Toby Green joins Frank Armstrong for a wide-ranging discussion based on his new book The Heretic of Cacheu: Struggles Over Life in a Seventeenth-Cenury West African Port. The book exhumes the records of a Portuguese Inquisitorial trial from 1665 into apparently deviant conduct of a half-African, female slave-trader Cacheu – the first African region to be drawn by the Portuguese systematically into the transatlantic slave trade. It also explores the role of the djabakós – traditional healers with knowledge of local herbs and their properties.

Frank and Toby discuss parallels between what occurred during this colonial period and what happened on the African continent during the Covid-19 pandemic, where a range of inappropriate policies have caused lasting harm.

They also discuss heretical ideas about the health of the body and the spirit being integrated that have an application to our own time, especially in the context of excess deaths in many countries increasing since 2021; and the ongoing relevance of the idea that those who diagnose any condition are generally empowered to claim the authority to heal it.

Our recent photography competition winner Ross Novie joins Frank Armstrong to discuss his winning entry, featuring his masked daughter on a family outing to Yellowstone National Park in Montana.

Ross is a TV producer living in Los Angelas who grew increasingly concerned at the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on his children. In response to his two teenagers being kept out of school for almost a year-and-a-half he founded an organisation called LA Uprising to campaign on their behalf.

This podcast explores how political polarisation and groupthink led to the imposition of some of the United States’ most stringent controls in the state of California, and how a ‘priestly’ caste of experts were deferred to throughout the period, as politicians relied on fear to engineer consent.

In this episode of CG Podcasts, Professor Toby Green (King's College, London) discusses the new book 'In Covid's Wake' with authors Stephen Macedo and Frances E. Lee of the Politics Department of Princeton University.

They discuss the economic and political fallout, the connections between the Covid policies and Trump's election in 2024, and the future for academic and public discussions around the impacts of the Covid years.

Peru’s harsh military-enforced lockdown had devastating effects on education, deepening inequalities and leaving long-term scars on students. Professor Norma Correa Aste, argues school closures were inconsistent, as other sectors remained open, forcing many children to fend for themselves or work in markets instead of learning. Remote education was not an adequate substitute, leading to significant learning losses, especially for the most vulnerable students. Advocates for school reopening faced intense pushback, including personal attacks and censorship, as the debate over pandemic policies grew more polarised. The discussion also highlighted how emergency orders introduced during the pandemic continue to shape government decision-making and public perception, raising concerns about the future of education policy in Peru.

In this podcast Professor Norma Correa Aste, a Peruvian anthropologist, shows how lockdown measures have a detrimental and lasting impact beyond the pandemic, with the government using remote learning for non-health-related reasons such as strikes, protests, sporting events and conferences citing traffic and security concerns.

She says the ongoing reliance on remote learning in Peru reveals a troubling pattern and that school closures disproportionately harm vulnerable students, particularly those without reliable internet or home learning support, deepening educational inequalities. She warns such measures risk widening the gap between privileged and disadvantaged students, with long-term consequences for the country’s future.

In this podcast, Professor Norma Correa Aste, a Peruvian anthropologist, examines the widespread harms in her country caused by COVID-19 lockdown measures. She discusses the disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities, particularly in Latin America, where economic hardship and social inequalities worsened.

Correa Aste highlights the severe consequences of school closures, including learning loss and increased child labour. She critiques the lack of flexibility in public health policies, arguing that rigid lockdowns led to unintended negative outcomes such as mental health crises and economic collapse. She calls for a more balanced approach in future crises, emphasising the need to consider social and economic factors alongside public health measures.

Prof David Paton criticised the UK COVID inquiry for focusing on the wrong questions and not questioning the harms of lockdowns and school closures. He was sceptical about the WHO's willingness to learn from past mistakes, citing their continued support for authoritarian public health measures.

Prof Paton cited his own research on the effects of vaccine mandates in care homes, finding they led to a net loss of 14,000 to 18,000 workers, or 4-7 percent of the workforce, without reducing mortality. He also noted previous COVID infections are likely to provide greater protection than vaccination. Overall, Prof Paton argued that vaccine mandates and strict public health measures had significant negative impacts without clear benefits.

Episode 3 explores the contrasting outcomes of COVID-19 lockdowns in Brazil and Peru. Despite Peru's strict and military lockdown measures, the country suffered a high death toll and severe economic and social consequences. In contrast, Brazil's less stringent restrictions resulted in comparable or lower excess deaths.

The discussion underscores Peru's challenges, including an overwhelmed health system and widespread public fear, which was worsened by limited access to essential resources like medical oxygen. The second wave amplified economic hardships for households and businesses, with lockdowns often creating more problems than solutions. The conversation suggests that adopting a broader global perspective on pandemic strategies could have led to more effective policies.