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Economist Podcasts

Babbage: Maskarade

Economist Podcasts

The Economist

News & Politics, News

4.44.9K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2020

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The “silent transmission” of covid-19 means people without symptoms could be a major source of its spread. How effective are masks as a defence? Plus, Kenneth Cukier asks Ivan Oransky, co-founder of Retractionwatch.com, whether the race to uncover the mysteries of the virus could lead to a torrent of “bad science”.


For more on the pandemic, see The Economist's coronavirus hub.

 

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Transcript

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0:00.0

But lots of parents having helpful discussions with kids about online safety can be tricky.

0:06.0

To help, Google and digital parenting experts, parents on,

0:10.0

have put together a list of simple topics you can chat about with your child to kick start the conversation.

0:16.0

Questions like, what shouldn't you share online?

0:19.0

Or how much screen time is too much?

0:21.0

It can be a great way to find a healthier balance for your family online, together.

0:26.0

Head to families.google today.

0:30.0

Quarantine restrictions are finally being lifted in Wuhan, China.

0:43.0

But across the world, the outbreak of COVID-19 is getting worse.

0:47.0

The World Health Organization has warned that the number of cases in Africa is rising exponentially.

0:53.0

And this week, the United States recorded the most coronavirus deaths on a single day.

0:59.0

After more than 1,800 people died.

1:02.0

Hello and welcome to Badbage from Economist Radio, our weekly podcast on technology and science.

1:08.0

I'm Kenneth Kukie, a senior editor at The Economist.

1:11.0

On today's show, the danger of silent transmission.

1:16.0

People who have no symptoms, so they don't know that they're actually infected,

1:21.0

but they might be contagious, are transmitting the disease to others.

1:26.0

Or masks, an effective way of stopping the spread.

1:29.0

It's intuitive to think that masks would stop spread between members of the public.

1:34.0

But the issue is that the scientific evidence just doesn't give you a clear-cut answer.

1:38.0

Plus, scientists and researchers are tirelessly working to better understand the virus.

1:44.0

But is there a risk of so-called bad science emerging?

...

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