Everybody is asking, how did the U.S. and most other nations get the coronavirus pandemic so wrong? Taiwan was a rare exception. Health officials and the democratic government of this island state sprang into action in the final days of 2019, and tried to warn the world of COVID danger.
Despite being just 80 miles from the coast of China and with a huge amount of travel back and forth to the mainland, Taiwan was remarkably well prepared. The outbreak was kept to a minimum.
"Taiwan knows that it is on its own," says our guest, Samson Ellis, Taipei Bureau Chief at Bloomberg News. "It does not have the backup of the World Health Organization or the World Bank... and that's why Taiwan backs itself up and is very cautious when it comes to issues like this."
Read moreThe great Alaskan earthquake on Good Friday, March 27th, 1964, was surprising, and the lessons from the response are helpful in understanding how we respond to the COVID pandemic today.
"The earthquake overwhelmed people the way the strongest emotions do," wrote our guest, Jon Mooallem recently in The New York Times. "It was pure sensation, coming on faster than the intellect's ability to register it."
A big theme of Jon's new book, "This Is Chance!" is how the citizens of Anchorage almost instantly became "a wave of unofficial first responders." Despite officials' fears of panic, looting and violence, many people rose to the occasion, with countless acts of kindness. The crime rate plummeted, just as it has in recent weeks in New York.
Read moreThe coronavirus pandemic has lead many to fear, panic, anger, profound loneliness and isolation. Realizing that we are all in this crisis together, how can we cope in a more hopeful and creative way?
"We need to make a fundamental choice that the only way we get through this is if we act and engage as a community together," says Rich Harwood, President and Founder of The Harwood Institute. His group teaches and coaches people in local communities to move forward by bridging divides and creating a culture of shared responsibility.
"The more we step forward to take these kind of actions to reduce polarization and connect with one another, the greater sense of control we will begin to feel again over our ability to shape our lives," says Rich.
The Harwood Institute was called in to help the people of Newtown, Connecticut after the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The group says in its mission statement that "we bring people on the front lines of creating change in communities to challenge conventional assumptions, learn together, inspire one another and strengthen our collective ability to be a force for good."
Read moreWhy did the U.S. and most other nations around the world do such a poor job of preparing for and reacting to the global COVID-19 pandemic? After all, we had earlier outbreaks, from HIV-AIDS to SARS, MERS, H1N1 and the Ebola virus.
This episode looks at why humans are so bad at preparing for the future and how we can improve our thinking. Marketing strategist, Mark Earls, has studied behavior change for many years. He's the author of "Herd: How to Change Mass Behavior by Harnessing Our True Nature", and "Copy Copy Copy". Mark is now writing a new book, "Memories of Our Future."
When we plan for what's ahead "we should consider multiple futures", says Mark. This doesn't usually happen, and "we find it much easier to have a simple story about how we got here. We overstate our confidence in the causality."
Read moreCoronavirus has changed all of our lives. We are in the middle of a massive social experiment. This show is first in a series of episodes that will attempt to make sense of the massive psychological, social, economic and political upheaval the pandemic will have on us all.
We start this week with loving relationships. Social distancing will physically separate us from friends and family members who don't live in our homes, but it will bring us closer to our spouse, partner and children. How will this challenge our loving relationships? To what extent is this crisis an opportunity to draw closer to those we love?
We explore these ideas with Susan Page, a relationship and couples expert. Her Latest book is called “Why Talking Is Not Enough”. She says couples are "going to learn skills of tolerance, acceptance and adapting to each other," especially now while we are in isolation.
Read moreWith tens of thousands of cases, hundreds of deaths, and no known cure, the new coronavirus that emerged in China has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization.
In this episode of “How Do We Fix It?” we look at the world’s response to the rapid spread of the 2019-nCoV virus, consider the best ways to deal with the outbreak, and hear the latest about scientific research into a new vaccine.
Infectious diseases epidemiologist Kylie Carville with The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia, is our guest. She is on the front lines of Australia’s public health response to the virus.
“I think we need to be alert, not alarmed in Australia and The United States," Kylie tells us in this exclusive interview.
Read more