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Each week Pandemic Nation examines how the coronavirus is affecting front-line workers and America's most vulnerable populations.

Veteran journalist Mark Kreidler begins a new weekly column and podcast covering the coronavirus and its social impacts.

Episode 32

What happens when pandemic fighters are at risk themselves with preexisting medical conditions?

Episode 31

An interview with Shenita Anderson, an ER nurse at L.A.’s for-profit Olympia Medical Center, which is closing despite the COVID-19 crisis.

Episode 30

Mark Kreidler speaks with Dr. Coley King, director of homeless health care at Venice Family Clinic.

The anxiously awaited rollout of coronavirus vaccines is now in motion, albeit in limited amounts at this early stage. Mark Kreidler speaks to a cross section of experts, health care executives and frontline workers to find out how California plans to equitably distribute the vaccine without leaving behind any communities.

Episode 24

Mark Kreidler speaks to Jenny Wong-Swanson, a Kaiser Permanente nurse in Woodland Hills, about the pandemic’s explosion.

Episode 23

Mark Kreidler speaks to Dr. Jeanne Noble about the new president-elect and his impact on how the country deals with COVID-19.

Episode 22

Mark Kreidler speaks to Elvia Martinez, a food service worker at LAX.

Episode 21

Mark Kreidler speaks to Eunice Balencio, a South San Francisco nurse on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle.

Episode 20

Mark Kreidler speaks to Eunice Balencio, a South San Francisco nurse on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle.

Episode 19

Mark Kreidler speaks to Keisha Banks, an events server at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont Hotel, about layoffs and Assembly Bill 3216.

Episode 18

Mark Kreidler speaks to Kirsten Tobey, co-founder of Oakland’s Revolution Foods.

Episode 17

Mark Kreidler speaks to Marlene Mendoza, a server of 32 years at Los Angeles International Airport for HMS Host.

Episode 16

Mark Kreidler speaks to Eileen Saltman, a worker at Reem’s California, a restaurant and bakery in Oakland.

Episode 15

Frank Lara, a teacher in San Francisco's Mission District, speaks on the challenges of distance learning as the fall semester begins.

Episode 14

The Sunshine State shows there is more than one way to suppress the kinds of figures that reveal the virus’s true human cost.

Episode 13

More than a third of Americans are showing signs of clinical anxiety or depression, a 300 percent increase over last year.

Episode 12

As eviction bans lift and temporary housing provisions end, what happens to those who can’t afford rent? Mark Kreidler speaks to Ken Rogers, Vice President of the National Union of Healthcare Workers.

Episode 11

Will a wave of teacher resignations accompany the reopening of K-12 schools across the country this fall? Will local enrollments crater? A national survey suggests it’s possible. Mark Kreidler speaks to Shannon Eizenga, Executive Director of The Gubbio Project. Artwork

Episode 10

A survey of 23,000 nurses found that 87 percent of respondents must still reuse disposable masks while attending to COVID-19 patients. Mark Kreidler speaks to Catherine Mithamo, a nursing home worker at a facility with a COVID outbreak.

Episode 9

The lights are going out in America’s rural hospitals and clinics at the moment they are most needed. Mark Kriedler speaks to Deborah Burger, co-president of National Nurses United and president of California Nurses Association.

Episode 8

A new study, citing historical precedent, claims 42 percent of recent layoffs will result in permanently lost jobs. Co-published by Fast Company.

Mark Kreidler speaks to Holly Ortiz, an assistant preschool director in Fountain Valley, California. More than half of her 11-member household has been infected with COVID-19, including her home health care provider parents.

Episode 7

The firings of Amazon whistleblowers, Tim Bray wrote, were further evidence “of a vein of toxicity running through the company’s culture."
Mark Kreidler speaks to Lola Gomez, an Austin American-Statesman photojournalist that contracted COVID-19 while on assignment.

Episode 6

Los Angeles reports that its county’s low-income COVID deaths are triple the number of those of wealthier neighborhoods.
Mark Kreidler speaks to Felicia Canales, a grocery worker at the Vons-owned Pavilions in Orange County, California.

Episode 5

From health care workers to immigrant detainees, efforts to acquire protective face coverings are complicated by bureaucratic resistance. Mark Kreidler speaks to Tom Shaw, a Bus Operator at TWU Local 234 in Philadelphia.

Episode 4

Mark Kreidler speaks to Dr. Jeanne Noble, Director of the Covid-19 Response Unit in the emergency department at UC San Francisco's Parnassus Medical Center. A trio of Democratic lawmakers is attempting to correct Congress’ omission of undocumented workers from the CARES Act.

Episode 3

SB 943 would expand the state’s Paid Family Leave program, extending benefits to parents impacted by school closures.
Mark Kreidler speaks to Reagan Duncan, a San Diego area teacher adapting to the new virtual classroom reality.

Episode 2

Mark Kreidler speaks to Monique Hernandez, a nurse on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As uncertainties and conflicting data swirl around COVID-19, a few truths about the poor bear repeating.

On today's episode: Mark Kreidler speaks to Monique Hernandez, a nurse on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Episode 1

After a week of private negotiations, the state is no closer to filling empty hotel rooms with at-risk homeless people.

Trailer

Veteran journalist Mark Kreidler begins a new weekly column and podcast covering the coronavirus and its social impacts.