Pandemic Politics

Sarah and the guys discuss the politics of coronavirus from the election in Wisconsin to ...

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Sarah and the guys discuss the politics of coronavirus from the election in Wisconsin to the 2020 veepstakes, missteps by the World Health Organization, and why coronavirus numbers have become another partisan debate.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Tiffany W

    Look forward to this podcast every week. I have to say that though everyone suggested great books, Sarah is correct. Ender's Game is amazing.

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  2. Alberto Cairo

    I see many people sending fantasy and SciFi book recommendations here. Here's mine: Robert Silverberg, one of the big names in classic U.S. Science Fiction, not as famous as Arthur C. Clarke, LeGuin, or Asimov because he never broke through the walls of the fandom to be visible to the outer world.

    I'd particularly recommend his books from the 1960s and 1970s: 'The Man in the Maze', 'Downward to the Earth' 'Nightwings', 'Dying Inside', 'The Book of Skulls', 'The World Inside'... The man was hard at work back then and produced 2-3 great (and short—all muscle, no fat) books a year. He was (and still is) an impressive writer.

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  3. ROBERT

    Regarding the book, the actual correct answer, for boys at least, is Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Boroughs. Let them have some fun in an imaginative world before entering the meat grinder of American High School.
    I believe 7th grade is when I started the series and helped me maintain some sanity!

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    1. Tpmcinerny

      In 7th grade (1964-5) the book to read was The Once and Future King. But under our beds lurked (for girls) Peyton Place-and for "young men" Ian Fleming's Bond novels. The most influential book for me was the Guns of August. And the odd sense that things didn't make sense. And discovering 1984 (!) --not to mention acne!!!

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      1. Tpmcinerny

        And then I read The Jewelers Eye and confirmed what I saw on Firing Line . Sense DOES make sense.

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    John D. Wright

    Lord of the Rings, Mists of Avalon, and Dune are all sci-fi/fantasy epics.

    Other great ones are
    For younger readers - The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander
    The Shannara Series by Terry Brooks
    Thomas Covenant series by Stephen R. Donaldson
    The works of Raymond Feist
    The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
    All the series by Jeff Wheeler (available on Kindle Unlimited too!)

    Anyway just some shut-in guidance if anyone needs reading material

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    Nina

    Ender’s Game followed up with the Ender’s Shadow series... (skip the rest of the Ender quartet).

    Anyway REAL TALK with all of you guys—the best middle grade fantasy series is by far The Queen’s Thief series by Meg Whalen Turner. It’s got adventure, politics, religion, and a imperfect hero who’s still too clever by half. Other choices are obviously: the Redwall books, The Hero and the Crown/The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud and pretty much everything by Diana Wynne Jones. Special shoutout also to The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede.

    anyway you guys need to read more books...

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    1. Alberto Cairo

      Oh, I read plenty, but I hadn't heard of those, so thanks! If you like fantasy, look into Paul Kearney's The Monarchies of God series. It's fantasy, although his world is essentially late Medieval Europe in disguise (with wizards and monsters.) Also, Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Series, first book being 'The Winter King', which is marketed as historical fiction but it's pure fantasy. Finally, anything by classic authors such as LeGuin, Robin Hobb, etc.

      And Gene Wolfe.

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  6. Alberto Cairo

    My favorite moments in these podcasts is when are when Jonah and David throw convoluted Sci Fi analogies and references at each other and then turn to Steve and troll him, "Steve did you get that reference?"

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    1. Alan

      I'm waiting for the podcast where Steve pulls an Ogre and screams, "NERRRRRRRRDS!"

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    2. ROBERT

      Agreed - and I love the pause that occurs right after they do that, which is Steve trying to figure out what to say.
      These are the things that make make The Dispatch different, make it fun and entertaining. What's not to love about intellectuals discussing serious topics when out of nowhere comes a random mention of doggie dress up day? You'll never confuse this place with NPR.
      I've never understood some of the readers at National Review who call Jonah a pompous a##. I've never met him, but random mentions of his fascination with pre-ice age mega fauna indicate otherwise. He's seems to be the mischievous child of this bunch!

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      1. Alberto Cairo

        I tend to like anyone who can reference old Science Fiction to discuss the news. I'm positively biased toward fellow nerds.

        Jonah is disliked by many liberals because of the titles of some of his books ('Liberal Fascism'), which don't capture well his arguments, which are far more nuanced than what the titles suggest. And he's disliked in conservative circles nowadays because he's willing to think independently, and doesn't hesitate to call out bullshit—throwing in a little humor—when he sees it. He's also not afraid of changing his mind.

        Those are virtues that, unfortunately, aren't common in this era.

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        1. Tpmcinerny

          Liberal Fascism is a great title. Suicide of the West(?): accurate but already in the landscape- I realize publishers are idiots but that was an unfortunate title. Keep calling out the Bullshit (it's a bipartisan affliction).

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  7. J.J.B.

    Sarah blasts you for scifi and fantasy and then suggests "Ender's Game", "Hitchhikers", and Hamilton's "Mythology".

    I'm now going to assume that every time David brings up "Battlestar" and she groans, it's just because she's desperate to go home and watch the whole series over again.

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    LLM4OSU

    Love the podcast but y’all had the wrong answers on the book recommendations! There is only ONE right answer (well, multiple books; one theme): Caves of Steel and Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov, of course! Launching right into The Foundation Trilogy then the entire Robot Novel series which ends up connecting the whole thing. BAM! Boys or girls. I being a girl ... and I LoVED them and read them several times. Hmmmm. I think I might peruse my bookshelf and blow off some dust right now. 🤔😬

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    Kevin Johnson

    This was a wonderful, eclectic pod. Robinson Crusoe was the first book that made me love reading, and it was in 5th grade. I endorse David on Tolkien and also love Sarah’s Hitchikers Guide. I leave it to others to examine Sarah’s outrageous gender stereotypes (ha) On a serious note, Jonah is totally right about how Trump poisons so many (sometimes correct or at least plausible) positions and points of view and this leads to a spiral to the bottom. Y’all can help fight this by more judicious use of terms like “truther.” You seem to lump decent dissenters into the same group as the crazy crowd on Twitter. I’m not on Twitter, so haven’t seen some of the attacks on Fauci. But when Steve uses “truther” broadly to discuss those less alarmed at the beginning of the crisis or with more emphasis of preparing to reopen the economy, this is damaging to discourse and the truth. MBD at NR has stressed how we need dissent, which I am labeling the decent dissenters. I find sometimes at the great Dispatch, twitter twitching leads some to nut pick on issues such as malaria drugs, less vs. more economic closures, debates about counting deaths, etc. Jonah’s great Lyman Stone Remnant was fantastic for getting a real analytic expert to lay out how much we don’t know yet. He was willing to debunk some things, but also to challenge conventional wisdom on things such as closure. It is vital we not join the left’s game of shaming too many dissenters. We can check in a few months if Steve is correct on the death count, and in the meantime call out real nuts. But let’s have some humility about legitimate differences of opinion and emphasis, no matter what the clown in chief says.

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    Mark Wm L

    Shocked to hear Sarah not object to David talking about a "male ballot". I thought she was a feminist. And, why have there been calls for "male only ballots"? What about the 19th Amendment? I mean, the virus doesn't discriminate, why should our elections because of it? Oh wait ... maybe they meant "mail"? Always had trouble with homophones.

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