Against the Grain

Covid Carceral Calamity

What happened to California’s prisons and jails when the Covid pandemic struck? Why did so many people die behind bars, and why were so many on the outside affected (and afflicted)? Hadar Aviram sheds light on multiple aspects of California’s Covid-19 correctional disaster, including activist efforts to prevent it. (Encore presentation.) Hadar Aviram and Chad Goerzen, Fester: … Continued


Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice. President Joe Biden is returning home to Delaware to self-isolate after being diagnosed with COVID-19. The White House has confirmed that Biden, who is fully vaccinated, is experiencing mild symptoms and is being treated with antivirals while … Continued


Discussed in this episode: There appears to be a summer surge in COVID activity: test positivity, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations are all trending up. New research seems to confirm one mechanism behind Long Covid symptoms is auto-immunity:  in response to infection, the body starts producing antibodies that go on to attack parts of the … Continued

Discussed in this episode: A new paper finds that SARS-COV2 infects a type of immune cell the in the lungs called interstitial macrophages, helping to explain the cascade of inflammation, lung damage, and scarring seen in severe COVID-19. The virus enters those cells using a receptor (CD209) different from the ACE2 receptor targeted by current … Continued

Discussed in this episode: A newly-published study in Nature Neuroscience points to a likely mechanism by which Long Covid produces neurological symptoms like brain fog: disruption of the blood-brain barrier Because of fundraising at KPFA, we’ll only be taking questions via email for the next week (the station needs its phone lines free for people … Continued