This week, I interviewed Steven Thrasher, LGBTQ scholar, journalist and author of “The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Diseases Collide.” Thrasher offered insights from his new book on how systematic marginalization determines who is most affected by public health crises like HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 and now – monkeypox. Then, I spoke to Howard Polskin, president and founder of “TheRighting,” a newsletter, site and social media feed that compiles and disseminates far-right political commentary to cross pollinate the divided media audiences in the U.S. and combat disinformation in the news.
Collective Crises: Infectious Disease and Informed Democracy
