The Corona Hour

The pandemic has rapidly expanded the classes of censorship deployed on the big tech tech platforms. In this episode, we look at the motivations behind the actions of these companies and look at the consequences. With mathematician/physicist Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton.

The death of George Floyd has triggered protests and civil unrest worldwide in the biggest challenge to the lockdown yet. We ask what impact they will have on the spread of Coronavirus and what underlying factors are driving the protests.

In this episode, we recap a range of issues discussed in previous episodes and offer some tentative conclusions to explain the wide disparity in case numbers worldwide. Other topics include the banned YouTube interview with immunologist Dolores Cahill, financial incentives behind companies giving false hope on vaccines and implications of recent serology studies. With mathematician/physicist Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton. 

Imperial College University's model of the pandemic led to the UK government changing its policy and instituting a mandatory lockdown. In this episode, we take a deep dive into the code behind the program and ask how useful models of complex situations can really be in predicting reality. With mathematician/physicist Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton.

The world has turned its attention towards creating a vaccine against coronavirus in record time so that life can return to normal. In this episode, we look at a history of vaccines and ask why a consensus has emerged that we will develop a vaccine quickly. With mathematician/physicist Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton.

Protests have broken out worldwide against enforced social distancing. In this episode, we ask why people have formed such polarised and differing views on whether lockdowns should continue despite access to the same evidence. With mathematician/physicist Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton.

Universities are facing a massive income drop as profitable foreign students stay away and distance learning becomes the norm. We ask what the future of higher education will be in a post-Coronavirus world. With mathematician/ physicist Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton.

The public have been advised by many governments and health organisations. In this episode, we look at the evidence for the efficacy of wearing masks to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, and discuss the ethics of public misinformation in times of crisis. With mathematician/ physicist Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton.

As countries run short of basic medical supplies and equipment, the fragility of our interconnected world economy has been revealed by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this episode, we ask whether the era of globalisation has came to an end. With mathematician/ physicist Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton.

In the face of insurmountable evidence, many people refused to accept how deadly a pandemic of Covid-19 could be. In this episode, we discuss the origins of denial in our species, the social costs of being a prophet, and why the Mayor in JAWS wouldn't close the beaches. With psychiatrist and academic Dr. Chamith Halahakoon, physicist/mathematician Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton.

As billions of people live under effective house arrest, we estimate how long governments will maintain the lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19. With mathematician/physicist Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton.

As Governments carry out the biggest round of public spending since World War II, what will be the long-term consequences to our world? In this episode we try to work out the chances of a New Great Depression. With mathematician/ physicist Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton.

How many people will Covid-19 kill? We ask why the subject appears to be taboo in public discussion, and use a simple calculation to come up with some shocking figures. With physicist/mathematician Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton. 

As mass curfews and quarantine are brought into effect worldwide, we discuss the costs and benefits of shutting down the economy to prevent the spread of Covid-19. With physicist/mathematician Steven Kerr and filmmaker Stephen Fingleton.