Ask Me Anything
On Reddit at 1 PM tomorrow
Hi everyone,
I hope you’re all safe and well.
I wanted to give you all a head’s up that I’m going to be doing a Reddit AMA tomorrow at 1 PM Eastern (10 AM Pacific). I’ll be answering questions about our increasingly indoor lives and the connection between the built environment Covid-19.
Some potential topics of discussion: how to reduce the spread of pathogens indoors; the psychological and health effects of isolation, confinement, and sensory deprivation; how to stay healthy and sane while cooped up at home; how to design hospitals for an era of epidemics; and the longstanding connection between architecture and public health. But of course, as is tradition, ask me anything.
The link will go live at 12:30 PM Eastern tomorrow. You’ll be able to find it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/
Indoor Ephemera
Coronavirus-related:
This is fascinating: “Cholera and tuberculosis outbreaks transformed the design and technology of the home bathroom. Will Covid-19 inspire a new wave of hygiene innovation?”
Sheltering in place is scary, even—or especially—for people who have previously spent time in prison.
“What Submarine Crews And Astronauts Can Teach Us About Isolation.” (Vox has a similar, and excellent, piece.)
Modern American homes “are simply not meant to be lived in 24/7.”
A really smart piece on the Zoom home office: “Over the past few weeks, the Zoom background has appeared to me as the final symbol of the internet’s loss of anonymity and breach of personal privacy. Where once we had nonsense screen names, we now have Facebook profiles that require our real names, Facebook-attached Instagram accounts that document our intimate personal lives, and, finally, video-chat platforms that require the exposure of our homes in order to create the illusion of shared space online. That we might let all of our friends, colleagues, and contacts look into our homes at a moment’s notice is a shared expectation that’s part of the new digital social order.”
As cities around the world empty out, wildlife is beginning to return. Wonderful photos.
Not coronavirus-related:
“What It’s Like to Live on the Sea Floor to Simulate Life in Space”
A riveting longform piece on the discovery of Legionnaire’s disease, which is intimately tied to the built environment.
Poorly maintained public housing poses a real health risk to residents.
Some communities are flagrantly flouting FEMA’s flood regulations.
Bonus Interspecies Animal Content
According to CNN, “the family of Asian small-clawed otters were allowed to live in the river that runs through the enclosure that houses the orangutan family.” The full story, which I highly recommend and has more great photos, is here.
Hang in there,
Emily
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The Great Indoors will be out in June! But you can pre-order it now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, IndieBound, Powells, or your local independent bookstore.
You can read more of my work at my website and follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads. (You can follow me on Facebook, too, I suppose, but I rarely post there.)