Well before COVID-19 forced me into lockdown here in Hoboken, New Jersey, I dwelled in a liberal echo chamber. I read
The New York Times and
New Yorker and listen to National Public Radio. I chat via email, Twitter and Facebook with other good, decent, Trump-loathing folks.
We American liberals share a particular view of Sars-Cov-2. It is a vicious pathogen, and we must self-quarantine on a massive scale to slow its spread, in spite of the terrible economic cost. We disdain Trump and his Fox News minions for downplaying the threat of the virus, at least early on, and claiming that it is
comparable to seasonal flu. They are clearly anti-science idiots. Occasionally, the political cast of my perspective nags at me. Why, just because I lean left, should I view the pandemic in a certain way?
I’ve been mulling over this question even more as a result of recent exchanges with Mark Rippetoe, who runs a gym in Wichita Falls, Texas. Rippetoe is a 64-year-old strength coach, who advises people in books, articles and podcasts on how to get strong by lifting weights. (He inspired one of my colleagues at Stevens Institute of Technology,
Lindsey Cormack, a professor of political science, to become a competitive weightlifter.)
Rippetoe and I first crossed paths in late February, when he contacted me about “
The Cancer Industry: Hype Versus Reality.” He wanted to talk about my article on his podcast, “
Starting Strength Radio,” on which he discusses fitness and health. I said sure. Rippetoe was well-informed, blunt and funny. He spoke with a growly Texan twang, and he had an anti-authoritarian streak to which I related. And he clearly has excellent taste in science writing.
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blogs.scientificamerican.com
