The remnants of the COVID-19 pandemic

While many prefer to forget the challenging memories and emotions tied to the pandemic, our guest today, Eric Klinenberg, believes in the importance of documenting these experiences. He argues that there’s much to learn from this period, especially as the effects of COVID-19 continue to impact many.

Klinenberg, a sociologist and professor at NYU, has penned a book titled “2020,” which explores the shared experiences of people during the pandemic.

We'll talk about the divisiveness of face masks that only occurred in specific areas, how race and class factored into rates of infection and shifts in the trust of citizens toward governments.

A version of this conversation originally aired on April 11, 2024.

GUEST: 

Eric Klinenberg

Helen Gould Shepard Professor of Social Science at New York University

Director of NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge

Author of “2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year that Everything Changed,” “Palaces for the People,” “Going Solo,” and “Heat Wave”