Mask Bans Are Everyone’s Fight (Re-Air)

Note: We are back from parental leave! This episode was originally released August 22nd, 2024. We are re-airing it today in light of New York Governor Kathy Hochul's ongoing push to force a mask ban through New York state budget negotiations, as Artie explains in a brief intro at the top of the episode. Please note that the county-level mask ban discussed in this episode was implemented last year; as we discussed in our episode Covid Year Five, within a week of implementation the law was used to arrest an individual for masking in circumstances that sound like a revival of New York's racist stop and frisk initiative. Original description: Beatrice, Artie and Jules discuss the mask ban passed in Nassau County last week, the latest in a dramatic rise in legislation criminalizing face masks and targeting the Palestine solidarity movement. We look at what happened in the overtly hostile public hearing over the ban, the history of the New York statute that ban proponents want back, and how the threat of mask bans goes far beyond public health: mask bans embolden racist policing; they’re anti-trans; and they target the whole of the left. Transcript: https://www.deathpanel.net/transcripts/mask-bans-are-everyones-fight Watch the full Nassau County mask ban hearing here: vimeo.com/994184432 Find our book Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism Find Jules' latest book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny, here: https://www.versobooks.com/products/3054-a-short-history-of-trans-misogyny Death Panel merch here (patrons get a discount code): www.deathpanel.net/merch As always, support Death Panel at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod