The Atlantic

Listen: Should You Wear a Mask?

What the new CDC recommendations on mask-wearing actually mean.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that Americans wear face coverings when venturing out in public. The new guidelines come a month after the surgeon general urged people to stop buying masks, tweeting that they are “NOT effective” in preventing the general public from contracting COVID-19. So, what exactly should people wear now and when should they wear them?

On this episode of the podcast Social Distance, James Hamblin answers Katherine Wells’s basic questions about the coronavirus. What is a virus? Why is this one so bad? And what should be done to avoid catching it?

Listen to the episode here:

Subscribe to Social Distance on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or another podcast platform to receive new episodes as soon as they’re published.


What follows is an edited and condensed transcript of their conversation.


Katherine Wells: What even is a virus?

It's just a strand of nucleic acids, DNA or RNA, wrapped in some little coating or shell or

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic5 min read
The Strangest Job in the World
This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. The role of first lady couldn’t be stranger. You attain the position almost by accident, simply by virtue of being married to the president
The Atlantic5 min readAmerican Government
What Nikki Haley Is Trying to Prove
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Nikki Haley faces terrible odds in her home state of
The Atlantic3 min read
The Coen Brothers’ Split Is Working Out Fine
It’s still a mystery why the Coen brothers stopped working together. The pair made 18 movies as a duo, from 1984’s Blood Simple to 2018’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, setting a new standard for black comedy in American cinema. None of those movies w

Related Books & Audiobooks