COVID-19 Collection

Perspectives on the Pandemic from Bioneers

 

For decades, Bioneers has been uplifting solutions and inspiring movements for a more just world. The COVID-19 pandemic has, practically instantaneously, dramatically changed the shape of our lives. While the virus itself is considered “novel,” its emergence, spread and the varied global response has unmasked systemic realities that are certainly less than “novel,” including issues that many in this community have been working on for decades.

Explore below for perspectives on COVID-19 featuring leaders in diverse fields, from medicine to conservation to climate justice and more.

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FEATURED ARTICLE

Support Bioneers to Continue to Do What’s Needed: COVID-19 Relief Funding in Indian Country

Indigenous communities—both urban and rural—have been hit extremely hard due to unequal access to health care, lack of infrastructure, inadequate access to healthy food and water, ability to obtain essential goods, and socially-driven constraints, such as stable employment. Learn how Bioneers has been supporting Indigenous communities hit hardest by COVID-19 – and how you can help. 

 
In this address from the Bioneers 2020 Conference, Kenny Ausubel discusses the converging awakenings that took place in 2020 and how we can use what we’ve learned to move forward.
Article

The Upside of the Downside

Kenny Ausubel
 
Rupa Marya interviews Tiny Garcia, a remarkable, one-of-a-kind activist and formerly un-housed, formerly incarcerated “poverty scholar,” revolutionary journalist, lecturer, poet, visionary, teacher and co–founder of POOR Magazine.
Article

Hitting Pause on ‘the Violent Act of Looking Away’

Rupa Marya & Tiny Garcia
 
Bioneers spoke to Tieron Johnson, a young staff member at Rez Refuge on the Navajo Reservation, about his leadership providing mutual aid to people on the Navajo reservation and what it feels like to be a role model for young people in his community during these times.
Article

Youth on the Frontlines of COVID Relief on the Navajo Reservation

 
On her way to the Congo, Belgian disease ecologist and wildlife biologist Anne Laudisoit got stuck in Uganda during their COVID-19 shutdowns. In this interview, she chats with Bioneers Senior Producer J.P. Harpignies about zoonotic diseases and how scientists around the world are managing outbreaks.
Article

COVID Near the Congo: Our Conversation with a Disease Ecologist Caught Abroad

Anne Laudisoit & J.P. Harpignies
 
Self-quarantined and isolated in her apartment in Brooklyn, Hala Alyan is more aware than ever of humanity’s interdependence—suddenly exposed as a raw, pulsing nerve. With all of us inescapably together as we move through this pandemic, how, she asks, can we make room for grief, empathy, and hope?
Article

This Is Not a Rehearsal: Handling Grief, Empathy and Hope During the Pandemic

Hala Alyan
 
In this interview, science writer David Quammen explores the ways in which viruses are embedded in the same systems of ecology and evolutionary biology that we are.
Article

Shaking the Viral Tree: An Interview with David Quammen

David Quammen
 
In the time of this great, strange plague, writer Paul Kingsnorth returns to the Celtic tale of Finnegas, the woodland hermit who devoted his life to catching and eating the salmon that contained the wisdom of the world.
Article

How the Tale of Finnegas Can Help Guide Us Through the Global Pandemic

Paul Kingsnorth
 
This letter features the words of Ilarion Merculieff, an author and Indigenous activist of the Unangan people, who draws on his elders’ knowledge to offer encouragement and empowerment during the difficult times of the coronavirus pandemic.
Article

A Message of Wisdom from the Elders in the Time of Pandemic

Ilarion Merculieff
 
This is a painful moment for all of us. But our collective response to the dual crises of COVID-19 and climate change doesn’t need to be alienating or scary — it can be an opportunity to come together to fight for a livable present and livable future for us all.
Article

Solving the dual crises of COVID-19 and climate change

Molly Morabito
 
COVID is spreading because the virus is new and contagious and because we live under a system that picks profit over people at every turn. Never have ageism and ableism been so glaringly exposed.
Article

Defeating the Pandemic Means Confronting Ageism and Ableism

Ashton Applewhite
 
A disruption—such as a global pandemic—can provide a window of opportunity to change our habits and make positive change.
Article

Advancing Change in a Time of Disruption: Forging a New Pathway for Nature

Mari Margil
 
As decision-makers take steps to ensure immediate relief and long-term recovery, it is imperative that they consider the interrelated crises of wealth inequality, racism, and ecological decline – notably the climate crisis, which were in place long before COVID-19, and now risk being intensified.
Article

Principles for a #JustRecovery from COVID-19

 
Bioneers CEO and co-founder Kenny Ausubel points out that the only way to solve a pandemic is through massive cooperation. As a society and civilization, we are being forced to change our pronoun from “me, me, me” to “we.”
Article

In Case of Emergency, Break Class

Kenny Ausubel
 
David Orr explains how the deterioration of our democracy has precipitated crises like climate change and the spread of COVID-19, and what we can do in the face of this reality.
Article

Politics and Consequences: How to Fix Democracy in the Face of COVID-19

David Orr
 
The fate of the industries are inextricably linked. Will the government bail out airlines and Big Food over small food businesses, farms, and workers?
Article

As Coronavirus Ravages Businesses, Small Farms and Independent Restaurants Rally for Economic Relief

Lisa Held
 
Suez Jacobson, executive producer of the film “Wild Hope,” writes about how we can strengthen our relationship with the natural world while the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts our daily lives.
Article

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Challenging Our Destructive Habits

Suez Jacobson
 
Author and Bioneers Senior Producer J.P. Harpignies reminds us that even during the COVID-19 outbreak, we can put an end to post-disaster trends of elite, corporate profiteering.
Article

A Case of the Pandemic Blues

J.P. Harpignies
 
This collection features what leaders in the Bioneers community are saying about the COVID-19 outbreak. Featuring six leaders in diverse fields, from medicine to animal cognition to climate justice.
Article

What Bioneers Are Saying About COVID-19

 
While self care is important, it is not enough. We need to care for each other, says Bioneers board member and the Othering and Belonging Institute’s Director, john a. powell.
Article

As We Spatially Separate We Must Also Stay Connected

john a. powell
 
As the coronavirus spreads anxiety and panic across the globe, people are finding ways to share information and support each other.
Article

Facing COVID-19 With Community Instead of Fear

Lornet Turnbull
 
Ecologist and award-winning author Carl Safina points out the true cause of this pandemic — wildlife markets — and how that represents our broken relationship with the rest of the living world.
Article

COVID-19 is a Wake-up Call; Don’t Hit Snooze

Carl Safina
 
Carolyn Raffensperger, executive director of the Science and Environmental Health Network, calls on us to face the coronavirus pandemic by helping others and caring for our neighbors during this turbulent time.
Article

Community Resilience in Light of the Coronavirus

Carolyn Raffensperger
 
The last several months the term “mutual aid” has come up quite a bit in public discourse to describe the wide range of neighborhood/community-based altruistic behaviors that have arisen in response to the Covid-19 pandemic
Article

The Prince of Mutual Aid: Homage to Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin

J.P. Harpignies

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