The Current for May 8, 2020
Today on The Current:
A sometimes neglected front line in the fight against COVID-19 are the people who care for those who die. We talk to mortuary and funeral home workers trying to cope with an extraordinary death toll.
Then, Ahmaud Arbery was an unarmed black man out for a jog in February, when he was chased down, shot and killed by two men. On what would have been Arbery's 26th birthday, we discuss why it took months — and intense public pressure — to bring charges.
Plus, Bill Buford tells us about his years as a chef-in-training in France, and uncovering the secret of French cooking.
We pay a visit to Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe this morning, with a story about someone we'd all probably love to see at this point in the pandemic, The Hairdresser. [Note: The Vinyl Cafe story that aired in this broadcast is no longer available online.]
Then, where did COVID-19 start? We talk to epidemiologists about the search for a so-called patient zero, and their concerns about the term and its consequences.
Plus, Montreal-born Barry Blitt has just won a Pulitzer Prize for his cartoons for the New Yorker. He tells us about capturing the absurdity of politics in his drawings.
And on her birthday earlier this week, singer Adele posted a picture thanking health-care workers — but the reaction focused on her body. We discuss the conversation around weight loss, and whether it should be happening at all.