By traditional metrics, the U.S. economy is doing pretty well right now — better than any other high income countries. But, at the same time, we have the worst COVID health outcomes of any of these countries too. It seems pretty obvious that by reopening the economy and all but abandoning any interventions aside from the vaccine, the Biden administration has pretty much this outcome. But of course, the problem goes much deeper — it's a combination of years of disinvestment and neoliberal policies. In this Conversation we're talking COVID with Beatrice Alder-Bolton, co-host of the Death Panel podcast and co-author of the forthcoming book, "Health Communism: A Surplus Manifesto," which will be published by Verso Books this fall. What are the structural causes of our skyrocketing COVID rates? How has COVID laid bare the rotting foundations of not just the U.S. healthcare system — but almost every single institution in this country? How are our political leaders using the pandemic as a launching ground for the rewriting for the social contract in a way that even further minimizes the responsibility of the state to protect people? These are just some of the questions we explore in this Conversation with Beatrice Alder-Bolton. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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