Today, Debbie Weil brings Dr. Sam Harrington, her physician husband, back on the show to wrap up the year 2020. After 8 months of living with COVID as a backdrop, they sit down together to reflect on what lies ahead. 

First, the vaccine: how will it be distributed, to whom, and in what order? Is this the right order? How should we value human lives? Can the new Biden Administration improve the messaging around COVID and thus slow the continuing spread of the disease? When will life return to normal – or will it ever?

Sam talks about several good books he’s read recently (links below) and they share some of the favorite TV programs they’ve binge watched, shuddering together on how many hours this represents. (The complete list is below.) They talk about mini-socializing outdoors, the old-fashioned Pen Pal club they’ve started with their six grandchildren (ages three to ten), the slowing down of time, and the opportunity to reminisce about their past travels during the long, cold, dark winter evenings in Maine. 

They end with an update on Sam’s beard (hallelujah) and a few predictions for 2021. The podcast will be back in January after a holiday break.

Mentioned in this episode or useful:

• Malignant: How Bad Policy and Bad Evidence Harm People with Cancer by Vinayak K. Prasad (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020)
• Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live by Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD (Little, Brown Spark, 2020)
• Without Resources, Vaccine Rollout Could ‘Fall at the Last Hurdle,’ Journalist Warns (NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Dec. 17, 2020)
• Keith Raniere, Leader of Nxivm Sex Cult, Is Sentenced to 120 Years in Prison (New York Times, Nov. 27, 2020)
• Let’s Get Liminal by Chip Conley (Wisdom Well, Nov. 1, 2019)
• Solo Stove: a potential sponsor for the podcast?

PHOTO: Sam, minus beard, caught in the act of smiling.

Previous episodes featuring host Debbie and her husband Sam:

• S2-EP24: Debbie & Sam on the Gap Year For Everyone, Silver Linings, and Not Should’ing
• S2-EP18: Debbie & Sam on the New Normal, Quarantines, Immunity Passports, and Masks & Gloves
• S2-EP12: Debbie & Sam on the Coronavirus, Magical Thinking, and Aging
• S1-EP10: On Debbie & Sam’s Bucket List: Living in France
• S1-EP2: Debbie & Sam on How They Decided to Take a Gap Year at Age 62

TV programs Debbie & Sam watched (March – Dec. 2020)

The Un’s (their favorites):

• Unorthodox
• Unbelievable
• Unforgotten
• Undoing

They also loved:

• Call the Midwife (they’re still watching this one; a definite “feel good” program for the holidays)
• Succession
• Shtisel
• Ozark
• Normal People
• Little Fires Everywhere
• Gentleman Jack
• Occupied
• The Vow (about NXIVM)
• Seduced (about NXIVM)
• Emily in Paris (Debbie)
• The Crown (new season)
• Mystery Road (set in Australia)
• Belgravia
• Room 2806: The Accusation (about Dominique Strauss-Kahn)
• This Is Us (Debbie was obsessed; Sam refused to watch after 1st season; Season 5 continues in Jan. ’21!))

More programs they watched:

• Queens Gambit (didn’t love as much as everyone else seemed to)
• Homeland (final season)
• Le Chalet (in French; scary)
• Deutschland 83
• Fauda
• Gold Digger
• Bosch (Season 6)
• Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich
• Babylon Berlin
• Revenge (Debbie liked more than Sam did)
• Rodham
• Greyhound (new Tom Hanks movie)
• Perry Mason
• The Baby-Sitters Club
• Doctor Foster
• Silent Witness (a few episodes)
• The Social Dilemma (movie)
• Flesh and Blood
• Hillbilly Elegy (film)
• Mank (film about Herman Mankiewicz)
• The Life Ahead (new Sophia Loren film)
• Self Made
• Chicago Seven (film)
• Roadkill