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What does it mean to be “at war” with the coronavirus? What does military language add (if anything?) to our understanding of this challenge? In this week's episode, we dig into what the metaphor means politically, economically and personally. (thread) https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-war-what-is-it-good-for
The war metaphor is all around us, especially in the US. Nurses and doctors report that the casualties and struggle in ERs feel very much like the frontline of a battle. But military language doesn't sound the same around the world... We asked listeners: https://twitter.com/onthemedia/status/1245057700528078848
You can read more reports from our listeners on how the challenge of containing the coronavirus is being described around the world, from New Zealand to Paraguay to Albania, and more: https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia/posts/10157893454068955?__xts__[0]=68.ARC84-v5nVg7gAV4_AMLvj3dfnAgWRqiVSuYEejdsQQpmkgE2YM3yTXWbBlTOTB705mjUe4boBlzXYwxP54aE-2moTi7AoFU9oJ8raSfHYh6SSRIfmRuDeZLQdZs32jkhzzuROEAIWNW99yV6-8jRPpnm_zSBtB7C4Lq1N5Mezb9aG7kOOKhp8RIp1xfnNxxS6OSMgNiSuZ3rng6W56lUA3DUmP1arL69xEDkz-hPUpwPiShgh3Cco4iDe7UUPPAbksfpopFAbrBMmlkRS7bxaIuDLGtMUUy1v-2npWMDY5tLWfhKV-iqhPwKBFcM7hnWExn_Ag0S5OonQ&__tn__=-R
![You can read more reports from our listeners on how the challenge of containing the coronavirus is being described around the world, from New Zealand to Paraguay to Albania, and more: https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia/posts/10157893454068955?__xts__[0]=68.ARC84-v5nVg7gAV4_AMLvj3dfnAgWRqiVSuYEejdsQQpmkgE2YM3yTXWbBlTOTB705mjUe4boBlzXYwxP54aE-2moTi7AoFU9oJ8raSfHYh6SSRIfmRuDeZLQdZs32jkhzzuROEAIWNW99yV6-8jRPpnm_zSBtB7C4Lq1N5Mezb9aG7kOOKhp8RIp1xfnNxxS6OSMgNiSuZ3rng6W56lUA3DUmP1arL69xEDkz-hPUpwPiShgh3Cco4iDe7UUPPAbksfpopFAbrBMmlkRS7bxaIuDLGtMUUy1v-2npWMDY5tLWfhKV-iqhPwKBFcM7hnWExn_Ag0S5OonQ&__tn__=-R](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EUw1lc0XsAEt2sE.png "You can read more reports from our listeners on how the challenge of containing the coronavirus is being described around the world, from New Zealand to Paraguay to Albania, and more: https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia/posts/10157893454068955?__xts__[0]=68.ARC84-v5nVg7gAV4_AMLvj3dfnAgWRqiVSuYEejdsQQpmkgE2YM3yTXWbBlTOTB705mjUe4boBlzXYwxP54aE-2moTi7AoFU9oJ8raSfHYh6SSRIfmRuDeZLQdZs32jkhzzuROEAIWNW99yV6-8jRPpnm_zSBtB7C4Lq1N5Mezb9aG7kOOKhp8RIp1xfnNxxS6OSMgNiSuZ3rng6W56lUA3DUmP1arL69xEDkz-hPUpwPiShgh3Cco4iDe7UUPPAbksfpopFAbrBMmlkRS7bxaIuDLGtMUUy1v-2npWMDY5tLWfhKV-iqhPwKBFcM7hnWExn_Ag0S5OonQ&__tn__=-R")
![You can read more reports from our listeners on how the challenge of containing the coronavirus is being described around the world, from New Zealand to Paraguay to Albania, and more: https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia/posts/10157893454068955?__xts__[0]=68.ARC84-v5nVg7gAV4_AMLvj3dfnAgWRqiVSuYEejdsQQpmkgE2YM3yTXWbBlTOTB705mjUe4boBlzXYwxP54aE-2moTi7AoFU9oJ8raSfHYh6SSRIfmRuDeZLQdZs32jkhzzuROEAIWNW99yV6-8jRPpnm_zSBtB7C4Lq1N5Mezb9aG7kOOKhp8RIp1xfnNxxS6OSMgNiSuZ3rng6W56lUA3DUmP1arL69xEDkz-hPUpwPiShgh3Cco4iDe7UUPPAbksfpopFAbrBMmlkRS7bxaIuDLGtMUUy1v-2npWMDY5tLWfhKV-iqhPwKBFcM7hnWExn_Ag0S5OonQ&__tn__=-R](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EUw1lc1WoAEVBkw.png "You can read more reports from our listeners on how the challenge of containing the coronavirus is being described around the world, from New Zealand to Paraguay to Albania, and more: https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia/posts/10157893454068955?__xts__[0]=68.ARC84-v5nVg7gAV4_AMLvj3dfnAgWRqiVSuYEejdsQQpmkgE2YM3yTXWbBlTOTB705mjUe4boBlzXYwxP54aE-2moTi7AoFU9oJ8raSfHYh6SSRIfmRuDeZLQdZs32jkhzzuROEAIWNW99yV6-8jRPpnm_zSBtB7C4Lq1N5Mezb9aG7kOOKhp8RIp1xfnNxxS6OSMgNiSuZ3rng6W56lUA3DUmP1arL69xEDkz-hPUpwPiShgh3Cco4iDe7UUPPAbksfpopFAbrBMmlkRS7bxaIuDLGtMUUy1v-2npWMDY5tLWfhKV-iqhPwKBFcM7hnWExn_Ag0S5OonQ&__tn__=-R")
![You can read more reports from our listeners on how the challenge of containing the coronavirus is being described around the world, from New Zealand to Paraguay to Albania, and more: https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia/posts/10157893454068955?__xts__[0]=68.ARC84-v5nVg7gAV4_AMLvj3dfnAgWRqiVSuYEejdsQQpmkgE2YM3yTXWbBlTOTB705mjUe4boBlzXYwxP54aE-2moTi7AoFU9oJ8raSfHYh6SSRIfmRuDeZLQdZs32jkhzzuROEAIWNW99yV6-8jRPpnm_zSBtB7C4Lq1N5Mezb9aG7kOOKhp8RIp1xfnNxxS6OSMgNiSuZ3rng6W56lUA3DUmP1arL69xEDkz-hPUpwPiShgh3Cco4iDe7UUPPAbksfpopFAbrBMmlkRS7bxaIuDLGtMUUy1v-2npWMDY5tLWfhKV-iqhPwKBFcM7hnWExn_Ag0S5OonQ&__tn__=-R](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EUw1lc4X0AAFJbC.png "You can read more reports from our listeners on how the challenge of containing the coronavirus is being described around the world, from New Zealand to Paraguay to Albania, and more: https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia/posts/10157893454068955?__xts__[0]=68.ARC84-v5nVg7gAV4_AMLvj3dfnAgWRqiVSuYEejdsQQpmkgE2YM3yTXWbBlTOTB705mjUe4boBlzXYwxP54aE-2moTi7AoFU9oJ8raSfHYh6SSRIfmRuDeZLQdZs32jkhzzuROEAIWNW99yV6-8jRPpnm_zSBtB7C4Lq1N5Mezb9aG7kOOKhp8RIp1xfnNxxS6OSMgNiSuZ3rng6W56lUA3DUmP1arL69xEDkz-hPUpwPiShgh3Cco4iDe7UUPPAbksfpopFAbrBMmlkRS7bxaIuDLGtMUUy1v-2npWMDY5tLWfhKV-iqhPwKBFcM7hnWExn_Ag0S5OonQ&__tn__=-R")
The war metaphor with disease isn't new, of course. Susan Sontag argued that there's a reason for that: "War being defined as an emergency in which no sacrifice is excessive"
One detail we weren't able to fit into the show is about how the war metaphor is sometimes understood in Traditional Chinese Medicine: it's best to never fight war at all, to focus on prevention and preparedness. Read more here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5064845/#
But there's other language, other metaphors, to describe the challenge of fighting a disease! (That previous link also details the "journey" metaphor, btw.)
As you'll hear in the episode, Eula Biss, author of On Immunity: An Inoculation, prefers the language of education. [...]
As you'll hear in the episode, Eula Biss, author of On Immunity: An Inoculation, prefers the language of education. [...]
Btw, note from producer @AlanaLlama: On Immunity was such a pleasure to read for the show this week. Highly recommended! We'll be hearing more from Eula Biss in a future episode, so if you're looking for informative and thoughtful pandemic non-fiction... it's gorgeous.
@OTMBrooke cited @BNerlich of @UniofNottingham in the show, she has a great round-up of uses of the war metaphor and other language to describe #COVID19 -- read it here: http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/makingsciencepublic/2020/03/17/metaphors-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/
What if we thought of #COVID19 as a global "natural" disaster?
("Natural" as there's no such thing as a disaster without the element of human influence, including the strength or weakness of government's response)
Would that build solidarity? Communicate a sense of urgency?
("Natural" as there's no such thing as a disaster without the element of human influence, including the strength or weakness of government's response)
Would that build solidarity? Communicate a sense of urgency?
A related bit of reading is @bgzimmer in @politico, exploring the use of "epicenter" (the earthquake metaphor) to describe New York City: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/28/coronavirus-united-states-epicenter-new-york-152716
Another intersection point b/w war and coronavirus came this wk from Capt. Brett Crozier, pleading for more resources for the crew aboard a nuclear aircraft carrier docked in Guam with an outbreak on board.
“We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die." https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/03/826920834/after-outcry-over-navy-captain-relieved-of-command-assurances-he-wont-be-expelle
“We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die." https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/03/826920834/after-outcry-over-navy-captain-relieved-of-command-assurances-he-wont-be-expelle
(An important follow-up to that story, by the way, is that putting infected sailors in hotels in Guam exposes more people, as local officials have pointed out: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/02/826262256/guam-locals-unhappy-with-housing-u-s-sailors-from-coronavirus-hit-aircraft-carri )
We spoke with @HeerJeet about what the war metaphor means for "frontline" workers, and the historic context of the debt society owes to soldiers: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/workers-warriors-demand-more-on-the-media?tab=summary
He wrote about it in @thenation: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/workers-warriors-coronavirus/
He wrote about it in @thenation: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/workers-warriors-coronavirus/
What does it mean to be in a "war-time" economy? How does that change what we expect from government? @njtmulder wrote about that for @ForeignPolicy in a piece called "The Coronavirus War Economy Will Change the World." https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/war-rhetoric-means-wartime-economy-on-the-media?tab=summary
Please keep sharing your war metaphor / other metaphor observations with us!
The whole episode (including @Bobosphere's exploration of how celebrities are "coping" with this pandemic!) is here: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-war-what-is-it-good-for
The whole episode (including @Bobosphere's exploration of how celebrities are "coping" with this pandemic!) is here: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-war-what-is-it-good-for
