If there's one thing we know about social media, it's that misinformation is everywhere,

especially when it comes to personal finance.

Financially inclined from Marketplace is a podcast you can trust to help you get serious about your money

so you can build a life you've always dreamed of.

I'm the host, Janelli Espinal, and each week I ask experts important money questions,

like how to negotiate job offers, how to choose a college that you can afford, and how to talk

about money with friends and family. Listen to financially inclined wherever you get your podcasts.

In the earliest days of COVID's first arrival in the United States, as the virus continued its relentless spread across the globe, most Americans were unsettled and plenty were outright scared.

This previously unknown illness was causing an alarming number of hospitalizations and deaths, and before we had a vaccine or reliable treatments like Paxlovid, there were just so many

unknowns. It wasn't unreasonable to be concerned then. But five years on from unprecedented lockdowns,

it is fair to ask, did we ignore evidence that could have helped us make better decisions?

From KERA in Dallas, this is think. I'm Chris Boyd. One of the most

consequential policies was the decision to close schools as a means of slowing the spread of the

virus. Initially, this was intended to be a temporary measure, up to two weeks to give public health

officials a chance to assess how severe and how contagious COVID was.

In some parts of the country, though, it would be well over a year before campuses reopened and even then, often under tight constraints.

The effect of those shutdowns on children and their families was enormous.

Some of the harms still linger.

So it's not just fair, but frankly,

essential to ask, was it all truly necessary? My guest, journalist David Zweig, explores that

question in his new book, which is called An Abundance of Caution, American Schools, the

virus, and a story of bad decisions. David, welcome to think.

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