Stephen Macedo

Frances Lee

The Covid pandemic quickly led to the greatest mobilization of emergency powers in human history. By early April 2020, half the world’s population—3.9 billion people—were living under quarantine. People were told not to leave their homes; businesses were shuttered, employees laid off, and schools closed for months or even years. The most devastating pandemic in a century and the policies adopted in response to it upended life as we knew it. In this eye-opening book, Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee examine our pandemic response and pose some provocative questions: Why did we ignore pre-Covid plans for managing a pandemic? Were the voices of reasonable dissent treated fairly? Did we adequately consider the costs and benefits of different policy options? And, aside from vaccines, did the policies adopted work as intended?

With In Covid’s Wake, Macedo and Lee offer the first comprehensive—and candid—political assessment of how our institutions fared during the pandemic. They describe how, influenced by Wuhan’s lockdown, governments departed from their existing pandemic plans. Hard choices were obscured by slogans like “follow the science.” Benefits and harms were distributed unfairly. The policies adopted largely benefited the laptop class and left so-called essential workers unprotected; extended school closures hit the least-privileged families the hardest. Science became politicized and dissent was driven to the margins. In the next crisis, Macedo and Lee warn, we must not forget the deepest values of liberal democracy: tolerance and open-mindedness, respect for evidence and its limits, a willingness to entertain uncertainty, and a commitment to telling the whole truth.

How Our Politics Failed Us

In Covid's Wake

A hero is only as good as his arch nemesis, and no graphic novel is complete without an evil villain. Using this wonderful guide, readers and aspiring artists will learn the steps to creating the perfect antagonist. Easy-to-follow instructions take readers through the steps of designing their ideal evil mastermind.

Drawing the Villains in Your Graphic Novel

A radically new view of Mann's last major novel.

Rereading Thomas Mann's Novel in Light of Observations of a Non-political Man

Overturning Dr. Faustus

Provides step-by-step instructions on drawing the main character of a graphic novel or comic, providing examples of heroes, including a caped superhero and good cop.

Frances Lee

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