Welcome to the Colette Podcast. My name is Claire Lehman and I am editor and chief of Colette.

Colette is where free thought lives. We are an independent grassroots platform for heterodox ideas and fearless commentary.

Our podcast is a team effort and is jointly hosted by myself, associate editor Toby Young,

and Canadian editor Jonathan Kay.

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Welcome to the Colette Podcast.

I'm Jonathan Kay speaking to you from Toronto.

The fight against the COVID pandemic has brought good news and bad news in recent weeks.

On one hand, millions of people around the world are now being vaccinated.

On the other hand, more contagious strains of the disease have broken out in Europe and Africa, and some countries, including

Britain, have imposed draconian new lockdown provisions, prohibiting all but the most

essential public activity. But do lockdowns really work? And I realize that even asking that question

will raise the eyebrows of some listeners. In some cases, the anti-lockdown lobby has been associated with activists who downplay or even dismiss the serious

health threat posed by COVID.

But if you look at the data, the question of whether lockdowndowns are worth it is worth asking.

Of course, no one can reasonably question the idea that forcing people apart will help stop

the spread of COVID.

That's basic epidemiology. But there are still at least three main empirical questions

worth asking. First, is it the lockdowns that are forcing people apart or do

...