The Corona Diaries Bear Radio

TW: Police brutality & Racial Violence

In the final installment of the Corona Diaries, Jill and Julia look back on their favorite interviews and guests, and discuss all of the things they learned producing a podcast in the time of Covid-19. Jill looks back on her favorite episode, “Audio Storytelling in the Time of Corona,” and Julia discusses the powerful stories shared by interviewees working within their communities to combat the virus. We share some links and resources for donating funds or services to Corona relief efforts, and Jill shares information on where to donate for those who want to fight for justice for George Floyd and support the anti-police brutality demonstrations happening around the world.

This episode is brought to you by Bear Radio. Big thanks to RØDE for the sponsored equipment and to our friends and family for their enthusiasm to share their stories.

Please share your own stories, both fun and not, to coronadiariespodcast@gmail.com, and please donate to the following causes - even if it’s only a few euros it adds up!

Links to donate to Covid-19 relief:
Karuna: https://cms.karuna-ev.de/
Stadtmission: https://www.berliner-stadtmission.de/
Tafel: http://www.essener-tafel.de/ueber-uns/
Be an Angel: https://beanangel.direct/
Cooking for Heroes: https://kochen-fuer-helden.de/

Organizations working with Refugees who are at risk:
Leave No One Behind: https://seebruecke.org/leavenoonebehind/aktionen/
Seawatch: https://sea-watch.org/en/
Doctors Without Borders: https://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.de/

Links to support demonstrators and the families of victims of police brutality/racial violence:
Official George Floyd Memorial Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd
Justice for Kenneth Walker: https://www.gofundme.com/f/legal-representation-for-kenneth-walker
I Run With Maud: https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-run-with-maud
Minnesota Freedom Fund: https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/
Brooklyn Community Bail Fund: https://brooklynbailfund.org/
Campaign Zero: https://www.joincampaignzero.org/
Unicorn Riot: https://unicornriot.ninja/
The Village in Oakland: https://thevillageinoakland.org/

In the final installment of our exploration of COVID-19 around the world, we head to Russia to find out how the transcontinental country is dealing with the pandemic.

Kira Tverskaya, the Social Media Manager at Echo of Moscow Radio, chats about how the public have responded to rules and regulations and Russia’s desire to avoid declaring a state of emergency. Kira also sheds light on the struggle that doctors in Russia are currently facing due to a lack of food and PPE, and how the complete lack of support of LGBTQ communities has been exacerbated by corona.

Learn more about the Mutual Help 24 project here: https://www.facebook.com/mutualhelp24

This episode is brought to you by Bear Radio. Big thanks to RØDE for the sponsored equipment and to our friends and family for their enthusiasm to share their stories.

Please share your own stories, both fun and not, to coronadiariespodcast@gmail.com and while you’re at it, a donation of any sort would be much appreciated, the link is PayPal.me/bearradio - all donors will receive a loving shoutout in the next episode.

In this episode we speak to Monique Mortlock, a friend and journalist at eNCA, about how South Africa has been handling the current COVID-19 pandemic. Monique explains how her life as a field journalist and essential worker has been affected, and how her team is finding new ways to report. She highlights the successes and failures by the South African government to support its people in this time and sheds light on the intricacies of the ban on cigarette and alcohol sales in the country.

This episode is brought to you by Bear Radio. Big thanks to RØDE for the sponsored equipment and to our friends and family for their enthusiasm to share their stories.

Our condolences go out to Monique as well as the family, friends and colleagues of eNCA camera man, Lungile Tom, who passed away on May 13 after testing positive for COVID-19. We would also like to thank ALL essential workers for the incredible work that they do on the front lines to keep us fed, healthy and informed.

Please share your own stories, both fun and not, to coronadiariespodcast@gmail.com and while you’re at it, a donation of any sort would be much appreciated, the link is PayPal.me/bearradio - all donors will receive a loving shoutout in the next episode.

This episode takes us to India as we chat to Swarnima Bhattacharya, the founder of TheaCare, a platform that brings women’s health and women’s bodies to the fore by creating awareness, and fostering healthy conversations.

Swarnima sheds light on how India and its people are navigating the coronavirus. She explains how the class divide has affected citizens in lockdown, and how peer-support networks in poorer communities have been activated. She goes on to describe how the pandemic has highlighted the faultlines of gender based violence, power and sexualization in India. She also shares incredible stories of young women who are using their digital skills to spread awareness through TikTok and other apps.

This episode is brought to you by Bear Radio. Big thanks to RØDE for the sponsored equipment and to our friends and family for their enthusiasm to share their stories. Please support Swarnima and the incredible work she is doing by visiting https://thea.care and thea.care on Instagram.

Please share your own stories, both fun and not, to coronadiariespodcast@gmail.com and while you’re at it, a donation of any sort would be much appreciated, the link is PayPal.me/bearradio - all donors will receive a loving shoutout in the next episode.

Neuroscientist, improvisor and friend, Nacho Sanguinetti, sheds light on what life is like for him, his family, and the people of Uruguay during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nacho explores the general atmosphere of the country, explaining how the positive mood can be potentially harmful, but how the government is successfully reaching communities outside of the capital of Montevideo. He goes on to share how corona is affecting his own work as a neuroscientist and how he has redirected his attention to helping fellow scientists analyze data coming out of South America.

This episode is brought to you by Bear Radio. Big thanks to RØDE for the sponsored equipment and to our friends and family for their enthusiasm to share their stories.

Please share your own stories, both fun and not, to coronadiariespodcast@gmail.com and while you’re at it, a donation of any sort would be much appreciated, the link is PayPal.me/bearradio - all donors will receive a loving shoutout in the next episode.

The COVID-19 pandemic reached Pakistan on the 26th of February, when a student in Karachi tested positive after returning from neighbouring Iran. For more on the situation in the South Asian country, we reach out to Saba Khalid, the founder of Aurat Raaj (https://www.auratraaj.co/), a social enterprise from Pakistan that creates interactive technology products and services to educate young girls on health, hygiene and safety.

Saba explains how corona has affected her own work and life, and how everything has pivoted towards educating communities on the virus. She goes on to share what social distancing measures have been put in place, and how vital women in underprivileged communities have been in spreading the word. Saba sheds light on the severe shortage of PPE and reliable hospitals in Pakistan, and highlights the effects that Ramadan may have and how the holy month could spell trouble.

This episode is brought to you by Bear Radio. Big thanks to RØDE for the sponsored equipment and to our friends and family for their enthusiasm to share their stories.

The Aurat Raaj children’s Coronavirus chatbot in Urdu can be found here: https://bit.ly/3cDMImw

Please share your own stories, both fun and not, to coronadiariespodcast@gmail.com and while you’re at it, a donation of any sort would be much appreciated, the link is PayPal.me/bearradio - all donors will receive a loving shoutout in the next episode.