The Great Unmooring

The Remnant’s British invasion continues as Economist deputy editor Edward Carr joins to provide a ...

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The Remnant’s British invasion continues as Economist deputy editor Edward Carr joins to provide a perspective on how the pandemic has affected nations beyond the United States. Together, he and Jonah examine how issues such as vaccine skepticism, excess deaths, and pandemic-related insanity vary between countries, all while kvetching vigorously about teachers’ unions and the politics of marmite. Can we trust China’s COVID statistics? Are things as weird in Russia and the U.K. as they are in America? And are we in the early stages of a new Roaring ‘20s? 

Show Notes:

– England prepares to drop COVID restrictions

– Boris Johnson’s latest scandal

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  1. Mads Lindstrøm

    Is it really true, that pre-pandemic that anti-vaccine was a predominately left wing phenomena. I always thought that it was about 50-50, though with some very loud left-wing Hollywood types that made it seem left wing.

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    1. Mads Lindstrøm

      I found a PEW survey from 2015. And the question (page 121, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/07/2015-07-01_science-and-politics_FINAL-1.pdf):

      "% of U.S. adults saying childhood vaccines such as MMR are generally safe/not safe for healthy children"

      Had the following answers based on political ideology:

      Conservative Unsafe=10%
      Moderate Unsafe=7%
      Liberal Unsafe=12%

      So in 2015 liberals were only moderately more vaccine hesitant than conservatives.

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  2. Anne

    So informative. Great to hear Mr. Carr’s perspective. Thank you.

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    Ben Connelly

    This was a great episode. You should have Nicholas Christakis on to discuss his book.

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    Seth B

    I am beginning to worry that *Guy* was created in a lab.

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  5. Brooke Zaiff

    I am one of your biggest supporters. I rarely listen to your podcast and disagree with your ideas but…

    I am a high school Spanish teacher and I urge you to reach out to actual teachers. It is so easy to overgeneralize us all as “teachers’ unions” and assume that what you hear in the news represents all teachers. I never stopped teaching in the spring of 2020 and since September 2020 have been teaching in-person.

    I work in a very “wealthy” district in New York. We are often rated a top school in the country and yet I walk in daily to roof leaks, cockroaches and mold-infested air vents. Our schools are insect and rodent infested. We have windows that barely open and our classrooms are jam packed with as many student desks as they can possibly hold.

    I heard you talk about the amount of money that public schools received from federal COVID funding. As a teacher, I haven’t seen a dime of that. They gave us new “ventilation systems” that are no more than an air filter from Home Depot shoved into the radiator that barely functions. We were given one N95 mask almost two years into this pandemic that was placed in our mailboxes (without as much as a ziplock bag) and acted as a playground for the insects and rodents until we retrieved it.

    I have never been a proponent of closing schools. From March of 2020 I was heartbroken to be separated from the career that I dreamed of from childhood. I wanted to reenter the classroom as soon as possible and have always believed that education cannot be achieved without a student-teacher relationship. I love my students and work hard each day to maintain a balance of high expectations and meeting students where they are.

    We are now asked to teach our curricula, while tending to our students’ social emotional needs. Our ninth graders have not had a “normal” school year since sixth grade. I cannot teach my regular curriculum, as I play catch up for the gap in their education, while teaching them how to be students, but I am expected to have them earn As on their report cards and 5s on AP examinations.

    And in the midst of it all, we are attacked at Board of Education meetings. Parents stand up each month berating us for asking their children to wear masks properly (as we enforce local mandates) and complete homework assignments. Don’t forget that we are “teaching Critical Race Theory” (which I think we agree is simply untrue). We live in constant fear of “going viral” as our students record our every word and offending any child by telling them that they aren’t perfect.

    Look at the leadership. Look at the superintendents and local government leaders. There are two sides to every story. I can’t speak for all teachers but I challenge you to listen to both sides of the story and make an informed decision because that is what I usually respect most about your podcast.

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  6. Ted Sisson

    One of the best episodes in weeks. You were at your best with an excellent guest. Thank you.

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    Abby

    One of the best shows from this podcast.

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    Faraday

    Ok, I’ll ask, who is Guy Denton?

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    1. Stevenmarks

      John Galt’s nephew

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        Mike B

        And who is John G... umm, never mind.

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  9. Lori Meldrum

    Very interested to hear Carr's take.; I took no issue with any particular thought he expressed. But even when/if a Brit or an Aussie opine ridiculousness, they are such a listening pleasure that I don't care.

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    The_Mat_Man

    "I still don't trust him..., But umm, still think he might in fact be Canadian." Wow, out of left field and you managed a full belly laugh from me.

    Interesting podcast. As others have said, varied views and takes are interesting.

    On a technical note, does anyone else feel that Jonah and Edward had wildly different volume levels at times? If you're not already, you might try recording the audio streams separately and running them through a normalization filter.

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      Faraday

      Definitely different levels of compression there. Decompressing Jonah (problematic I am sure) might prove difficult.

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