at the ramifications a massive influx of patients may yield. Read on, and keep washing those hands! SOMETHING NEW A public radio reporter walks into a bar - but he’s self-employed, so how does he pay if he needs stitches? This bad joke is sort of the setup for An Arm and a Leg , a new indie pod about American healthcare driven by reporter Dan Weissmann. The personal motiva