To say that it’s not an easy time in the would would be a laughable understatement. I know that a lot of people are going through difficulties and many more are living in fear of what might happen to them, to their loved ones, to all of us.
I’ve talked before about my former career as a New York City journalist. In that job, you’re exposed to some of the very worst of humanity. (And I was a producer for years so I had the privilege of being back in the studio, watching a feed come in while the reporters were confronting these things in-person.) Even now, people will sometimes ask me how I dealt with writing all of those horrible stories, and I always have the same answer: I have a fundamental belief that most people are inherently good and decent.
In the midst of this pandemic, I’m heartened by what I’ve seen around me. Nurses, doctors, carers, delivery people, grocery store employees—so many people continue to work tirelessly to try to help others. My neighbors have banded together to create a volunteer group to identify vulnerable people in need of a helping hand or to simply check in on one another and make sure we’re all okay. I feel more connected to some long-time friends who I rarely get to see thanks to phone calls, texts, and video chats. People are coming out of the woodwork to help. To connect.
Here in Britain, as politicians and the health authority ask people to pull together for the collective good, it’s hard not to think about World War II. It’s an indisputable fact that not everything was sunshine and roses during the war. All you have to do is read Joshua Levin’s excellent book The Secret History of the Blitz to know that in wartime some people were still happy to cheat, lie, and steal their way through life. No amount of propaganda from the Ministry of Information could squash crime and guarantee all people adhered to the idea of the collective stiff upper lip. However, I do think that the overall message rings true today: We’re all in this together.
I had such a lovely response from readers of my newsletter after I recommended a handful of comfort reads, that I thought I might continue in that vein for a little while by making this section of my website into a bit of a recommendation engine. This will include a mixture of book and pop culture recommendations, recipes, interesting tidbits that I’ve found through my research, and more.
Please always feel free to comment me and let me know what you think of my picks. If you would like to sign up for my newsletter, you can click here.
Stay safe and spend some time escaping into books, movies, TV shows, and more.