Brazil’s vaccine shortage: Has the government been negligent?

Brazil has historically been a role model in vaccination campaigns. However, it has struggled to vaccinate its population against COVID-19 and has suffered more deaths in the pandemic than any country except for the United States and India. Had the Federal Government taken the pandemic more seriously and prepared for it properly, the crisis could have been averted and hundreds of thousands of lives saved. Continue reading “Brazil’s vaccine shortage: Has the government been negligent?” →

COVID-19 and the crisis in Western thought

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen an emerging crisis in democracy, as far right politicians gain ground and anti-protest laws are brought in. This crisis, which has been growing for many years and is now coming to the surface, is driven by the growth in computing power and the concurrent polarization of political and social life. This polarization is contrary to ordinary democratic structures and processes and has been the root cause of the rising political crisis of the past year. Continue reading “COVID-19 and the crisis in Western thought” →

Podcast #5: A pandemic memoir with Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee

Poetry in a pandemic with Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee

In this podcast, Jessica Brown — a poet and Editor for Culturico — talks with Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee, author of the recently released book The Town Slowly Empties: On Life and Culture During Lockdown. In this interview, they discuss life a year ago, as the pandemic and lockdowns began. Manash discusses the diary that emerged as he navigated those early months, when time, memory, literature, film, cooking, and friendship were indelibly interwoven to those days. The conversation ends with some poems and a recipe for the listener — and some ideas for the year ahead.

Further reads:

Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee, “The town slowly empties: On life and culture during lockdown“, 2020

Eliot, T.S., “East Coker”, 1940

Recorded: 08.03.21; Host: Jessica Brown

COVID-19 pandemic-related suicides are increasing – here’s what we need to do

A mental health pandemic is brewing in the midst of COVID-19. Globally, the rates of suicides are rising. This calls for urgent action to provide care and support to sufferers of mental health disorders and a plan to be proactive before the next infectious disease pandemic. Continue reading “COVID-19 pandemic-related suicides are increasing – here’s what we need to do” →

The fold: Creative writing in a time of pandemic

What role can creative writing play during a pandemic lockdown, and how can it be a tool to better cope in the post-pandemic era? This is perhaps a question of using language to bring form to matter, to make order from chaos, and to find little paths in a dark forest. It is also a question of how the creative mind interacts with threat, and what arises when we allow the creative imagination to be the primary responder. In this article, I query the activity of creative writing during this time as well as consider how to do it. Continue reading “The fold: Creative writing in a time of pandemic” →

Italia bella: the discourse of beauty and crisis in Italian culture and media

This piece discusses the recurring theme of the beauty of Italy in Italian media and culture, tracing its origins in Gabriele D’Annunzio’s political speeches at the turn of the twentieth century. The piece explores how the notion of a beautiful land, though plagued by economic crisis, is at the core of a narrative with political and social implications. Continue reading “Italia bella: the discourse of beauty and crisis in Italian culture and media” →

Shostakovich, Copland, and the fate of composers in 2020

Aaron Copland once stated, “Music must always flow… but the creation of that continuity and flow… constitutes the be-all and end-all of every composer’s existence”. Prospective outcomes for composers in 2020 can be well illustrated using this philosophy: they are finding ways to circumvent the current pandemic and social crises by means of digital collaboration and intrepid outspokenness against the social status quo. Similarly, the great composers Dmitri Shostakovich and Aaron Copland themselves endured personal hardships comparable with the struggles of modern composers. Continue reading “Shostakovich, Copland, and the fate of composers in 2020” →

Coronavirus in the Middle East: a testing time for relations between regimes and their citizens

As Covid-19 continues to spread in the Middle East, Arab governments increasingly blame the public for failing to comply with preventive measures. The roots of this problem lie in the uneasy relationship between autocratic regimes and the people they govern – a relationship that is likely to come under further strain as the economic costs of the pandemic become more apparent. Continue reading “Coronavirus in the Middle East: a testing time for relations between regimes and their citizens” →

The past holds lessons, not warnings, about our current Global Crises

People are turning to the past to contextualize the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 racial injustice and anti-police violence uprisings. But doom-and-gloom predictions or overly hopeful takes are often simplistic comparisons between the past and now. Our research has shown that while events like pandemics and social unrest cause suffering, they also create opportunities for people to create more just systems. At the same time, people profiting off the old system will be using these crises to their advantage as well. Continue reading “The past holds lessons, not warnings, about our current Global Crises” →

COVID-19 shows why Universal Health Care is essential

COVID-19 has highlighted the lack of universal health care globally and its negative impact on world health. The lessons learned support the need for universal health care and should be used as guides to ensure that everyone has access to equitable, affordable and safe healthcare, irrespective of ability to pay, poverty, race, gender and level of education. Only then, will the world be better prepared for the next pandemic. Continue reading “COVID-19 shows why Universal Health Care is essential” →