Hi there, I'm Lale Arikoglu, and this podcast is brought to you by Wilderness, a conservation-driven

hospitality company that offers intimate world life encounters in extraordinary remote landscapes.

Last year, I embarked on two separate solo adventures with Wilderness, one to Botswana and the other

to Namibia, where the expert guides delivered a truly once-in-a-lifetime

experience. I promise you, whatever you watch and see before you go won't prepare you for the thrill

of a wilderness adventure. eBay, it's a place to fall in love with new pre-loved vintage and rare

fashion over and over again.

Your favorite designers, expertly authenticated.

Yeah, eBay.

Things people love.

This is the political scene, a weekly conversation with New Yorker writers and guests about politics.

It's Friday,

March 20th. I'm Dorothy Wickenden, executive editor of the New Yorker. As the coronavirus begins to ease in Asia, European countries are experiencing a dramatic rise in infections and deaths.

On Wednesday, Italy reported that 475 people had died from the

virus, the highest death toll in a single day of any nation. More than 2,500 people have died in

Italy so far, and health workers say that conditions in hospitals resemble wartime. In the past week, the United States, with over 8,000 cases and nearly 150 deaths from the virus,

is encouraging social distancing and limiting the working hours of non-essential businesses.

But infectious disease experts say these actions aren't enough.

Amid the panic buying and self-quarantining, another kind of coronavirus culture is spontaneously emerging to ease public fear, the tedium of isolation, and restrictions on daily life.

In Italy, people have been singing on their balconies, everything from opera,

to the national anthem.

Robin Wright, a New Yorker contributing writer joins me to discuss how pandemics change human behavior and what the pandemic reveals about the weaknesses and potential strengths of current political systems.

...