When events went online, they lost something indescribable. But did some of them gain something new?
On this episode of Social Distance, the comedian Maeve Higgins is back home in New York after weathering the pandemic’s first peak in her native Ireland. She joins James Hamblin to talk about her strange journey back to the United States, and the strange moment the country finds itself in. James Fallows returns to reflect on the Democratic National Convention and why politics (unlike comedy) might actually be better without the crowds. The conventions became televised spectacles more than half a century ago, so perhaps the straight-to-camera speeches offer a frankness that better fits the medium. Listen to their conversation here: Subscribe to Social Distance on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or another podcast platform to receive new episodes as soon as they’re published. Here’s a sample of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. James Hamblin: How weird is it, as a former presidential speechwriter, to see things happening without audiences in our new pandemic Zoom world? James Fallows: It’s really weird, but I think if we had been having this conversation before the first night, I think we’d have a very different tone, or at least I would. Conventions have always been these bizarre combinations of state fair, freak show, and prom.
