The fourteen-hour time difference hardly seems to matter when you are self-isolating. Days seem to run into each other. Cable news doesn’t help, everyone is jibber-jabbering from their homes via Skype or Zoom, etc. The only slight relief from the monotonous drone of doom and gloom from the endless rotation of hostage-like videos is peering into a pundit home. Is my home interior as predictable as Chris Cuomo’s basement? Is historian, Michael Beschloss’s perfectly manicured office in what appears to be a pristine home in Westchester.? Self-isolating has created a whole new way of living, including producing a radio show without going into the studio. Our first Life Elsewhere show produced without all the usual technical bells and whistles was recorded and mixed on a laptop. Our guest, Dr. Binoy Kampmark is used to speaking to us from the future, Melbourne is fourteen hours away, so one of us may be getting ready for bed.
We reached out to Dr. Kampmark for his learned take on current world events. How is Covid-19 being addressed in Australia? The US response to the pandemic? Can we foresee the aftermath? The world’s reaction to the claim of a hoax by Trump? The coming US election – will it happen? The extradition of Julian Assange and an update on his critical condition? Dr. Binoy Kampmark is very well versed in the Assange case. His insight into the physical well-being of the Wikileaks founder is alarming. No matter what your opinion of Assange is, you will be shocked by the gruesome details and legal maneuvering involved in his plight shared by Dr. Kampmark.
To round out the show, music for a few minutes of contemplation, for taking a much deserved deep breath, for reflecting on the wonderful and special people in our lives. From the exceptional album, I Will Not Be Sad In This World, Djivan Gasparyan with A Cool Wind Is Blowing, followed by Klive and Nigel Humberstone, also known as In The Nursery with Pacify from their gorgeous album, 1961.
Dr. Binoy Kampmark is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
LE #367
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