One crisis, many responses: Fighting the first wave of the pandemic

Just over a year ago, a health crisis of proportions never seen in recent history captured the attention of the world. However, faced with the same threat, nations all over the globe reacted vastly differently to the covid-19 pandemic. To find out why, host Mark Leonard talks this week to Peter Baldwin, professor of history at the University of California and author of the new book “Fighting the first wave: Why the coronavirus was tackled so differently across the globe”. Together, they discuss why the approaches to handling the coronavirus differed so much even in countries normally considered rather similar, like the Nordics. Who succeeded initially and who did not and for what reasons? Looking back, what can we learn from the fight against the first wave of corona and what will the lasting impact be?

This podcast was recorded on 15 March 2021.

Further reading:

• “Fighting the first wave: Why the coronavirus was tackled so differently across the globe” by Peter Baldwin:
• “Leadership in a time of contagion” by Mark Leonard
• “Tracking European solidarity during covid-19: Lessons from the first wave” by Rafael Loss

Bookshelf:

• “Failures of state: The inside story of Britain’s battle with coronavirus” by Jonathan Calvert & George Arbuthnott
• “Unearthly powers: Religious and political change in world history” by Alan Strathern Alan Strathern
• “The herd” by Johan Anderberg