Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

The Meekong River starts in China and spills into Myanmar,

Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam,

or at least it's supposed to.

A new series of hydroelectric dams has stemmed the flow to the valleys below,

with increasingly disastrous effects.

And there's no shortage of advice on coping with lockdowns.

One frequent suggestion is to keep a diary,

but one of our editors has found more solace and insight

by reading others' diaries and by writing her own.

First up, though.

In normal times, people in poor countries have myriad ways to cope with shocks.

Let's say one member of a family gets sick.

The others can work longer hours,

or maybe they can ask cousins or neighbors for help.

Even if an entire village is hit with a bad harvest,

someone might have a relative working in the city who can send some extra cash.

These, though, are not normal times.

All these coping mechanisms depend on calamity that doesn't strike everywhere at once.

Sadly, COVID-19 has done just that,

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