Lessons From a Year in Isolation

Notes from America with Kai Wright

WNYC Studios

News Commentary, Politics, History, News

4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 28 December 2020

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A first draft of history for 2020, told through three very personal efforts to find -- and keep -- human connection amid a pandemic. We hear from 13-year-old Adiva Kaisary about how 2020 has complicated her relationships with her school friends and new neighborhood. Producer Veralyn Williams brings us a story from WNYC’s own reporter Cindy Rodriguez who faced COVID-19 head-on this year - while living alone as so many have. Finally, reporter Jenny Casas checks in with Chicagoan Niky Crawford, following a social experiment that they crafted to bring strangers in isolation together. COMPANION LISTENING: “An Invitation to Dream” (11/2/2020)An exercise in radical imagination for a post-Trump world, with some of our favorite guests. “Rage, Grief, Joy” (6/18/2020)Stories about catharsis -- and the ways we gather to fight, to grieve, and to show up for each other. “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the United States of Anxiety, a show about the unfinished business of our history and its grip on our future.
0:08.0	As of now, indoor dining has been shut again.
0:11.0	Officials took what seemed like another step backwards in the war against COVID-19.
0:15.0	Another sign that the second wave is upon us.
0:17.8	My advice is, be careful.
0:20.8	You are not imprisoned in your home.
0:25.0	We're social creatures.
0:27.0	We need each other to survive and to thrive.
0:30.0	We had a big loneliness problem in this country before COVID-19 social distancing has put it on steroids.
0:39.0	As somebody with a mental illness, sometimes my house isn't the safest place for me.
0:43.6	Sometimes I really do need to get out.
0:45.5	When you live alone, when you say a household, and you're the household, the thought of not
0:49.6	being with other people for an indefinite amount of time is overwhelming.
0:57.3	Welcome to the show and happy holidays everybody.
1:00.0	I'm Ky Wright and this week I want to start by just introducing you to somebody I met who turned out to be kind of a kindred spirit
1:07.6	Can you hear me? Yeah, I can hear you can you hear me. Hi my name name is Adiva. This is Adiva Kieserie, who is a 13-year-old eighth-grader who lives in Queens. And she's the first of a few people you're going to meet during this show, which is going to be kind of a reflection on the
1:25.0	year we've all been through. A reflection about our efforts to connect with one another in trying times.
1:31.8	And a reflection with history in mind too, but I'll get to that in a bit.
1:36.1	For now, the point is we're not live, we're not taking calls this week. We just want to introduce
1:40.8	you to some people in our community starting with Adiva.
1:44.8	Adiva, what's the thing you're most looking forward to in the new year in 2021?
1:50.1	First off, I want this to end. I want everything to go back to normal. I want to go to school like a normal person
	...

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