Items
Subject is exactly
Politics
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10/14/2020
Laron Anderson Oral History, 2020/10/14
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12/15/2020
David Huber Oral History, 2020/12/15
C19OH -
12/09/2020
Morgan Kallenbach Oral History, 2020/12/09
Morgan Kallenbach was born and raised in Hudson, Wisconsin. She works as a childcare teacher for Grace Lutheran Communities. In this interview, Morgan shares her experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as her thoughts on the pandemic as a whole. She discusses what is like to work during this pandemic as well as her home and social life. Morgan goes on to talk about her experiences with information and news as well as her take on the politics of the situation. -
12/01/2020
Wade Pitrucha Oral History, 2020/12/01
Wade Pitrucha, Marine Corps veteran and butcher, was raised in Texas and lived in California for several years, and currently works as a butcher and lives in Barron, Wisconsin. In this interview, Wade discusses the political and economic developments he has observed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wade gives an inside look at the COVID-19 meat shortage, and explains some of the causes, as well as the impacts on farmers and families. Wade also shares some of his personal experiences and frustrations with the local handling of the pandemic, and how he feels the federal government and the Trump administration has contributed to the massive spread of COVID-19 in the United States. In an entertaining and sometimes darkly humorous interview, Wade’s military experience and personal beliefs provide a unique and well-balanced view of the COVID-19 pandemic and modern American society. -
2021-12-10T11:53
Thomas Ligh and Sierra Butler, Oral History, 2021/12/10
In this interview we discussed what we learned in our History of Global Pandemics class and how that has affected our perspective of pandemics, including COVID-19. -
2021-12-10
Lauren Leonard and Ryan BreucknerOral History, 2021/12/10
A discussion with a peer about what we have learned about the COVID-19 pandemic through learning about other pandemics. -
2021-12-09
Lana Elzein Oral History, 2021/12/09
This story is an update to our first post where we talk about how learning about previous pandemics in our college course History of Global Pandemics has provided insight and consoled us as we experience the current Covid-19 pandemic. -
2021-12-08
Lily Conway and Mulan Ozeki Oral History, 2021/12/08
It says how educating yourself on the past can always provide insight on current struggles. -
2021-11-26
HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 133
Kamala Harris, dazed and confused -
04/25/2021
Tamara Harris Oral History, 2021/04/25
Tamara Harris was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in Black River Falls, Wisconsin and is now a retired teacher of the Chippewa Falls Middle School living in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. In this interview, Tamara describes how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected her daily life, relationships with long-distance family, and participation with the community. Tamara also describes how attitudes have changed during the pandemic and how she has dealt with these changes. Tamara has 7 adult children, 9 grandchildren, as well as many other family members spread throughout the Midwest. -
12/08/2020
Mark Kompsie Oral History, 2020/12/08
C19OH -
2021-12-05
Ted and Howard Fan Oral History, 2021/12/05
Two college students conduct this interview with each other to compare the COVID 19 pandemic with past pandemics. They discuss government response and society reaction. -
04/20/2021
Alexis Hernandez Oral History, 2021/04/20
Alexis is a senior at St. Marys College majoring in political science. In this monologue she discusses her initial reaction to the COVID 19 pandemic, her employment status and how it was affected, and the economical effects she has witnessed due to the pandemic. She also discusses her family and home dynamic and her siblings response to online learning. She touches on social issues like racism and politics effect on society. She describes how she felt when she contracted COVID and how she spread it to her family. This monologue ends with her last thoughts and hopes for the future. -
2020-10-06
Bernd Geels Oral History 2020/10/06
C19OH -
2021-11-13
Anti-Vaxxers in the Family
I have a minimum of 2 resolute anti-vaxxers in my extended family. We try to avoid conflict but sometimes their ignorance is just too much for me to bear and I feel like I have to set the record straight. Here's a summary of what's going on in these screenshots from a FB post. 1. Great aunt posts a meme using the experience of the Polio vaccine to promote the COVID vaccine. (meme included) 2. Anti-vax aunt (orange) posts snarkily that in the case of the polio vaccine, it was only rolled out after 60 years of research. 3. I step in (as a historian of public health) and comment that she's mistaken, the polio vaccine went from lab to roll out in 25 years. While mRNA (on which the COVID vax is based) was first discovered in a lab 35 years ago so it stands to reason that the amount of time between lab and roll out is similar. 4. Meanwhile... anti-vax second cousin (purple- daughter of great aunt who made the original post and also resolutely anti-vax) tags anti-vax aunt (orange) and says "amen." as in... she lends her support 5. Anti-vax aunt (orange) responds to my initial rebuff in #3 and says "wrong. it took 35 years to discover it was a virus" (as if that, added to the 25 years of development constitutes 60 years of "research" 6. I step back in and repeat... polio vaccine research began in 1930, and it rolled out in the US in 1954. Surely she doesn't want to go back to the "good old days" when it took 30 years to discover whether something was a virus, really...?? 7. I was wrong. Anti-vax aunt (orangs) DOES want that. She says, "Yes, really" 8. pro-vax cousin (light blue-an oncology NP) comments "Wow. That's sad to think about" 9. Anti-vax aunt (orange): ? 10. pro-vax cousin (light blue): is we were not able to identify viruses like we can today. It's sad to think about all of the people that would die unnecessarily. This exchange went on but I just don't have it in me to continue with screenshots. Great aunt (original poster) chimes in and says she doesn't care what people's beliefs are but both of her daughters (one of them the anti-vaxxer in purple) families have COVID right now and she's in her 70s and was exposed to both and never caught it. She firmly believes it's because the vaccine works. Anti-vax aunt claimed she "didn't post a belief, she posted a fact" I said "no. you posted an incorrect fact that was skewed to make it look like the polio vaccine underwent 35 more years of research than it actually did and I corrected you." It's amazing to me that technology that has been in development for 35 years (mRNA) is seen with such suspicion because the virus it's being used with COVID-19 is new. So the assumption is that the vaccine is "untested" even though the technology behind it has a robust research history. I'm even more amazed by people who are anti-covid vaccine even though they had their full slew of childhood vaccines on schedule. I have two very close family members who refused to get vaccinated (different family members than the two distant family featured above) and they had all of their childhood vaccines. One of them even told me she fully expected that everyone who was vaccinated with the COVID vaccine will die in a few years or even "sprout dicks" for all she knows.... yes... It's imperative that we, as a society, figure out how to address misinformation and disinformation. Certainly, facts/statistics/"Research" are open to interpretation to a degree but much anti-vax info out there is politically motivated. It's not coming from scientists who spend their whole lives studying this stuff.... it's coming from PACs and anti-establishment groups who have beef with the US government and/or "Big Pharma" or Western medicine. -
2020-09-29
Is This the End of Contemporary Art As We Know It?
Artist Liam Gillick and a writer for ArtReview, J.J. Charlesworth talk about the changes brought by the pandemic and the many ways that everything will most likely remain the same. Interestingly, they examine the beginning and end of “contemporary art” and the complex web of economic, social, political and cultural factors that are shifting and breaking down in different ways from our current crises. In the end, the feeling that art will survive but the idea that this particular period of art and the art world has reached its end is contemplated. -
2021-09-19
HIST30060 Misinformation
This image I took down the St. Kilda pier. Someone had left various stickers that spread misinformation about covid, lockdowns and the vaccine. My friends and I decided it was best to remove these stickers as they are quite harmful. Living in Melbourne it has been so tiring watching ‘freedom protestors’ and people from far-right groups constantly spread misinformation and attend protests during stage 4 lockdowns (where we can only leave the house for the essentials). The fear-mongering these groups do its quite upsetting as I’ve seen my friends and some distant family members share their information on social media. The ‘anti-vaxxers’ and covid deniers even compare wearing a mask, getting vaccinated and being in lockdown to the Holocaust, which is so harmful and upsetting -
2021-04-22
HIST30060: Anti-Lockdown Pub Menu
This screenshot of a pub's 'freedom menu' captures the way that people's opinions lockdown measures have been expressed in strange ways. It also highlights the unusual propensity for anti-lockdown opinions to elevate their struggle to that of great civil rights movements of history with their persistent use of terminology like segregation. -
2021-09-21
HIST30060 Footage of smoke on the Westgate Bridge during anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne
This video was taken on 21 September 2021, capturing the view of the Westgate Bridge from Williamstown, Melbourne, as anti-lockdown protestors fill several lanes and disrupt traffic. The footage shows smoke coming from the bridge and all traffic brought to a standstill. There were also helicopters hovering and police car lights joining the scene later on. I was on a walk with a friend along the Esplanade at the time this footage was taken. It felt quite scary to be seeing aggressive, violent attitudes manifest so close to home. We knew what was going because of news updates coming through our phones. After the initial shock and fear at witnessing this happening on a few kilometres away, my friend and I walked the rest of the way in silence, too appalled by the behaviour to do more than shake our heads in dismay. -
2021-08-02
A complex decision: Deferring International Students
In the Center of International Programs, during Summer 2021, some decisions had to be made in the office. Due to internal changes, some applications could not be processed, and I-20s could not be developed. Between 10 to 20 undergraduates and graduate students had to be deferred to have more time to issue their visas. This impacted students as some had already made arrangements to come and each case had to be taken into consideration and also be taken personally. The Center of International Programs has over 20 students preparing to go to the university by Spring 2022. -
2021-10-18
Don't Forget Your Mask!
The mask has had a huge impact on our sense of touch and smell. For one, breathing with a mask on was an adjustment. Tuna sandwiches became something to avoid at all costs because of the smell you could be stuck with all day by wearing a mask. There is also something to say about the feeling of a mask around your ears and over your nose. The constant practice of grabbing a mask and putting it around one's ears has become a ritual of protection or habit as we are now bound to this object like that of a cell phone which is now always on our person. The sense of touch also adapted to various kinds of masks that were promoted and the variety of masks that would be marketed for commercial value. The mask, one of the few things that forces us to run back inside the house because we forgot it. The mask, a true measuring stick for how quick we can adapt and change society for better and for worse. -
2021-09-20
HIST30060: Vaccination Sticker
The image is of a sticker I was presented with upon receiving my first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, Pfizer. I received my vaccine in regional Victoria and was given the sticker after checking in for my appointment. I was then shown the way to a vaccination booth which was located in the ballroom of a Hotel that had been converted for widespread vaccination. I had been eligible for the Astrazenica vaccine previously in my age bracket, however, I waited until Pfizer was available as there had been less side effects with greater efficacy reported. The vaccines been a contentious issue in the Australian media after delays in our vaccination program and domestic politics overshadowing health advice. These have contributed to a sense of mistrust and paranoia in some. -
2021-10-01
HIST30060: White Rose
I found this sticker while I was walking to pick up a click-and-collect order. I was struck by it because of its reference to 'The White Rose', an anti-Nazi movement begun by Sophie Scholl in 1942 Germany. The insensitivity and total misunderstanding of what constitutes oppression is a touchstone to the anti-lockdown and anti-vaxxer movements. It made me wonder how they could appropriate histories of discrimination - do they simply not understand the Holocaust, or do they genuinely believe that their situation is similar to it? -
2021-03-14
Paradigm Shifts
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many paradigm shifts; everyone I know has undergone a lot of change in themselves, their beliefs, and in how they view and interact with the world. There is a lot of grief these days but there are changes worth being happy about. -
2021-09-18
Biden Administration Sends More Agents to Texas Bridge to Move Haitian Migrants
It is utterly dismal that this is taking place, and being written about, as if it were compartmentalized from the crisis of mass death facing the entire planet. Face masks are required on all U.S. public transit and on all flights, yet migrants seeking asylum are treated without regard for even their bare minimum safety. -
2021-02-19
Absurdist (pandemic) humor
Sometimes I feel as though the people grifting off of the pandemic and people willingly sharing misleading information for political reasons just do not care about the harm being caused. It is also strange because many people seem to enjoy, like Squidward here, being a bearer of “fake news”. -
2021-06-05
Someone else on the internet told me different!
This is what I imagine people doing when they turn off NPR’s latest COVID vaccines update before heading to the feed store to buy Ivermectin for COVID treatment. -
2021-10-14
Biden Says Port of Los Angeles Will Operate 24/7 to Ease Logjam That’s Fueling Inflation
The global supply chain crisis has led to some unprecedented steps to regain efficiency. How much more recourse do the public and private sectors have? -
2021-10-04
Neglect of Prisoners
One of the examples of bigger issues coming to light during the pandemic. Not only were people in prisons fighting covid, but they're also continually dealing with a lack of resources such as basic air conditioning/ heat. -
2021-10-07
Exposing Systemic Racism in all Areas
While some believed the pandemic aid solved food insecurity, that couldn't be further from the truth in black neighborhoods. -
2021-08-16
False Promises?
After 20 years of bloodshed, the Us military forces withdrew from Afghanistan, leaving it under Taliban rule. The departure was followed by a , two week process of which more than 120,000 people tried to evacuate (Council of Foreign Affairs, "The US War in Afghanistan" The tweet depict the heartbreaking images of crowds of people trying to cling to the sides of Us military planes at the Kabul airport and tweets from US civilians sympathizing with the troubles overseas. -
2021-09-30
I hope you wear your orange shirt
A post on Instagram about the need for continual support for Indigenous peoples when it comes to protecting their sovereignty; and in resisting colonialism. -
2021-10-08
Rules for you, suggestions for me
A meme referencing either how members of the UCP of Alberta going on vacation during the worst months of the pandemic, or our Premier's vacation during the onslaught of the 4th wave. I guess it's even funnier based on the fact that this can represent multiple instances. -
2021-09-24
Best Summer Ever
This is a news article detailing the result of Alberta’s “Best Summer Ever” which saw almost all pandemic restrictions relaxed with only the begrudging exception of a required quarantine if you were to test positive – yes they seriously tried to get rid of that. ‘They’ being the UCP (United Conservative Party) of Alberta, which has exacerbated the pandemic through prioritizing corporate needs by pushing to continually open the economy at the expense of public health. Ontop of this, the continual gutting of our healthcare system, as a means to ‘legitimize’ the need for a private healthcare system coincided with this, and had devastating results on the lives of Albertans. Jason Kenny, the premier, went to our ‘greatest outdoor show on earth’ the Stampede; and flipped pancakes for all attendees with a smile. They sold ‘Best Summer Ever’ hats, while slowly our hospitals were filling up. As I am writing this, there is a humanitarian mission currently in my province, the army has been deployed to assist, and we are flying people to Ontario for medical treatment because our hospitals are at capacity. The cannibalistic nature of this party and overall of Capitalism has resulted in immense suffering for my province, people are dying in waiting rooms. The last portion which I wrote there really bothers me, I can’t comprehend that experience, you’re in somewhere where they can take care of you, or help you in anyway – but there’s nowhere to lay down, dying in a liminal space. I have Conservative, and Liberal friends who have stated that “it isn’t that bad” or that it’s “just the unvaccinated,” (yes this is a real comment a Conservative ‘friend’ told me in response to my anger with the situation) I cannot comprehend what they mean by either of these, the situation is clearly unacceptable. People have been willfully sacrificed so corporate executives can make their regular paycheques, why is that not infuriating people, why is it just this fixation on ‘getting back to normal.’ Normal is killing people, and having strong men like Jason Kenny smile and flip pancakes only adds onto the absurdity of the situation, I can’t help but be reduced to a boiling rage whenever I read anything relating to our province and the pandemic, I don’t want to live here anymore if this insanity is perceived as somehow normal, or at the most extreme, ‘tolerated’. -
2020-11-07
You're Fired
I worked the polls at Nevitt Forest Elementary during the 59th presidential election. The lines were crowded at 6:00 prior to the polls official opening at 7:00. The energy in the voting room was definitely mixed--some determined, some anxious, and some angry at the previous conditions of Trump administration of 2017-21. Although the energy of the election results are still mixed today still, this meme reflects one of the more amused and joyous reactions of the election turnout. Thus, using one of Trump's infamous lines of his famed tv show Celebrity Apprentice, this meme pokes fun at the importance of public ratings not only in pop culture but in politics as well. -
2021-09-30
HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 129
"My party, right or wrong" -
2021-10-04
My experience and how COVID-19 affected me.
The essay outlines what I had initially known about COVID-19, what I experienced, what close family or friends experienced, and how I saw the world change as a result. The purpose being to share my thoughts to not only get it off my own chest, but to help others feel comfortable in sharing their own. -
2020-01-01
The real pandemic
during the covid 19 pandemic everybody was panicking and worrying about getting a vaccine. i just moved here from another state and i left my mom and brother back home. they lived in a bad neighborhood so during the pandemic they was not only afraid of the covid pandemic but the violent pandemic that plagued the streets where they lived. during the pandemic i lost both my mom and brother to gun violence. -
2021-09-24
Mert Erden Oral History, 2021/09/24
Danny Rollo interviews Mert Erden about life during COVID-19 from its beginning to current times. Mert discusses the feeling of being depressed during lockdown but reveals his more positive outlook on the pandemic as he believes that society has greatly improved as time has passed. Mert also talks about the actions of the United States government in response to the pandemic. -
2021-09-24
Mert Erden interviews Danny Rollo about Living Through COVID-19
The contributor of this item did not include verbal or written consent. We attempted to contact contributor (or interviewee if possible) to get consent, but got no response or had incomplete contact information. We can not allow this interview to be listened to without consent but felt the metadata is important. The recording and transcript are retained by the archive and not public. Should you wish to listen to audio file reach out to the archive and we will attempt to get consent. -
2021-09-27
Garima Sehgal Oral History, 2021/09/27
Two Northeastern students discuss how the pandemic affected their lives, including the impacts of the pandemic on their communities -
2021-03-29
Lars Wolfshield Oral History, 2021/03/21
Self-Description: “I am a pansexual and gender fluid artist and artist manager and I work primarily with Black and queer musicians and bands.” Record label: https://www.instagram.com/wolfshieldrecords/ -
2021-09-18
HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 128
Afghanistan exit and U.S. border- a Biden disaster -
2021-09-22
Breitbart says the Left is Trying to Kill Conservatives En Masse with Reverse Psychology
I just can’t. I shit you not….. right wing nutters are now claiming that the organized left is doing everything they can to make sure the right does not get vaccinated… things such as vaccine Mandates…….. VACCINE MANDATES. He says the Biden Admin has instituted mandates in order to ensure that the right DOES NOT GET THEM. I’m so sick of the victim mentality exhibited by the far right. It’s so dangerous and the misinformation and disinformation being circulated on social media and right wing “news” is genuinely terrifying to me. I have family members who have refused to get vaccinated and I have begged them, BEGGED them to get vaccinated. So much that they refuse to talk to me about it. It’s lunacy to me that my efforts could be construed as “reverse psychology” to ensure their deaths. -
2020-09-13
"Plight of Holyoke Soldiers' Home residents, families becomes political flashpoint in state Senate race"
This MassLive news article discusses how a state senate candidate was using the poor response to the pandemic at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home during his opponent's term in office to gain popularity for himself. -
2021-08-28
hermit HERALD, ISSUE 126
U.S. biometric database in hands of Taliban -
2021-08-27
hermit HERALD, ISSUE 125
Afghanistan, "None of this had to happen." -
2020-03-19
EXECUTIVE ORDER N-33-20
This is the executive order from California Governor Gavin Newsom that introduced California's shelter-in-place on March 19, 2020. The executive order orders Californians to stay at home and only leave home for necessities (buying food, health care, etc.) or for working in certain industries. -
2021-08-11
Sorry, Not Sorry. Vaccines Are Necessary.
In two years of everything under the sun becoming political, it’s not a shock that vaccines are yet another unnecessarily politicized topic. Of course, unlike masks, which were not a part of our daily routine prior to 2020, vaccinations and anti-vaxxers are not new. And honestly, if my two elementary aged kids could be vaccinated I would care a lot less about anti-vaxxers. I think they’re selfish, but for the most part, they’d be hurting themselves (and the immuno compromised that cannot be vaccinated.) But my kids can’t be vaccinated and I have been trying to stay positive knowing next week they’re walking into a classroom with only a mask for protection. I asked my mom “what is their teachers are unvaccinated?” I mean, every unvaccinated person poses a risk - what is the adult in charge is an anti-vaxxer and anti-masker? So it was with complete and utter shock and total relief to get the official word that teachers in the state of CA must be vaccinated. It’s a shame that this seals the fate on governor Newsom’s recall. I don’t love the guy, but I sure as heck want him more than a DeSantis and considering the last time CA recalled a governor, we ended up with the Terminator in charge…well. With Florida’s teachers being threatened with losing their pay over mandating masks, I am relieved to live in a state taking the opposite approach. Call us Commiefornia, I don’t care. Like I’ve been saying for a year and a half, this is a public health crisis. This isn’t about politics, it’s about an invisible virus that is continuing to mutate and spread. And as a teacher, I truly believe it’s my responsibility to do anything to help mitigate the spread. -
2021-08-10
COVID meme
I think what makes Covid memes so funny is that they are sometimes based on truth...