Pandemic

You probably know someone who has discovered their inner chef in the last few months.  In New York, photographer Jackson Krule discovered he was a baker.  Unable to go out and photograph the Orthodox Jewish community he has been documenting, he started baking challah bread at home and posting photos online.  Now it's turned into a business that delivers all over the country.  Alisa Reznick brings you that tale, and her own story of learning her family's recipes during the pandemic in Arizona.

How is being on lock down effecting our mental health, and how are mental health professionals trying to continue to provide help when they cannot meet someone in person? On Spec intern and journalist Kasper Dilmaghani talks to therapists and one woman who opens up about her depression.  Here is the story on how the pandemic is effecting our mental health, from Tunisia, Mexico, Poland, Hong Kong and the U.S.

What if you don't have control over your own self-isolation? More than two million people are in prisons in the US, which has the highest incarceration rate in the world.  Oscar Durand speaks with Efrén Paredes, Jr about the prison where he is incarcerated serving a life sentence for a robbery and murder committed when was 15 years old.  He maintains his innocence.  In 2012, the US Supreme Court ruled life sentences without parole for minors were unconstitutional, and Efrén has been awaiting a re sentencing since then. Of the 1,400 incarcerated with him in Michigan's Lakeland Correctional Facility, more than 700 have tested positive for COVID-19, and at least 12 have died.

Whether you live across the street, or across the Atlantic, for many of us social distancing now means you cannot meet in person. Your family, your friends, that person you wanted to date...everything is on hold.  But across the world we are finding new ways of bridging the distances.  Margaux Benn and Menel Raach bring you stories from Canada, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Tunisia, on how we are keeping from getting lonely, even when we are alone.

What's it like to have COVID19 in Turkey?  Hilaneh Mahmoudi, a freelance photographer in Istanbul, spent weeks trying to not catch it, but one day the tell tale symptoms began.  This is her audio diary, told to host Fariba Nawa, of what it's like to have the virus, and the struggle to keep those living with you safe from it as well. See the accompanying photographs here.

You might think you're further away from the world, but in many ways the pandemic is bringing us together. We begin with the religious, those who turn to faith and collective prayer in times of hardship. But they are not supposed to gather anymore in mosques, churches or synagogues. The entire concept of communal support in faith has been upended. Many groups are still resisting and continue to gather. But slowly, the choice is no longer available. It’s your life or place of worship. Journalist Umar Farooq talks to three people in Spain, Kashmir and the U.S., and how religious communities are finding ways to support each other without being together.