Stories from a Pandemic

Series produced by The Nocturnists

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Image by: Lindsay Mound 

The Nocturnists: Stories from a Pandemic is an audio miniseries that follows healthcare workers' daily lives as they navigate the coronavirus pandemic.

The Nocturnists is an independent medical storytelling community founded in San Francisco in January 2016. We have produced over a dozen live shows in the Bay Area and New York City. Stories from those shows are featured on our podcast, followed by a conversation with our founder and host, Emily Silverman, who is a doctor at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

When our team started looking for “a handful” of people to keep an audio diary about their experience with COVID-19, we never expected be met with such a tremendous response. In retrospect, we're not surprised. As we face down this pandemic, having an outlet for self-expression is more important than ever. While it can be deeply empowering to care for patients during these uncertain times, it’s also terrifying. We are putting ourselves at risk. Institutions are creaking under stress. Some of us are being silenced; censored; punished for telling the truth.

For us, the waves of anxiety come and go at a moment’s notice, mixed in with adrenaline upon seeing the patient distribution e-mails in the morning, excitement about how the bureaucracy has fallen down at our safety net hospital, rage and frustration about the lack of a coordinated response in our country, and boredom when sitting at home between shifts. It’s a complex psychological landscape, and it’s worth capturing — for ourselves, for each other, and for history.
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The Nocturnists is an independent medical storytelling community founded in San Francisco in January 2016. We have produced over a dozen live shows in the Bay Area and New York City. Stories from those shows are featured on our podcast, followed by a conversation with our founder and host, Emily Silverman, who is a doctor at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.When our team started looking for “a handful” of people to keep an audio diary about their experience with COVID-19, we never expected be met with such a tremendous response. In retrospect, we're not surprised. As we face down this pandemic, having an outlet for self-expression is more important than ever. While it can be deeply empowering to care for patients during these uncertain times, it’s also terrifying. We are... Show full description


10 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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In this first episode of our special podcast series, healthcare workers reflect on the imminent patient surge that we have all been bracing for acr...

  • Added: May 28, 2020
  • Length: 31:14
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In this episode of The Nocturnists: Stories from a Pandemic, you will hear diary entries from healthcare workers from New York, California, Massach...

  • Added: May 28, 2020
  • Length: 31:10
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In the third episode of our special podcast series on COVID19, you will hear voices of a MICU nurse in San Francisco, an internal medicine resident...

  • Added: May 28, 2020
  • Length: 29:03
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This week, we continue with audio diaries from healthcare workers around the country who speak about ventilator hacks, breathing tubes, search and ...

  • Added: May 28, 2020
  • Length: 30:55
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What is it like to be a healthcare worker forced to stand on the sidelines during a global pandemic? This week, you’ll hear from diarists from Cali...

  • Added: May 28, 2020
  • Length: 26:29
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This week tackles what it means to be sick. You’ll hear from diarists from Michigan, Maryland, Ontario/Canada, Massachusetts, and California. You w...

  • Added: May 28, 2020
  • Length: 29:39
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We’ve been holding our breath for weeks now, waiting to turn some corner. While it’s still unclear what the future holds, this week we invite you t...

  • Added: May 28, 2020
  • Length: 30:53
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Over the past few weeks, there have been so many news articles about healthcare workers as heroes, or soldiers fighting the battle of coronavirus. ...

  • Added: May 28, 2020
  • Length: 31:40
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It takes surprisingly little for the human psyche to come undone. We know that the virus can’t survive when we isolate ourselves, the question is, ...

  • Added: May 28, 2020
  • Length: 30:47
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How does the COVID-19 pandemic end? Does it end in a bang, or just fizzle out? What we know for sure is that this story is far from over. In today...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 12, 2020
  • Length: 30:01
  • Purchases: 1