Omicron and COVID-19 Groundhog Day
Let's get it right this time.
It's talk of lockdowns, mask mandates, and vaccines this Monday with Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Nick Gillespie. Deja vu? Nope, just the omicron variant. The editors also opine on school curriculum and Cyber Monday, all on today's Reason Roundtable.
2:18: How is the world reacting and how should the U.S. react to the new COVID-19 variant, omicron?
26:11: Weekly Listener Question: Starting this fall, students across the 23-campus California State University system are required to take an ethnic studies course in order to graduate. It's a result of A.B. 1460 which Gavin Newsom signed into law in August 2020. Students have a range of choices covering the historically disadvantaged points on the ethno-racial pentagon. However, all of these courses hew closely to a single state-defined model, so the course outcomes are largely the same. What's your take on a requirement that all graduates of a public university system take a specific course? Does your opinion depend on the content of the course, and if so, where do you draw the line? What's your opinion on the curriculum?
37:51: Reason Webathon details!
44:52: Thoughts on Cyber Monday, and the internet overall.
52:51: Media recommendations for the week.
This week's links:
- "Omicron Is Coming. The U.S. Must Act Now," by Zeynep Tufekci
- "California State University now requires ethnic studies," by Mikhail Zinshteyn
- "'Woke Racism' Has Betrayed Black America" (video)
- "A Worrisome New COVID-19 Variant Identified in South Africa," by Ronald Bailey
Send your questions to roundtable@reason.com. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.
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Audio production by Ian Keyser
Assistant production by Regan Taylor
Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve
