The Virus: Splendid isolation with Jon Ronson
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2020
⏱️ 24 minutes
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Summary
The World Health Organisation has recognised that the coronavirus crisis is generating stress and has advised people to avoid watching, reading or listening to news that causes feelings of anxiety. But for author Jon Ronson, living with anxiety at the time of a pandemic holds some advantages too.
Guest: Jon Ronson
Host: Manveen Rana
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | One of the side effects of the coronavirus outbreak has been a huge leap in stress levels. |
| 0:08.0 | The World Health Organization has even blamed the news for causing feelings of anxiety. |
| 0:14.0 | Sorry about that. |
| 0:16.0 | Panic attack, for instance, is the equivalent of hanging on to a cliff by your fingers. |
| 0:22.0 | That's what it feels like. Today we talk to the writer |
| 0:25.8 | and journalist John Ronson who's currently self-isulating at his home in upstate |
| 0:30.7 | New York. He has a different take on anxiety. My theory is that we rehearse |
| 0:36.3 | catastrophic what-if situations in our heads so often when a real crisis happens |
| 0:42.1 | were quite good at it. |
| 0:43.0 | Could there be some advantages of always preparing for the worst? |
| 0:47.0 | Suddenly being prepared for catastrophe is suddenly heroic. |
| 0:51.0 | Yeah, I think it feels like finally as anxiety sufferers have a |
| 0:57.2 | dull-winning advantage. You're listening to stories of our times from the Times and the Sunday Times. |
| 1:09.2 | I'm Manveen Rana. |
| 1:10.4 | Today, the virus, part 3, anxiety in the age of coronavirus. Hello. Hi John. Hello. Hello. |
| 1:33.0 | It's Manveen. |
| 1:34.0 | I'm just going to put Ben on for a quick chat about the recording. |
| 1:37.0 | Hi, Joe, can you hear me? |
| 1:38.0 | Hi Ben. |
| 1:39.0 | Hi, yeah. |
| 1:40.0 | With the phone, I'm sure you've done this a hundred times that if you just sort of hold it |
| 1:43.1 | I don't know six inches away from your face. Sure then I completely respect the |
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