On this week’s 51%, a nurse shares her view from the front lines; hear from a resiliency expert about coping with the COVID-19 and what is happening in the face of social distancing; and meet an intuitive songwriter.
Bonnie Weeks is a labor and delivery nurse working at Carteret General Hospital in Morehead City, North Carolina, which, at the time this piece was recorded, was on semi-lockdown due to Coronavirus. Sarah Sloan produced this interview from the Working Narratives studio.
Given stay-at-home orders in certain parts of the country, interviewees may have access only to cell phones, as is the case in this next interview. Dr. Michele Tugade’s research focuses on the function of positive emotions in the coping process; the mechanisms that promote resilience in the face of stress and adversity; and emotion-related processes associated with health and well-being. She says humans are well equipped with internal tools, readily available to help us be resilient and overcome the stresses and anxieties caused by the global COVID-19 crisis. Tugade is a professor in the Department of Psychological Science at Vassar College, in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she directs the Affective Science Laboratory, investigating the science of emotions, coping and resilience.
Congress has passed urgent legislation to ensure that military veterans can continue to attend college. Hundreds of thousands of veterans get federal tuition and housing benefits through the Post-9/11 GI Bill. But many received word they could lose those benefits if their colleges moved to online instruction because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jennifer Brookland reports for the American Homefront Project.
This story was produced by the American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans. Funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Now we meet a genderfluid singer/songwriter and keyboardist for the Minneapolis band 26 BATS. KFAI’s Dixie Treichel produced this audio portrait.
If you’re feeling healthy and asymptomatic, there is encouragement, and necessity, to get outdoors while practicing social distancing, of course, so as not to unknowingly spread or contract COVID-19. The birds might be wondering why their human audience has increased.
That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Tina Renick for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. If you’d like to hear this show again, sign up for our podcast, or visit the 51% archives on our web site at wamc.org. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio
