Drew Faust on Dignity and Death in the COVID Era and John Feinstein on the Sports World's Pandemic Response

Author and former Harvard President Drew Faust provides context for America's relationship with death in large numbers by recounting how the country coped with the massive loss of life surrounding the Civil War, and sports writer John Feinstein pulls no punches in predicting the future of college and professional football, basketball and baseball.

The grim toll of the coronavirus pandemic is a reality many Americans have come face-to-face with in recent months. And with the number of COVID-19 related deaths rising daily, it can be difficult for those who have yet to experience loss from it firsthand to understand the scope of this terrible disease. There is historical precedent, however, for how the country has dealt with this sort of tragedy, author and former Harvard president Drew Faust (The Republic of Suffering) notes. How the U.S. handled its hundreds of thousands of Civil War dead revealed a great deal about the country, she says, as does the current crisis. And while many of us might seek reprieve from our harrowing circumstances in the world of basketball, baseball or football, sports writer John Feinstein (The First Major) paints an unfortunately complex and nuanced picture of what it might take for athletes to get back to their respective games.