Category: Worldwide

The COVID-19 pandemic is different from many crises in that it has affected all of us regardless of politics, economics, religion, age or nationality. This virus is a good reminder that humanity is vulnerable to what nature throws at us, and that we are all in this together.

I am an academic psychiatrist specializing in research and treatment of anxiety and stress. Believe me, you are not alone if you feel like complaining.

COVID-19 has affected us if not infected us

This pandemic has profoundly changed our way of living. Overnight, dining out, exercising at the gym or seeing friends in person became impossible for millions of Americans. Remote working, reduced work hours and income, and uncertainty are indeed stressful. Most of us are having to make important adjustments and quickly learn new skills, such as how to do virtual meetings or be motivated to work from home. Given we are creatures of habit, these adjustments can be hard.

We are also stressed by continuous exposure to sad news, often contradictory predictions and recommendations coming from different sources. The constantly changing and evolving nature of this situation is very frustrating.

We humans hate the unknown and limited sense of control over life. Worse, our fear system is designed for fending off dangers, not for modern life crises where we do not need to fight or escape a predator. Hence, we need to find creative ways of responding to crisis, some adaptive and some not.

This angry mom’s rant about homeschooling children while in quarantine goes viral

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Complaining and venting

Humans are a social species, which means sharing one’s thoughts, feelings and experiences. Successful social connection involves the ability to share both positive and negative emotions. During crisis, we can get comfort in sharing our fears and receiving calming and objective feedback from others.

The question is: How much can I complain without being the person everybody avoids? We don’t want to be an Eeyore.

To answer this question, consider what we and others get out of such communication. Is the end result for us feeling less worried or sad, and others feeling supportive? Or are both parties emotionally exhausted and feeling worse?

Benefits of venting

Venting our fears and concerns can be beneficial. Sharing feelings with others, just the act of verbalizing those feelings will reduce their intensity.

Others may provide support and care, and soothe the negative feelings. And we can do the same for them. We learn that we are not alone in this, when we hear others are also having those feelings.

And, we may learn from others, how they cope with their frustration or fear, and that can help us adopt those methods in our life.

When to know the limits

Venting should not become a habit, though. At the end of the day, it won’t fix the problem. Here are suggestions on when to stop sharing negative emotions:

• When venting becomes the main coping style, and importantly, when it delays adaptive necessary action. Venting about homeschooling children will not take care of their education.
• When sharing with others stresses them. It is unfair to make myself feel better at the expense of others’ sanity. When people start avoiding you in response to your venting, it means you are stressing them out.
• When venting does not achieve the goal of feeling better, and one or both of us feel worse. Do not vent just for the purpose of complaining. Your mind is like your stomach: If you feed it good food, you will be healthy and happy. If you keep feeding it garbage, you will feel sick.
• Young children are not there to listen to our problems, and their job is not to soothe us. Being parents’ therapist can have negative long-term effects on children, the least of which is that they may learn that complaining as a main coping style.
• When you experience signs of clinical depression (depressed mood, low energy, poor or increased appetite, insomnia, poor concentration, among others), talk to your doctor to see if you need professional care beyond just a listening ear.

images.theconversation.com

Other ways to cope

Here are a few tips on how to cope with the stress of these days:

• Get your facts from medical experts, and websites such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health authorities, not from rumors or random social media posts. By knowing the facts, you get an objective estimate of the risks. Knowing legitimate ways of protecting yourself and your loved ones provides a sense of control and reduces anxiety. Just know enough to protect yourself and your family.
• Do not get obsessed with the news, and do not keep checking for hours and hours. Make sure to give yourself hourslong breaks from the news. Don’t worry – the network anchors will always be there for you to come back to them.
• Give yourself a chance to be distracted from bad news. Watch movies or TV series, documentaries (animals are awesome), or comedies if you want to watch something.
• Remember all the activities you always wanted to do but did not have time. This does not have to always be errands or housework. It could, and should, include fun activities and hobbies.
• Keep your routines. Go to bed and leave bed at the same times you did before, and eat your normal meals. Now you can spend more time cooking and eating healthy.
• If you are a social person, stay connected via phone, video chat or other technology. Physical isolation should not lead to social isolation. Connect, especially now that you have free time.
• Stay physically active. Regular exercise, especially moderate cardio, not only improves physical health and immune system but also helps with depression and anxiety. Trainers are offering free home exercise training these days online. You can also use exercise as a means for bonding with your loved ones.
• Meditate and use mindfulness techniques.
• Work on your yard or gardening projects. You will be safe, active and productive.

Finally, know that this too shall pass. Medicine will ultimately control the pandemic. We are a very resilient species and have been around for millions of years. We can survive this with wisdom.

Arash Javanbakht is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University

This story originally appeared on The Conversation. You can read it here.

Asheville crooner Moses Sumney debuted the first side of his two-part studio LP Grae in February. His first release since the 2017 project Aromanticism, Grae: Part 1 arrived as a 12-track effort crafted with careful emotion. Ahead of the record’s release, Sumney debuted videos to accompany the singles “Virile” and “Polly.” Now that the first part of the record has been released, Sumney has returned with the enthralling single “Cut Me” and a video for the track.

Directed by Sumney himself, the video opens with an ambulance rushing through a deserted road. Sumney begins singing through a ventilator, with others in the ambulance joining him on the trombone. The remainder of the visual shows Sumney admitted to a ward in the hospital.

Along with his backup dancers, Sumney performs a choreography throughout the hospital. Sumney moves on an auditorium stage, on hospital beds, and throughout the hospital’s hallways before eventually escaping atop the same ambulance that brought him in. “Might not be healthy for me but seemingly I need / What cuts me, cuts me, cuts me, cut me, cut me, cut me,” Sumney sings in unison with the jagged swaying of his choreography.

Watch Sumney’s “Cut Me” video above.

Grae: Part 1 is out now via Jagjaguwar. Get it here.

As the coronavirus pandemic forces festivals, concert tours, and album releases to be postponed or canceled entirely, musicians across the globe are coping with the financial effect of the virus in their own way. Some big-label artists are fortunate enough to be able to donate funds to benefit those in need. Other artists who are more independent, however, are coming up with creative ways to substitute revenue. Mac DeMarco and a group of collaborators shared their new subscription-based web platform Eternal Family as a way to stay creative and support themselves through the pandemic.

DeMarco shared a surreal and esoteric trailer to the site. Animated to be an otter-like character grinning at a computer screen, DeMarco explained the new platform: “Hi. I want to tell you about a new entertainment service. It’s called Eternal Family and you can gain access through eternal.tv,” DeMarco says in the trailer’s opening. “It’s an artist-run membership experience and a place to try out new ideas.”

Essentially, the new site is similar to that of a Patreon. Those who choose to subscribe for $5 a month of $50 a year get exclusive access to entertaining videos and other content from DeMarco and his musical friends. Fellow musician Jerry Paper will be creating his own videos to add to the website and DeMarco will share segments about his favorite audio recording techniques.

Sharing the trailer to Instagram, DeMarco’s longtime collaborative partner Cole Kush further explained the site, saying its a way to financially help out musicians and creatives: “60% of the monthly revenue goes to our creators and the rest to operations & funds to create and license more interesting things,” Kush wrote. “You can cancel anytime if you do NOT enjoy this service. The goal is to create stable income and a place to try out ideas that can be self-produced and perhaps hard to pitch.”

Watch DeMarco’s Eternal Family trailer above.

We’ve been loudly beating the “give Rhea Seehorn an Emmy for her performance as Kim Wexler on Better Call Saul” drum for years now, to no avail. It’s like Carrie Coon on The Leftovers all over again, except Carrie Coon was eventually nominated for an Emmy (for Fargo, but still good!). There’s concern about the Primetime Emmys even occurring this year, due to obvious, more-important-than-saluting-Modern Family reasons, but whenever the ceremony does happen, Rhea Seehorn better get her Emmy.

But don’t take my word for it. Take Patton Oswalt’s.

“If @rheaseehorn doesn’t get the Emmy for this season of @BetterCallSaul I just don’t know. That opening scene, everything she says WITHOUT speaking. Good Lord,” the comedian tweeted, referring to last night’s episode. In response, Seehorn wrote, “PATTONNNNNNN!!!! (The N’s should have a little sing-song quality when spoken in my voice.) Thanks for this. Really. Really.” But Oswalt wasn’t done with his compliments.

“I love that Kim’s dialogue is so terse and bland because in her head she’s making a million decisions a second. You can SEE all of that turmoil in her eyes and it’s thrilling and tragic. She’s an intelligent person whose thoughts are killing her.”

Hopefully not actually killing her, though. We don’t want that.

On Monday evening, Sony Pictures announced delays for three of its upcoming blockbusters as the coronavirus continues to drastically affect the global box office leaving studios in an unprecedented state of uncertainty. The three titles pushed back by Sony are Morbius, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Uncharted, which immediately raised concerns on social media that Venom 2 would no longer hit its October 2 release date.

However, both IGN and Deadline report that Sony is still holding strong on Venom 2‘s release date for the time being. While medical experts have cautioned that Covid-19 will be a health concern for the next one to two years, drastic social isolation measures could subside by the summer, but again, these are uncharted waters. If that optimistic outlook holds, Sony could be looking at a massive hit on its hands as eager fans flock to the theater after months of being trapped indoors and watching slew of anticipated blockbusters get pushed into 2021.

Here are just some of the strong reactions when it looked like Venom 2 was in trouble:

And here are the cries of joy when the smoke cleared and Venom 2 was still standing. For now.

With Tom Hardy reprising his role as Venom/Eddie Brock, the sequel directed by Andy Serkis will feature the symbiotic anti-hero facing off against Woody Harrelson’s Carnage in a showdown that comic book fans have been waiting to see on screen since the ’90s. There are also reports that the film could also feature another villain, Shriek, who has a long, complicated history with Carnage that could stir things up.

Spider-Man fans are also curious to see if Sony and Marvel’s new agreement will officially mesh the MCU and Sony’s Spider-verse by allowing Tom Holland to make a cameo. He was originally supposed to appear in the first Venom, but Marvel’s Kevin Feige pulled the plug even after the scene was already filmed. However, this time around, the studios are on friendly, more collaborative terms, so anything is possible.

(Via IGN, Deadline)

We know this term gets tossed around a lot, but Morgan L. Sykes is a legit hero. She’s just one of the volunteer delivery people working for Corona Couriers, a group of healthy, able-bodied cyclists offering free-of-charge drop-offs to New York City’s at-risk population(the elderly, sick, and people with pre-existing conditions) during the coronavirus pandemic. Morgan got involved with the organization after being laid off — like so many people around the country — from her job in a bike shop on March 17th, the second layoff she experienced in just under a calendar year (Morgan was let go from New York Magazine last February). She’s spent the rest of the quarantine riding as many as 50 miles a day across four boroughs — a specialist in long-haul deliveries.

Whether it’s groceries, medical supplies, or other essentials, the Corona Couriers offer no-contact delivery for nothing more than reimbursement of goods. They’re doing the vital type of community-driven work that makes social distancing effective and helps keep people safe. And they’re doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Started by Liz Baldwin, a New York City librarian who put out a call-to-action to cyclists around the city, the Corona Couriers were inspired by the couriers of Wuhan China. Like the Wuhan collective, Baldwin’s idea came to life in a hurry, without red-tape delays. With conversations about a federal bailout dragging and NYC’s official agencies drowning in new cases, it’s proven to be an excellent example of how communities can band together and respond to a crisis more nimbly than a large governing body ever could.

We chatted with Morgan over the phone about life on the job, the eerie, unexpected beauty of a near-empty New York City in spring, and how the city and country could do better to keep essential workers like Morgan safe.

Could you just give us a little overview about the Corona Couriers?

Corona Couriers is a collective, volunteer-run mutual aid organization that is composed of healthy individuals here in New York City willing to help those folks who cannot leave their homes right now to shop for their groceries or go pick up prescriptions or what have you.

The situation here in New York has kind of popped off. It’s been a little crazy for a couple of weeks now. And so Corona Couriers was founded, I think, on the 12th of March by a librarian named Liz Baldwin. She works for New York Public Library and she was told that a lot of New Yorkers basically aren’t going to be able to come into work until at least next month to slow the spread of this virus. She is a long time cyclist here in the city, had never worked as a courier, but was inspired by the couriers of Wuhan China who delivered essentials to their neighbors under lockdown to keep everybody fed and safe and put out this call to action on social media.

From there, it just snowballed. A software engineer named Sasha Verma, she stepped in a couple of days later to organize an online workspace. Where we are now, we have I think over 200 volunteers, and then the core ops team, of which I am a member, is 15 strong.

At what point did you get involved?

I came on board because I got the news on the 17th that I was going to be laid off from my job. The second layoff I’ve enjoyed in the past… just over a calendar year. I got laid off from New York Magazine last February. I got laid off from my bike shop job on the 17th, and I put out a tweet being like, “yeah, let me know if you need help.” And the thing blew up. I mean, holy smokes, it was bananas. And it was bananas dealing with just like this experience of going viral during this particular time. So I was fielding requests for help, doing deliveries on my own following.

What’s special about our service, we provide free deliveries to people in need, reimbursement only. We have funds available to assist people who cannot pay for their food right now. We also do no contact deliveries. What that means is all of our couriers are required to sanitize their hands, monitor their own health and then when they’re on delivery, they must wear gloves, have hand sanitizer, vigorously sanitize their hands and their gloves, and also wear a mask.

When the drop off happens, it’s usually dropped off maybe in a stoop or a vestibule or something like that. I usually watch the person from a distance pick up their essentials to make sure that it goes to the right person. But there is no hand-to-hand, face-to-face contact to ensure everybody’s safety. That’s important to note because there have been some, I think bad faith, alarmist, irresponsible takes that have questioned the safety of these mutual aid efforts during this time.

I just saw that Corona Couriers was doing this and I was getting a little overwhelmed by all of the managing everything on my own. And so I linked up with Corona Couriers and here I am. I’ve been like most of the volunteers, especially the people in the core ops group — eating, breathing, living, pedaling Corona Couriers 24/7.

Could you describe what the vibe out there on the streets is like right now?

The vibe — it cannot be described. It is an experience. It gob smacks you riding around in the streets and there not being New Yorkers. New York is made New York by the presence of New Yorkers. So there is something fundamental missing by the lack of life on the streets. It’s a little creepy. It’s a little eerie. It’s a little weird. But I think there’s a lot of solidarity between the people that are out. Because pretty much everybody that is out right now are essential workers and we’re people that are doing something essential. So yeah, it’s creepy. But it’s still, you know, it’s springtime, so it’s also beautiful. We got an early spring here, for the most part, been warm — unseasonably warm. The warmest spring that I’ve experienced so far here in the city.

It is jarring. Full cherry blossom trees. But nobody, no people, no New Yorkers.

What are you doing to keep yourself safe?

I feel like my highest priority is not being a burden to medical workers or anybody else in my community right now. So I am sanitizing my hands, I’m wearing a mask when I’m out in public doing deliveries, shopping, and interfacing with people. Because still when you’re in the queue to check out your groceries, you still have to be close to people. And New York is not set up for social distancing, it simply is not.

So I’m just taking common-sense precautions and following the CDC’s guidelines and taking care of myself. But I am also somebody that is lucky to have insurance and have very good baseline health. So I’m not worried about my own health at this juncture. But again, I want to emphasize that’s not arrogance or a valorous endeavor or something, it’s just I’m taking care of myself.

How many deliveries or hours would you say you’re riding every day?

It really depends. Basically, I have ridden through four boroughs in one day. My dad is like, “you need to be tracking the miles.” I think I rode about 50 miles, but I’m not 100% sure. I kind of specialize on the team in long haul deliveries. I’m a former courier, I’m a former bike messenger, and I also have a background in endurance mountain bike racing. So I love to ride long miles.

So you’re equipped for this?

Yeah. This is not unusual for me. I am wired in a way that I recognize not everybody is. The longest day of riding is probably about 50-55 miles. But this is from the moment I wake up to when I go to sleep every day.

What has the response amongst the community been?

Well, something that’s a little bittersweet is — while I do try to watch to make sure that somebody picks up their food, I’m not always able to. Especially if I’m just dropping it in front of somebody’s doorway or something, so I don’t necessarily get to see somebody’s physical response. But through windows, through doorways, people have waved excitedly. A gentleman in the Bronx bowed to me, which I felt really moved by and humbled by.

I think that people are just grateful that we’re stepping in to provide a service where our government is not. I feel that there is a sense of gratitude from community members, from neighbors that New Yorkers are stepping in where our government is failing.

There’s been a lot of positive attention put on Cuomo because people are digging his press conferences. Well, where the fuck is the action? Where is it? People are being told to stay home. They’re being told, you know, it’s terrifying the information that we have about the transmission of this disease. How are people who are overwhelmingly laid off in a city that already at best stresses people out financially, how are people expected to feed themselves? I think that people are just really grateful because I think people are genuinely unsure where else to turn.

We’re partnering, we’ve been delivering to hospitals, delivering between nonprofits, food pantries, food banks, social workers. We are providing a service that is assisting what has already been there, if that makes sense. But there’s a question of like, well, how do you get this food and these essentials to people? Because I want to be clear, I’m not denigrating the incredible social network that’s already in place here in New York City, there’s great mutual aid that precedes all of this, but there is this like, well, “How do you actually get it to the people?” We are providing that. And that’s really cool.

How can New York City make your job safer and easier?

Oh man, I don’t know. Dane, let me gather my thoughts here. I am really on fire right now against the City — what can New York City do to make my job safer? I guess provide tests, provide PPE for medical professionals, provide hospital beds. The big issue here in New York that I think is everywhere is that people don’t know if they have it. And that is the big risk to public health and public safety.

I also am seeing what appears to me to be an increased police presence. I have a fairly cynical view of NYPD. I do not believe that they keep me, as a woman, as a cyclist, safe prior to the pandemic and they certainly do not keep communities of color safe.

I don’t know, I guess government just do your fucking job. The onus should not be on the citizens and mutual aid should not be expected to fulfill the role of government. You know what I’m saying? I don’t know. There’s just been a colossal failure.

What advice do you have for the rest of us who are bracing for an outbreak of cases similar to what New York is experiencing? A lot of people say the case in LA is a result of a false sense of security because we have such low case numbers in relation to other big cities. But at the same time, we’re also testing an extraordinarily low number of people. So, that’s likely a fake number, an artificially low number.

It’s not just if, it’s when and my advice, and of course I’m not a medical professional, I am simply a laid-off journalist, a laid-off bike shop employee, doing what I believe is moral and treating people how I want my loved ones treated, who I cannot be around right now due to the fact that I live in New York City and it’s unsafe for me to go home or check on my grandparents or any of these things.

My advice is social distance, stay home, watch your health and listen to scientists, listen to doctors, and remember that you’re being of service by staying home. Not everybody has to do something like what we’re doing with Corona Couriers. I think that’s important because we’re all struggling with our roles in this moment.

I think it’s important for everybody to remember that maintaining your own health and making sure that you don’t put other people at risk, that’s number one. But I would also say check on your neighbors, check on your community, watch out for the people in your community who are already marginalized, that the government has said are expendable, that they’re willing to sacrifice.

I would also say I think that hope is important. It’s so tempting and real right now to just go in a spiral with this insurmountable apocalyptic situation that we’re in right now. But I think it’s important also just to look and see just the heroism that neighbors are showing for each other right now, first responders, doctors, your postal workers, everybody is showing up. So I think it’s important to focus on love and on hope.

Do you think you’ll contract COVID-19?

I think it’s possible. It would be arrogant and ignorant for me to say that it’s not. I feel that as somebody without a lot of the preexisting risk factors that I personally am not very concerned about my own health or experience if I did get sick. But I am monitoring my health closely every single day and if I suspect that I am getting ill, then I will remove myself from service and completely quarantine.

In the meantime, my fear of illness for myself is superseded by the calling that I — and other volunteers with Corona Couriers — feel to put our good health to use to make sure that our at-risk neighbors stay safe.

Most concerts and festivals have either been canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there are still some events left that haven’t concretely announced that their plans have changed. Today, that list got shorter: Boston Calling has officially canceled their 2020 festival.

Organizers wrote in a statement shared today, “After several weeks of consultation with local and state authorities, we have made the difficult decision to cancel Boston Calling 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic. We are heartbroken; however, the health and safety of our audience, artists, partners, vendors, first responders, and staff are of the utmost importance to us, and we felt that this was the only acceptable way forward.”

This year’s lineup was set to feature Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine, The 1975, Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit, Run The Jewels, Phoebe Bridgers, and others.

Read Boston Calling’s full statement below.

“After several weeks of consultation with local and state authorities, we have made the difficult decision to cancel Boston Calling 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic. We are heartbroken; however, the health and safety of our audience, artists, partners, vendors, first responders, and staff are of the utmost importance to us, and we felt that this was the only acceptable way forward.

To our audience, whom we value dearly, we are so sad that we will not be together with you in May. We know information regarding your tickets is extremely important to you. As such, we will be reaching out to all ticket holders in the coming weeks with a detailed outline of options available. This includes obtaining a full refund or rolling tickets to next year’s event – about which we hope to have exciting news to share soon. We thank you for your patience; please stay tuned and we will be in touch with more information in the near future.

To our valued partners, vendors, restaurants, staff and artists, we wish you all the very best during these trying times, and we look forward to collaborating with you all again soon.

With love,
Boston Calling.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

As a part of the comedic response that has kicked into high gear over the last two weeks, Roy Wood Jr. has found a battle plan during the Coronavirus quarantine. He’s making people laugh while keeping them informed as a part of The Daily Show‘s Social Distancing episodes, he’s keeping his 3-year-old engaged, and he’s writing.

To be sure, Wood’s apocalypse game is tight. But while you can’t do exactly what he’s doing, the comic’s battleplan is useful — specifically in how he’s clinging to the normal parts of life and striving to not just do, but do good and be productive. Uproxx spoke with Wood about those efforts late last week, delving into how The Daily Show is putting the message above emotion, the need to move past anger, and what he’s doing to help the comedy community.

I’ve got a dog and two roommates that are kind of hovering around so I’m just trying to rock the mute button if I need to. It’s become an art form.

I apologize in advance for my son. He is three. They are loud.

How are you doing with everything?

Really good so far, really good. It’s been chill so far. Surprisingly, in a weird way, as busy. It’s just a different type of busy. I’m trying to fill the time writing a little bit, and not stand-up, but just more TV and film ideas that I have, and just still brainstorming a shit ton of Daily Show stuff. Just figuring out what’s there. I think we’re still getting our feet under us and figuring out the workflow of the day. And then figuring out what we can and can’t get away with and what’s the turn time, because the thing that sucks now, the thing that’s more difficult to navigate, is that I think we went from a 12-hour news cycle, to now, with Corona, I feel like we’re literally in a six-hour to eight-hour news cycle. Every six to eight hours, there’s new information that makes whatever you knew this morning irrelevant.

Right now, the thing that I’m dealing with is a lot of outrage. It’s a lot of fear and a lot of anger, and I’m wondering: how do you process the anger and the outrage over some of the government’s response and is the show and your social helpful or a release valve for you?

I like what we’re doing right now with our show because it gives people something to do other than be angry. We’ve given people ways to help. You know, hey stay home. Hey, if you want to donate supplies, go here. Hey just to track, here’s how you can be part of contributing to the betterment of things. For me, I’ve never seen anger be a useful emotion when it comes to being productive. So, be angry. There’s nothing wrong with being angry. But when you get past that, now what’re you going to do? What’s your next move going to be? What actions are you going to take? And more than anything that’s what we can turn to. That’s what we’ve been trying to work on.

Yeah. I think a really good example of that is Trevor’s interview with Dr. Fauci. Because Trevor was able to address the issue of Trump talking about miracle drugs without necessarily dunking on Trump, which I think may have been unproductive considering who the guest was. He put the message ahead of the emotion. Which is important considering your audience: younger people that have, in some cases, lagged behind when it comes to taking this seriously. Would you agree that you guys have put the message ahead of the emotion?

Yeah. It’s on my Twitter page, it’s under a thread where I was kind of, I was complaining about the way the press conferences have gone with Trump, and how I hate the fact that he avoids questions. I proposed that if Trump avoids the question in the press conference, then the next reporter should ask that question, and then the next and the next. And a journalism professor from NYU, he said something that I agreed with, which is essentially that if the media’s in there just being mad and angry then no one gets any information, and ultimately a journalist’s job is to give information to the people that need it. That might be the more productive mission than just trying to dunk on Trump. Yeah, you dunked on him, but did you help the country? Because after Trump is out of office, whenever it is, people are still going to need help. That’s never going to change. So why not focus on that first and then if you have a little time left over you can dunk on Trump.

Was there ever a thought that you guys wouldn’t do anything from home?

We were always going to do something from home. Trevor’s young and savvy with the internet. What we’re doing now with this full-blown social distancing show, it evolved to that. And it was just, “alright what can we do? What can you talk about? What bits can you get on? Trevor should talk with the correspondents, let’s just try to continue to make sense of all this.” And as weird as it feels to do this, oddly it’s still normal because the entire world is weird now. Until America opens up again, there are no rules on what’s the most effective way to be a political satirist with a webcam. The goals remain the same: you want to give people valuable information, and you also want to try and make them laugh a little bit in the process. And so, the first week went well. When Viacom opted to shut down the studio altogether, and sent us home, forced us to quarantine, the initial idea was yeah we’ll do a couple of things this week and then, “Oh, that went really well. You know what? We should put this on TV.” Trevor’s got a great camera as well. That also helps.

We have a producer who is pregnant, and she was going in for one of her checkups and she asked if we could interview one of the doctors about what’s happening with the masks and the medical equipment. And we managed to turn that into a two-sided interview where I’m basically talking to her through Skype. So there’s still a way to do things and reach people and I think it’s very important for us to continue to try to do that. We’re finding stories and finding things and people that are being affected by this. The weird, odd stuff. The weird side effects of a self-quarantine. Things that you wouldn’t consider that would flourish. The fact that Pornhub’s site crashed a couple of times. Netflix as well. Netflix, they had server issues a couple of days ago. So, that’s funny, light-hearted stuff. You’re able to still inform people about doom and gloom but you’re able to get through it with some humor.

Is the show and the normalcy of the process also helpful for you to deal with this? How are you handling things, like, emotionally? You’ve got a kid. You’re in New York City.

It’s fine right now. You know, I’m most concerned about my mom in Alabama. She’s an administrator of a college, and so they’ve been working to digitize the curriculum. She still has to go to the campus to make sure that the students are taken care of. I’m probably two weeks, two and a half weeks, into this myself, and the one thing that’s odd, that’s oddly comforting is that as a comedian, because I’ve done so many road gigs where I am alone, being alone isn’t that much of an adjustment. It’s just about wondering what the show will be and what the comedy club industry will be on the backside of this. I’m in a better situation than most comedians right now, so I have the luxury of not being able to worry yet.

There’s going to be some ripple effects. Right now, I just keep myself busy writing scripts and trying to create content when I’m not doing stuff for work because there will always be a need for entertainment. This isn’t going to kill entertainment. You look at previous pandemics where millions died, on the other side of that, there were still movies or whatever the entertainment was of that era. It came back. So in the long run, we’ll be okay. The biggest thing I have to deal with is trying to make sure that my damn son is engaged intellectually at all times and not just goofing off.

Can you talk a little about what you did with TipYourWaitstaff and a little bit more about why that’s important?

Yeah, so Mike Birbiglia, that’s his brainchild. Me, Birbiglia, and John Mulaney were just trying to figure out a way to do something for all of the comedy club staff that we know, and have worked with for decades now ourselves… but figure out a way to do something nice for them before all of this federal assistance kicks in for everybody. Because who knows how long it’s going to take for checks to be distributed. But basically, TipYourWaitStaff.com is just two comedians working out new jokes with each other and then in exchange, he hopes that people will donate money to one of the comedy clubs that we nominated on the website. You know, I think it’s an opportunity for the general public to see how comedians create the jokes that they get to laugh at, and a lot of the shit, it’s just brainstorming.

It’s just watching two guys brainstorm, I think if you’re a comedy fan, it’s a very interesting process of showing how the sausage is made. I had fun doing it. I had a blast doing the one I did with Mike so I did it again with Ali Siddiq and I nominated my club in Birmingham. I nominated another club in Huntsville, Alabama. Sarah Silverman just did one, Mulaney did one with Birbiglia and a couple of other names I’m forgetting right now. But it’s been fun. It’s been fun to do and it keeps me close to the stage psychologically because right now I’m not really writing a lot of new material because I just don’t know tonally what type of world I’m going to be stepping back out into, when comedy clubs do open.

Are digital shows and things along those lines like Instagram Live comedy sets something you want to do or is the disconnect from the live audience response too much of a hindrance to doing something like that?

I’m not completely sold on my ability for my comedy to connect without an audience. There are some comedians that are able to do it. Good for them. That’s never been the first idea to come to mind for me. I’ve seen some of it. Mark Normand did one that I thought was really funny where he’s just outside, performing for people on the sidewalk, but he maintains social distance.

Yeah, I saw that one. It was good.

That made me laugh, but I don’t know how I would do it. For me, it feels really weird.

Yeah. I imagine without the response to know if something’s working and without the rhythm of an audience, I would imagine it would be really hard.

Yeah. So I’ll just do what I’ve always done. If something seems funny, I’ll jot it down and when I have the opportunity months from now, I’ll put it on stage and I’ll let new-joke-night at the Comedy Cellar be the discerner.

You can see Roy Wood Jr. on ‘The Daily (Social Distancing) Show’ on Comedy Central weeknights at 11pm ET and on Twitter @RoyWoodJr

It’s been almost a week since word first got out that Roman Reigns had pulled out of his planned WrestleMania 36 match with Goldberg. It made sense at the time, considering Reigns’ history of health problems and more wrestlers getting sick during this Covid-19 pandemic, but he hadn’t made a statement on the choice himself, until yesterday.

Reigns went live on Instagram, and spoke about the pandemic, his choice to skip Mania, and the vitriol he’s gotten for it. He also talked more broadly about the need for positivity and kindness in the face of times like these.

You already know what’s going on. It’s all over the news, the dirtsheets, whatever you want to call them, that I pulled out of WrestleMania. And it’s funny because for years now, for years now man, years, people have been like, “Don’t show up to WrestleMania, we don’t want you in it.” You know what I mean? There’s a nice handful of dudes and haters that didn’t want me there, but the moment I make a choice for me and my family… I’m a coward? I’m a sissy? A lot of different things that I am now.

But you don’t know the whole story. All you know is what you think. “Oh well, his health and this and that.” But you don’t know what else is going on in my life. You don’t know if I have newborns, you don’t know if I have family in my household, older family. So, yeah I mean, just… like the old saying… go and flip that cover open and read a few pages. Get into a few chapters before you really start running your mouth, and just take this time to better yourself, be present, and make the most out of this because if we can’t grow in a time like this, I don’t think we have a chance, man. This is the most downtime I’ve ever seen in my life. So I just challenge everybody, and I’m taking the steps right there with you. I’m not perfect, I’m a hater too sometimes, you know what I mean? But I try to always put it in perspective of why I want something or why I might be jealous of something, and then I put it in my grind, I put it to work, I figure out how I can get whatever I need or want, and I put it to work, and I don’t focus on others hating on me, and I don’t put focus on driving negativity to anybody else.

If we can, let’s not just do it in the real world, let’s do it on here. It’s easy man, all it takes is starting right now. So just be kind to others, let’s try to better each other, and hopefully we’re gonna come out with so many better habits. But it can’t just be about cleanliness, we gotta be clean inside, too. So, let’s clean up on the outside, let’s clean up our hygiene habits, but let’s also clean up the inside and make each other better, man. We all got to be accountable towards each other. There’s people across the world that have known, and what I do affects them. So, take some pride in that, love each other, respect each other, and hopefully we’re gonna come out way better.

For all my fans, you know I’m sorry I didn’t get to compete this year and put on a show and entertain. But sometimes things are more important and I had to make a choice for me and my family, but no matter what, you already know the deal. Man, I made that town. I made it to Orlando. I had to make a decision for me, but it doesn’t take anything away from what I’ve done and what I’m going to do. I still love this game, I still love pro wrestling, sports entertainment. I love being in the ring. It’s a little weird being in the ring with nobody watching, nobody in the arena, but man, I’m ready to get back to work and I’m just taking these times, this little bit of time we have, to build up the outside and come as close as possible to perfecting the inside, man. So everybody, I love y’all. Thank you for the support. Hopefully we can just continue to get better, man. Until then, stay safe and don’t touch your face. Yes sir!

Right now we don’t know when we’ll see Roman Reigns wrestle again, but he’s obviously excited for that moment to arrive, and whether you’re a fan of his or not, I think that’s going to be a good day for all of us when it finally gets here.

Whether it’s mandated or self-initiated, the coronavirus quarantine is on. Hopefully, by now you’ve gotten yourself a few supplies — don’t hoard toilet paper! make chicken broth! — and you’re feeling some degree of safety and security. This next stage is going to be a hard one: staying inside, keeping out of public spaces, and not going to large social gatherings.

You’re likely to get a little stir crazy. Okay, maybe a lot stir crazy.

To help you through the quarantine, we’re going to be offering recipes throughout the month that will allow you to level up your cooking game and eat well at home. The ingredients we’re using are easily available through delivery services (and stores). If you do go to the store or a market, remember to wash produce (and yourself) thoroughly.

– Steve Bramucci, LIFE Editorial Director

Ingredients:

For anyone who reads my writing, it’s no secret that I really like Italy. I travel there probably more than any other location. And, I’m not going to lie, the driving force behind all that travel is the food. I don’t have a drop of Italian blood in me. I wasn’t raised anywhere near Italian culture — European or American. But there’s just something about the culture, the place, the people, and the food and drink that just speaks to me on a sub-atomic level. Plus, I live in Central Europe and can usually get there in an hour or two for the cost of a couple of trips to the movie theater. That helps.

Anyway, I like to cook all things Italiano. And one of my favorite recipes that I’ve been reveling in recently is focaccia. This crunchy, light yet thick, and salty bread is the perfect comfort food to bake right now. It’s fairly low-impact and will warm you to your very bones. It’s also fully adaptable. You can top it with anything or not. Hell, I’ve seen the stuff topped with hot dogs and fries in Sicily.

I’m using Samin Nosrat’s recipe from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat without the salt brine at the end. Not because I don’t like salt. I just don’t think it’s necessary if you’re throwing a few topping on the bread. All-in, you’ll need bread flour (AP is fine), dry yeast, salt, honey, olive oil, and water. After that, it’s up to you. I use dried thyme, oregano, and basil as well. Also, in this case, I’m topping this focaccia with low-moisture mozz, black olives, and slices of ripe tomato.

Prep:

This bread needs 12 hours to rise. So my advice is to make this before you go to bed so you can bake it for lunch the next day.

I’m weighing everything out so it’s exact and I get the same results consistently.

First, I weigh out 600 grams (21.16 ounces) of luke water tap water and add 15 grams (0.53 ounces) of honey. I then add 3 grams (0.1 ounces) of active dry yeast.

I set that aside to bloom. The extra sugars from the honey will accelerate that process and you should be able to see the yeast blooming with your eyes.

Next, I weigh out 800 grams (28.2 ounces) of all-purpose bread flour. I add in 18 grams (0.63 ounces) of fine sea salt. Lastly, I add-in 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of good olive oil. I then add in the yeast and water mix and start hydrating the flour with my right hand.

You don’t have to go crazy. You just want to hydrate the flour and bring everything together. This is a no-knead bread recipe. Keep that dough in the bowl, fam!

The addition of olive oil will help keep the stickiness down and bring it together fairly quickly. Finally, I cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, dry spot to rest of 12 to 14 hours.

Cook:

The next day, the dough has more than doubled in size and is alive with bubbles. It has taken on an ever-so-slight sour smell and is ready to become focaccia.

The first thing I do is use a rubber spatula to pull the dough from the sides of the bowl. You need to do this gingerly but with enough effort to release the dough from the bowl. You should also have long strands of gluten — as you can see from the photo above.

I then use the spatula to release the dough into a well-oiled baking pan — again, use olive oil and don’t skimp. The dough should almost roll out of the bowl. Be careful not to press down or deflate the dough as you transfer it to the pan. Then you need to let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

I also use this time to preheat my oven. I crank it up to around 425F and place an upside-down cookie sheet on the middle shelf. If you have a pizza stone, use that. I (oddly) do not, so a cookie sheet it is.

After about 30 minutes of resting, oil up your fingers and create dimples over the whole focaccia. Just dip your fingers right in there and pull back once you hit the bottom.

Lastly, I top my focaccia. You can go in two main directions at this point. You can go simple (see below) with just a nice herb, salt, and more olive oil. Or, if you’re feeling maximalist, you go a bit more for the sfincione you see in bakeries in Sicily — fresh tomato, black olives, low-moisture mozzarella, a mix of thyme, oregano, and basil, and a good punch of sea salt and olive oil. It ends up being like a proto-pizza. The order of toppings is: Olive oil, sea salt, tomato, cheese, olives, dried herbs, another hit of salt and another hit of olive oil.

That then goes in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. It’ll depend on your oven. I check it after 20 minutes and turn the baking pan 180 degrees for a more even bake and then bake for another 8 minutes.

I remove the focaccia from the oven and immediately transfer it to a cooling rack. The bread should slide right out of the pan with little to no effort thanks to the crazy amount of olive oil involved.

Serve:

I let the bread rest of at least 30 minutes. It’s best to serve while it’s still nice and warm but all the toppings are set.

I cut the focaccia into 12 single servings and that’s it. You’re ready to tuck in!

The bread has an amazingly crunchy — almost fried — bottom. This provides an olive-oil-infused base that supports light and salty bread.

The interior of the bread is the real star of the show. There are bubbles galore with slight sour bite. It’s thick, comforting, and delicious. I ate two pieces without hesitation. No regrets.

As mentioned above, you can make this with simple toppings and use it as sandwich bread too. The above is the exact same recipe with only olive oil, salt, and dried thyme. Everything else is exactly the same.

I then used that bread to make focaccia BLTs and, holy shit, those were amazing sandwiches. If you’re into the Twitter/ internet trend of baking during the quarantine and you want to try bread, this is the perfect place to start. It’s relatively easy and insanely tasty — the perfect combo for the (stuck at) home cook.

Shopping List:

• All-Purpose Bread Flour
• High-grade Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
• Dry Active Yeast
• Fresh Honey
• Dried Thyme, Oregano, and Basil
• Toppings of your choosing