#167 The Outbreak Narrative w/ Priscilla Wald
The Road to Now
Benjamin Sawyer
4.8 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 6 April 2020
⏱️ 52 minutes
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Summary
When we think of epidemics, we often imagine the central struggle as between microbe and epidemiologist. But as the coronavirus outbreak has reminded us, our individual actions can compound in ways that have a very real implications for any epidemic. The narrative we adopt to understand these events- ie the story we tell ourselves about who is responsible, who can save us, and what power we have in that struggle- shapes our decisions, and therefore shapes the outcome of these tragic moments. In this episode we speak with Dr. Priscilla Wald about her research on what she calls the "outbreak narrative" and how understanding it might help us respond better in the present.
Dr. Priscilla Wald is R. Florence Brinkley Distinguished Professor of English at Duke University and the author of Contagious: Cultures, Carriers, and the Outbreak Narrative, (Duke University Press, 2008).
The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Across the margin of the podcast is a show that brings you in-depth interviews with notable authors, artists, musicians, activists, filmmakers, and introspecticentrics of all kinds, diving deeply into topics that demand deeper examination, and illustrating the notion that there are captivating stories to be found everywhere. Across the March in the podcast is proudly in the loop. I'm Bob Crawford. |
| 0:45.9 | I'm Ben Sawyer, and this is the road to now. |
| 0:49.6 | Bob, I think we stumbled upon the perfect guest for this moment in time, huh? |
| 0:53.4 | Yeah, I was watching my local NBC affiliate. Local news. I love local news. Do you watch local news, Ben? |
| 1:01.4 | I do, but sometimes it's because it's just full of great premises for bits. But I do actually like to watch it. |
| 1:10.7 | It's great to learn things right I |
| 1:12.1 | mean those news at the local level if you don't have those folks covering it you're |
| 1:15.0 | not gonna know what's happening exactly and it's important for your local |
| 1:18.7 | holding your local government accountable you know they always have that five |
| 1:24.2 | on your side you know where if you get burned, you know, you call them. |
| 1:29.3 | And then it gets great. |
| 1:31.2 | Local news, man. |
| 1:32.2 | I love it. |
| 1:32.7 | So anyway, I live in this area where you have NC State, you've got Duke, you got UNC, |
| 1:38.1 | a lot of experts. |
| 1:40.4 | So with the coronavirus outbreak and that's what, I mean, local news, you're right? |
| 1:45.8 | It's really great. |
| 1:47.7 | I'd rather watch local news than the national news because they're dealing with, how are we dealing with it in our community? |
| 1:54.0 | What's the latest news in our community? |
| 1:56.3 | Where do you go to get food in our community? |
| 1:58.7 | Where can you go to donate in our community? It's just very |
| 2:02.3 | necessary and I've really been enjoying it. Anyway, this Dr. Priscilla Wald, who is the R. Florence |
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