COVID Forever? Plus, Broadway's Back

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 24 September 2021

⏱️ 36 minutes

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Summary

Ever since the pandemic hit, life has been split into two timelines: before the pandemic and after the pandemic. But when will the "after" truly be after? Or will some version of the coronavirus be around... forever? Sam talks to The Atlantic staff writer Katherine Wu about continuing to live with some version of COVID-19. Plus, Sam talks to playwright Heidi Schreck and actress Cassie Beck, who are currently in rehearsals for the upcoming tour of the Broadway play What The Constitution Means to Me. As live theater returns, they talk about what the last 18 months have been like and how theater has changed for the long term.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey y'all, this is Sam's Aunt Betty.
0:03.0	This week, what happens if the coronavirus is here to stay?
0:07.8	And a return to Broadway.
0:10.3	All right, let's start the shop.
0:13.8	Hey y'all, you're listening to It's Been A Minute from NPR.
0:16.2	I'm Sam Sanders.
0:17.8	So, pumpkin spice latte season is here.
0:20.8	It is fall, a season I like.
0:24.0	But we are here again entering another fall season
0:28.3	in a pandemic.
0:30.3	I know a lot of us here in the US, we are now vaccinated.
0:33.9	And some things feel a bit less oppressive than they did last year.
0:38.1	But we are not back to normal.
0:39.7	Not at all, not by a long shot.
0:42.4	And in the midst of that reality, I have begun to, over the last few weeks,
0:47.2	suspect that maybe we won't ever go back to the before times.
0:52.6	You know, to young innocent maskless Sam
0:56.3	in a crowded indoor space dancing with strangers
0:59.6	without a super spreader care in the world.
1:03.1	But maybe I'm wrong.
1:04.1	I hope that I'm wrong.
1:05.7	A person can hope, right?
	...

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