247 | Dan Snow on Covid History (and Cummings)

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David and Helen talk to the historian Dan Snow about the parallels for the current crisis.  Is it like past pandemics or is it more like a war?  What has it exposed about the weak spots in our societies?  And what have we learned about the role of political leadership?  Plus we explore the value of Churchill comparisons on the 80th anniversary of his great WWII speeches and we dip our toes into the Cummings affair.

243 | Ebola, COVID and the WHO

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David and Helen talk this week with Amy Maxmen, senior reporter at Nature. Amy has covered the Ebola epidemic in Western Africa and now COVID-19 in the US.  Does she see comparisons between the two?  What explains the failures of the US response?  Can the WHO still make a difference?  Plus we explore the implications of the growing politicisation of science.  When did data become so divisive?