Today we’re exploring the word “pandemic.” What does pandemic mean to you?
Today we’re exploring the word “pandemic.” What does pandemic mean to you?
Gopal Dayaneni https://movementgeneration.org/about/who-we-are/
Arundhati Roy, “The Pandemic is a Portal” https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca
Do you have a word you’d like us to consider for a future episode? Email us at
listen@akidspodcastabout.com. And check out other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsco.com.
SIO, Ep 22
“Pandemic”
[INTRO]
Hi! I’m Cat Petru, and you’re listening to Sound It Out: A Kids Podcast About Words.
[TODAY’S WORD]
Today’s word is “pandemic.”
What do you think pandemic means? What images or feelings arise when you hear the word pandemic?
[DISCUSSION]
We’ve all heard this word a lot since 2020, when on March 11th the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 was a pandemic.
Pan, from the Greek, means all. And demos, also Greek, means people. So a pandemic is that which affects all people.
I learned this from Gopal Dayaneni, a teacher and community organizer who works at the intersection of many of those justices we named in our episode on justice - racial justice, economic justice, and climate justice.
Gopal spoke about the roots of this word to illuminate how, even though the coronavirus pandemic continues to be painful and scary, we are all in this together - all of us, on every continent, all over the world.
[EXPERIENCE & MEANING]
So much has happened since March 11, 2020. We’ve endured loss and heartache, fear and grief.
And, so much has changed. And will keep changing. Remember that word, portal? In Spring of 2020, writer Arundhati Roy called the pandemic a portal. She wrote:
“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.”
What next world can you imagine? And what can we do during this pandemic time to get there, together?
[CLOSING]
What does pandemic mean to you? Write us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com to share your ideas. And join us tomorrow, for another word!
I’ve been your host, Cat Petru. This show is produced by me, with inspiration from my teachers and friends, and support from Matthew Winner. Our executive producer is Jelani Memory. And this show is brought to you by A Kids Podcast About.
You can check out other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsco.com.