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From Operavore, the WQXR Blog Jul 22, 2020 · by Fred Plotkin Each one of us has developed a routine (perhaps I should say “coping mechanism”) in these unprecedented times. I have always been one of those people who believes that if you wake up, you work. To me there is no such thing as a weekend, so I’ve kept working every day — even if it does not provide some of the compensations I would like to have. But there is pleasure, and engagement with ideas, which is rewarding in its own way. I have always enjoyed cooking (and have written six cookbooks), and a Saturday ritual I have continued from pre-COVID days is to listen to WQXR’s opera broadcast while engaged in cooking stews, sauces, compotes, and vegetable medleys for the week to come. I plan what I cook based on the length of the opera: the wonderful recent Elektra with Christine Goerke was only long enough to make a Greek salad and steamed monkfish. Give me Les Troyens and I could cook for an army. Another ritual I have taken on since the coronavirus pandemic has kept me home is to see a film each day. I always have time for old favorites such as Bringing Up Baby and La Strada, but have also made sure to watch genres I had not been interested in (westerns, science fiction) and discover actors whose work I had yet to fully explore (Dick Powell, Ann Sheridan). Cinema is an outgrowth of opera, with sweeping settings, big emotions and mythical stars; the only major difference is that in opera, music is the chief narrative medium, while in film it is the spoken word. Both have strong visual components. A film I revisited the other day is Norman Jewison’s 1987 opera-themed Italian-American romantic comedy Moonstruck, for which Cher and Olympia Dukakis received richly-deserved acting Oscars. I saw it as soon as it was released (for reasons I will discuss below), and only one other time in the 1990s, dubbed in Italian for Italian television — which worked very well! Moonstruck is a film suffused with operatic music and stories as well as popular Italian-American songs. The continued references to the effects of a full moon are mostly spoken in the lines “Guardate la luna!” by the old man (played by Feodor Chaliapin, Jr.) to the dogs he walks each night on the Brooklyn waterfront. Chaliapin was the son of the world-renowned Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin, who was considered not only a great singer, but a stupendous actor. I must confess that I found it sad to watch the scene in which the opera-loving bread baker (Nicolas Cage) takes Loretta (Cher) to the Met for her first opera. Seeing the opera house beautifully lit, and with an auditorium full of well-dressed people assembled to see La Bohème after the crystal chandeliers rise, reminded me that this is something none of us will get to do for much too long. This was the first film I was ever hired to work on in a capacity other than being an extra. The scenes at the Met needed someone who knew the opera house (I was then Performance Manager), but also knew opera and spoke Italian. It was a thrill to watch them making these now-famous scenes, and then being asked by the location manager and assistant director if everything was faithful to opera, its audiences, and the particular ways of the Metropolitan Opera House. The question I am most asked is why the production of La Bohème seen onstage in the film is not the famous Zeffirelli version that premiered in 1981. The answer is that the cost of paying the rights was prohibitive. Rather than putting another production on the Met stage, they edited in a performance from Toronto. So, Cher was deeply moved by an opera she was not even watching — no wonder she got an Academy Award! Additionally, the singing voices in the film are actually from the recording of La Bohème conducted by Tullio Serafin and starring Renata Tebaldi and Carlo Bergonzi, dubbed into the mouths of actors in Toronto. Both Tebaldi and Bergonzi were from the province of Parma, one of the citadels of Italian cuisine. Tebaldi was from Langhirano, where the famous prosciutto is made, yet (if we are to believe her memoir) she was indifferent to food — and not just because she was trying watch her weight. I recall that she contented herself with chicken breast cooked with rosemary almost every day. In contrast, Bergonzi was from Busseto (where Verdi grew up, as did Luca Pisaroni) and loved good food. He had a hotel named I Due Foscari with an outstanding restaurant that was a destination unto itself. The last time I ate there was in the company of baritone Renato Bruson, who co-stars with Bergonzi in this performance of the Verdi opera for which the hotel is named. Perhaps because I have been spending more time than usual in my kitchen in the past four months, I notice the food more in the movies I have been watching. Moonstruck is full of scenes that revolve around making and eating meals. As much of my culinary background is Italian and Italian-American, I noted with care what the characters cooked and ate. In one scene, Olympia Dukakis is cooking a piece of Italian bread in a frying pan, to which she adds an egg to a hole in the middle. It reminded me of something baritone Tito Gobbi liked to make; I published his recipe in a remembrance a few years ago. In my opera and food careers, I have cooked and eaten with many outstanding artists. Among the most gifted in the kitchen were Zinka Milanov, Lucia Valentini-Terrani, Luciano Pavarotti, and Licia Albanese. I met Albanese (Bari, 1919 – New York, 2014) when I was about 8 years old — not through opera, but because my father tuned the piano in her Park Avenue apartment. He often took me along on his tuning jobs because he wanted me to meet people who loved music. Licia (as I was allowed to call her) was not just a beloved diva, but, as she told me, “moglie, madre, casalinga” (wife, mother, housewife) who spent a lot of time cooking for her family. While Dad tuned, Licia taught me recipes from her native Puglia and, inevitably, fed us a meal before saying arrivederci. In one of the kitchen scenes of Moonstruck, the extended family gathers for a meal that included a dish that reminded me very much of one Licia Albanese gave me the recipe for — which I cooked after rewatching the film. If one has to self-isolate, this is a delicious way to do it. Timballo di Mezzani all’Albanese Licia Albanese’s Baked Mezzani 4 to 6 servings 1 pound ground beef or veal 1-½ cups freshly grated Parmigiano or Pecorino (or combined) 1 large egg 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons finely minced Italian parsley Salt and pepper to taste 1 clove garlic minced (optional) Olive oil 1 pound mezzani or 1-½ inch long maccheroni 1-½ cups tomato sauce, perhaps with fresh basil 1 medium-sized ripe tomato, thinly sliced 1 cup unflavored bread crumbs Prepare tiny, fingertip-sized meatballs: Put the meat, ½ cup of grated cheese, egg, lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic in a bowl and combine until thoroughly mixed. Do not work the mixture more than you need to. Form the meatballs and fry in approximately 3 tablespoons of olive oil until well-browned. Let the meatballs drain on absorbent paper. Cook the mezzani in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water until nearly but not quite al dente. Drain the pasta well. Grease an earthenware casserole with olive oil and put in a layer of mezzani. Alternate casually between tomato sauce, meatballs, grated cheese, and more mezzani until you have used all of the ingredients. Top the casserole with slices of fresh tomato. Drizzle on a little more olive oil and top the whole thing with bread crumbs. Bake in a preheated 350˚F (180˚C) oven for 30 minutes, and then let the timballo cool for 15 minutes before serving. Wine: Salice Salentino, Aglianico, or another sturdy Southern Italian red. FRED PLOTKIN is one of America’s foremost experts on opera and has distinguished himself in many fields as a writer, speaker, consultant and as a compelling teacher. He is an expert on everything Italian, the person other so-called Italy experts turn to for definitive information.  Fred discovered the concept of "The Renaissance Man" as a small child and has devoted himself to pursuing that ideal as the central role of his life. In a “Public Lives” profile inThe New York Timeson August 30, 2002, Plotkin was described as "one of those New York word-of-mouth legends, known by the cognoscenti for his renaissance mastery of two seemingly separate disciplines: music and the food of Italy." In the same publication, on May 11, 2006, it was written that "Fred is a New Yorker, but has the soul of an Italian."

A Veteran Teacher Weighs in on the Remote Learning vs Open-the-Schools Debate By Shira Brewer Teaching my ninth grade Algebra 1 students this spring in Seattle, the original epicenter of the pandemic, was far from ideal. Have you ever been in the middle of online teaching in your living room and turned around only to realize that your son is trying to sell his younger sister on the shopping network? I have. Granted, it was a spoof. But that’s how I at times engaged my restless students, stuck in their own living rooms during our video calls. I was optimistic that this was a limited moment in time and we would be back in the classroom in the fall. I knew that online teaching and learning were not ideal for anyone and were in many ways detrimental to students, but I was comforted by the fact that we in Washington State and other states were taking measures to flatten the curve. I assumed we would only have to contend with about three months of very inconsistent learning for our students. I am a National Board-certified math teacher and have been teaching for over ten years. I just completed my fifth year at Nathan Hale, a public high school in Seattle. The reasons I love teaching are myriad: the daily interactions with students, the vibrant school atmosphere, the diversity of our community and the evolution of relationships that we are able to create with individual students and classes over the course of each year. Add to that the interactions and collaboration with my thoughtful and dedicated colleagues. Teaching is also challenging. Classroom management is hard and takes years to master. Students have complex lives outside the classroom that impact their attention and motivation to learn. Meeting the needs of every student takes innovation and creativity because skill levels can vary hugely in a single class. And as many parents and caregivers have learned in the past few months of sheltering in place, patience is key. This spring, I shifted to teaching from home through various virtual platforms, including leading live online lessons. I found I was often talking to a bunch of digital black rectangles because most of my ninth graders felt too sheepish to show themselves online. Despite pulling out all the stops to teach from my house, I only succeeded in that with about half of my students. The other half checked out for a variety of reasons: lack of internal or external motivation, family instability, lack of necessary technology, or having to babysit younger siblings and otherwise support their families. A colleague of mine says that pandemic educators are “building the plane while flying it,” and I think that is a perfect metaphor. There is a lot we can do remotely; online learning has its place, and in many cases, it is an excellent alternative. That said, there are many reasons society has chosen to have young people interact face-to-face with teachers and peers in school. In addition to the practicality of children being cared for out of the house during the weekday while adults work (no small thing, as we have all realized), the personal connection between teachers and students is vital. We know that engagement is significantly impacted by how much students feel valued by and connected with their teachers. The past few months have made abundantly clear that when at home, some students can't or won't engage, but when they are at school our chances of involving them are much better. Additionally, equity for all requires in-person teaching and learning. Many students have learning needs that cause them especially to benefit from in-person instruction and to suffer academically and emotionally without it. This group includes special education students and English language learners, but also encompasses many other students who need the stability and safety of a school setting to have a chance of an equitable education. Here is my idealistic proposal for going back to school during the pandemic: Teachers will be considered essential workers and students will be considered our precious charges. As such, school staff and students will be provided excellent PPE and other protective measures to keep us as safe as possible from getting sick. The federal government will fund this effort because our youth are the future and need an education and because in order for the rest of the economy to function well, children need a place to go during the day. In addition to frequently cleaned facilities and hand sanitizer, masks, possibly face shields, and small class sizes so that physical distancing is possible, every teacher needs a headset microphone so that we don’t permanently injure our voices by continually straining them as we try to talk through a mask to a room full of students. In my ideal world, our masks would be specially made to show our mouths, either through a clear layer or with a face shield that provides sufficient protection. So much is communicated through our facial expressions, and it helps students (especially hearing-impaired students) to see our mouths. Alas, we know that such a plan is not happening. The federal government has not shown that it values schools. As a consequence, more and more school districts are announcing that that they will be going back to remote learning in the fall. Seattle just made that call as well this week. This is disappointing; while I desperately want students and families to be served by in-person school, we of course need to keep students and school staff safe. If we can’t sufficiently minimize risk, we must be remote. If the national decision about teaching in person were up to me, I would struggle with whether to go back in this current climate. As a classroom teacher, I would be scared about getting sick, and of course I would worry about the health and safety of all staff and students. It would also mean a significant personal family impact: being more exposed at work would require taking important precautions at home, including making the tough call to keep my parents away from their grandchildren. Until now, we have been able to continue close contact with all the grandparents because our relative isolation makes that safe, but it would not be safe to continue that if I were exposed to hundreds of people per day, even masked. That said, my indecision is because of the very real and lasting negative academic and emotional impacts of remote teaching that we have already experienced and because of desperate families. What are parents and guardians supposed to do if they don’t have care for their children during the day? Families somehow have made it work until now, but it has been extremely challenging for most. School is a critical part of our daily lives and continuing to do it remotely causes significant damage to mental, physical, and financial health of millions of families. I am not suggesting that these struggles override the risk of losing lives to coronavirus, but the trade-offs are very real. I so wish there were a way to make in-person teaching work without such serious risks, and I believe we could do it with enough support. The months-long Trump-led failure here is undeniable and devastating. So, what do we do now? It is so important to develop some trust and connection with my students in order for them to learn successfully with me remotely. They need to know that I am a real person, and we need to truly see each other and make eye contact, which isn’t really possible via a screen. One of the reasons that learning actually happened this spring was because I already had established a relationship with students. To support the creation of real-world bonds, even if they need to be formed more quickly than in a normal school year, I propose that we do the following during the first couple of weeks of school: In safe numbers, students and families come to the school athletic field or other outdoor venue on assigned days to meet their teachers in person. They engage in getting-to-know-you activities with each of their teachers and a few other students and discuss remote learning expectations. This will at least create an initial connection until a deeper one can develop. When we are ready to transition back to in-person school, even if we have to ease into it and use masks and physical distancing before returning to the “normal” we all so desperately want, I believe that people will adapt and use what we have learned during this time to improve teaching for all students. When we do go back, even seeing my students once or twice a week, faces half-covered, will be a welcome joy. I’ve missed them. Postscript: One silver lining of virtual teaching this past spring was that my 11-year-old son, Rafi, who loves technology, delighted in helping me create and edit math videos. Here is one such video: If you watch at minute 6:10, you’ll see Rafi’s attempted sale of Aziza, his 7-year-old sister. Shira Brewer was born and raised in Seattle, Washington by her Insider parents, D'vorah Kost and Brian Grant. She has lived and taught in France and South Africa but the Pacific Northwest remains her home, and she currently teaches high school math in Seattle. Shira lives with her husband, Matt Brewer, and her two children, Rafael and Aziza, who are doted upon by their grandparents. In her free time, Shira enjoys eating chocolate and other good food, jumping on the trampoline with the kids, listening to NPR, running and other outdoor activities, baking, singing, and laughing with friends.

By Doug Dworkin In the past few weeks, there has been a great deal of amusing discussion about the President’s ability to pass the MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) test indicating that his cognitive abilities are “normal,” in that he’s not showing any precursors of dementia or Alzheimer’s. This is reassuring. Of course, in his repeated flaunting of the results, he serves up examples of a few of his other character flaws: extreme narcissism, and a penchant for exaggeration, braggadocio and outright lying. Despite these and other deep character flaws that have been exposed in the press and in numerous books, there is one way in which Trump endangers our republic more than anything else—his refusal to observe the political norms that help hold our country together. Since our founding, our country has established many rules, laws and customs that govern us: the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, statutes, Supreme Court decisions, etcetera. But all these rules and laws are dependent on an implicit agreement among the overwhelming majority of us that we will follow them. It’s a kind of “honor system” as Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold recently described it. Some laws and rules have enforcement systems and some don’t, but even those backed by enforcement would collapse if everyone refused to abide by them. The I.R.S. would never collect any revenue if everyone failed to comply. Though the fear of enforcement is there, there are not enough I.R,S. agents and courts to handle wholesale flouting of the law. Following this honor system is “normal’ in our politics too, and well-grounded in history. In the first years of our shaky republic, the Federalist party of George Washington and John Adams held the presidency for the first 12 years. But the election of 1800, preceded by the stormy first term of John Adams, was bitter and divisive. Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party was challenging the Federalist Party’s Adams, who was seeking a second term. Each party said the other’s victory would endanger the very existence of the republic. They vilified their opponents with slander and character assassination. And, because of a since-corrected flaw in the constitution, the election had to be decided by the House of Representatives. Even with all this turmoil, Jefferson was declared the winner and the presidency was peacefully handed over to him. It was the first peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another. Adams’ bitterness remained for years, but he and his followers ceded power because of the “honor system.” It is because of this peaceful change of power that the election is called the “Revolution of 1800.” It set an important precedent for our fledgling republic. Now ask yourself this question: Based on his willingness to trash political norms for the last 3 ½ years, do you think that Trump would act like Adams did in 1800? Would he follow that important precedent? The evidence points to no. As 2020 approaches, we should remember this: Trump is not a “normal” president. Doug Dworkin is a former junior high school teacher, encyclopedia editor, and IT executive at IBM. Now retired, he Is beginning a new career as a professional dabbler and dilettante.

By Andy Borowitz July 18, 2020 WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In the latest shakeup in his inner circle, Donald Trump has named the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, to the position of niece, replacing Mary Trump, effective immediately. With only three and a half months to go until the election, replacing family members could be seen as a sign of desperation, political insiders said. But, according to a White House source, the decision to replace Mary Trump with McEnany was a “no-brainer.” “The President wanted a niece who could rewrite history, and Kayleigh has proven every day that she can do that,” the source said. McEnany will continue in her role as press secretary in addition to niece, and will refer to Trump as “Uncle President.” As for Mary Trump, she will remain a member of the Trump family, but has been demoted from niece to third cousin. Andy Borowitz is a Times best-selling author and a comedian who has written for The New Yorker since 1998. He writes The Borowitz Report, a satirical column on the news.

One film journalist’s stream-of-consciousness cinematic journey through the pandemic and quarantine, Part 11 By Laurence Lerman Our seemingly unending real-life disaster movie continues to unfold into 2020’s preempted summer blockbuster season, and it ain’t nearly as fun. In a disturbing mutation of traditional gallows humor, there’s a certain level of distraction to be found in the unprepared, bellicose performances regularly made by our bloated Commander-in-Chief. That it’s clear he couldn’t even follow a script if it was stapled to his sebaceous schnoz makes it all the more ridiculous. Following a week of whatshisname rolling out his usual reprehensible repertory, I jumped back into my own streaming festival with 1971’s The Mephisto Waltz, none-too-subtly inspired by my recent streaming of István Szabó’s Mephisto from 1981. While Mephisto found Klaus Maria Brandauer selling his soul to the Nazis in exchange for superstardom in Germany on the eve of World War II, The Mephisto Waltz finds an aging Curt Jurgens’ concert pianist transferring his soul to the body of younger pianist Alan Alda so he can continue tinkling the ivories while also getting up close and incestuous with his adult daughter Barbara Perkins. Jurgens doesn’t get any help from the Nazis in this modern-day tale, but rather the Devil himself, who undoubtedly signs off on these kinds of soul sacrifices regularly if the proper ritual is performed. The only theatrical feature produced by television titan Quinn Martin (whose TV dominance in the Sixties and Seventies includes The Fugitive, The F.B.I., The Streets of San Francisco and Cannon, among other smashes), The Mephisto Waltz was one of a string of Satanic shockers that followed in the wake of Rosemary’s Baby. Like Polanski’s 1968 masterwork, it leans artier and is far less explicit than 1974’s The Exorcist, which kicked open a far-more-graphic gate to hell. Directed by television veteran Paul Wendkos (whose lengthy resume includes 1975’s made-for-TV movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden with Elizabeth Montgomery), The Mephisto Waltz unsurprisingly smacks of a distinctly small-screen flavor, particularly in its staid stretches of exposition which then give way to some stylish if cheesy party and dream sequences. Filled with canted angles, wide-angle disorientation and eerie music courtesy of the great Jerry Goldsmith, it’s those scenes that bring the movie to life. Or, as in the case of a very good Jacqueline Bisset as Alan Alda’s suspicious girlfriend, possible death. Hell, if we’re gonna swap souls, then it’s time for my favorite Alan Parker film, the 1987 occult noir Angel Heart starring Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro. (I also bring this up this week as the boys appear to be sniping at each other, with De Niro reportedly slamming Rourke to a friend, and Rourke recently responding with an Instagram take-down proclaiming Bobby D to be a “punk ass” and a “big F-ing crybaby.”) Based on the pulpy 1976 novel Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg, the Parker-penned Angel Heart finds sweaty Brooklyn gumshoe Harry Angel (Rourke) hired by the long-nailed, ponytailed Louis Cyphre (De Niro), a mystery man looking to collect an outstanding debt from a presumed dead crooner named Johnny Favorite. Angel’s search for Johnny takes him from Fifties era New York City to steamy New Orleans, where he crosses paths with Southern voodoo queens Lisa Bonet and Charlotte Rampling ahead of a deliciously devilish climax. Dripping with atmosphere and foreboding (and set to a captivating Trevor Jones score, abetted by saxman Courtney Pine and blues performers Brownie McGhee and Lillian Boutté), Angel Heart still delivers with its creepy story, superlative production values and two great performances, including a career-high for Rourke (that’s right, more so than 2008’s The Wrestler) and one of De Niro’s finest supporting turns. Their four scenes together—which run no more than 20 minutes all in—are the anchor for the movie and its central mystery. (Back in the late Eighties, De Niro was still hitting his leading roles out of the park while similarly flying high with smaller bits in films like Angel Heart, De Palma’s 1987 The Untouchables and Terry Gilliam’s 1985 Brazil.) In the most awkward of segues, I’ll put aside the Italian-American De Niro and backtrack a decade earlier for the all-Italian Luchino Visconti and his final film, 1976’s L’Innocente. An adaptation of an 1892 novel by Gabriele d’ Annunzio, Visconti maintains the magnificent, operatic style he embraced during the second half of his career. Set in 19th Century Italy, it concerns wealthy aristocrat Tullio (Giancarlo Giannini) who neglects his lovely, soft-spoken wife Giuliana (Laura Antonelli) in favor of his monied and possessive mistress Theresa (Jennifer O’Neill, who definitely looks the part even if her voice is dubbed into Italian). Tullio’s interest in his wife is rekindled when he learns she has embarked on an affair with a preening novelist, leading to even greater problems when he discovers that she is pregnant. Passion, pride, betrayal and societal demands collide in a climax as tragic as it is inevitable. Produced prior to his death from a stroke in 1976, Visconti reportedly directed this final work from a wheelchair following an earlier stroke and a broken leg. If he weren’t all there physically, he definitely was in a creative sense as L’Innocente lives up to the filmmaker’s lavish-bordering-on-the-decadent aesthetic while delving into some of his favorite themes, namely family misfortune by way of betrayal and infidelity. Misfortune never came off so good, with Pasqualino De Santis’s widescreen color cinematography looking so luxurious you want to dive right in. Moving forward—or, backward, sort of—the good people of the Criterion Collection recently issued a sterling edition of Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman (1928), one of the celebrated comedian and filmmaker’s last great feature films. The first project Keaton made under his contract with MGM, it also marked the last time he had complete autonomy as a filmmaker, which had been the case over the course of the previous decade. During those years, Keaton’s extraordinary output of ten remarkable feature films (including 1925’s Seven Chances and 1926’s The General) immortalized him as one of the greatest actor-filmmakers in the history of cinema. Rather than attempting to single out one of the Keatons—there are no fewer than four that demand to be screened and screened again!—I’m going to jump on the 2018 documentary The Great Buster: A Celebration by Peter Bogdanovich. As its title implies, the 2018 documentary is as much an appreciation of Keaton’s artistry and influence—the big chase sequence in Bogdanovich’s 1972 What’s Up, Doc? is pure Keaton—as it is a chronicle of his life and career. Along with the usual complement of clips from Keaton’s work (shimmeringly remastered by current rights-holder Cohen Media), the Brims with comments from nearly two dozen devotees, ranging from Mel Brooks to Quentin Tarantino to Jackie Chan to Johnny Knoxville, who nearly killed himself attempting to recreate Keaton’s building collapse stunt from 1928’s Steamboat Bill, Jr.). Talk about a jackass… In putting together his doc, Bogdanovich proceeds with a traditional chronological narrative, but then notably skips Keaton’s golden period in the middle and proceeds to his career decline and later years, doubling back to give Keaton’s greatest accomplishments their due in the final third of the film. In other words, Bogdanovich’s saves the good stuff for the end. Would that life played out like that! Laurence Lerman is a film journalist, former editor of Video Business--Variety's DVD trade publication--and husband to The Insider's own Gwen Cooper. Over the course of his career he has conducted one-on-one interviews with just about every major director working today, including Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, Kathryn Bigelow, Ridley Scott, Walter Hill, Spike Lee, and Werner Herzog, among numerous others. Once James Cameron specifically requested an interview with Laurence by name, which his wife still likes to brag about. Most recently, he is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the online review site DiscDish.com.

FRED PLOTKIN is one of America’s foremost experts on opera and has distinguished himself in many fields as a writer, speaker, consultant and as a compelling teacher. He is an expert on everything Italian, the person other so-called Italy experts turn to for definitive information.  Fred discovered the concept of "The Renaissance Man" as a small child and has devoted himself to pursuing that ideal as the central role of his life. In a “Public Lives” profile inThe New York Timeson August 30, 2002, Plotkin was described as "one of those New York word-of-mouth legends, known by the cognoscenti for his renaissance mastery of two seemingly separate disciplines: music and the food of Italy." In the same publication, on May 11, 2006, it was written that "Fred is a New Yorker, but has the soul of an Italian."

Jeffrey D. Sachs | Richard Horton | Jessamy Bagenal | Yanis Ben Amor | Ozge Karadag Caman | Guillaume Lafortune | July 9, 2020 | The Lancet The COVID-19 pandemic confronts the world with urgent and unsolved challenges. The pandemic marks the third deadly outbreak due to a coronavirus after severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003 and Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012.In the absence of effective testing and contact tracing systems in many countries, COVID-19 has claimed more than 500 000 lives and disrupted the entire world, sparing no region. In April, 2020, more than half of the world's population resided in countries enforcing a lockdown, resulting in hugely disruptive impacts on individuals, businesses, and entire sectors of society, such as global tourism and travel. Even countries that have suppressed the pandemic are experiencing harsh economic spillover effects from the rest of the world. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded the decline in global gross domestic product from –3% in April, 2020, to –4·9% in June, 2020. Although everyone has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, poor and vulnerable populations, including low-skilled workers and refugees, are suffering far more than the rich in terms of lost lives, vulnerability to infection, declining incomes, and unemployment. Effective COVID-19 treatments and vaccines are still many months away at the minimum. The Lancet COVID-19 Commission has been created to help speed up global, equitable, and lasting solutions to the pandemic. The Commissioners join this effort in the shared belief that effective solutions can be found on the basis of global cooperation, social justice, sustainable development, and good governance that builds on public trust. Globally, many creative solutions to the pandemic have already been implemented. Several countries have largely suppressed the virus, although they must remain vigilant to contain new outbreaks when they occur. A key aim of this Commission is to speed up the awareness and adoption worldwide of successful strategies to suppress transmission. Another key aim is to ensure that any new COVID-19 vaccines and other key technologies are equitably accessible across the world. So far in this pandemic there has not been equitable access to testing equipment, hospital facilities, especially intensive care units, and protective personal equipment for front-line workers. There are four core challenges that must be faced cooperatively worldwide. The first and over-riding challenge is to suppress the pandemic as rapidly and decisively as possible. The second is to meet the dire and pressing needs of vulnerable groups such as the poor, minorities, and elderly. The third is to prevent the public health emergency from turning into a fulminant financial crisis for governments, businesses, and households. The fourth challenge is to build the world back better, with resilient health systems, global institutions, and economies that are being transformed on the basis of sustainable and inclusive development. The Commission recognises that multilateral institutions face profound challenges in undertaking their crucial missions. WHO, the IMF, the World Bank, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN, the UN World Food Programme, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and many others are on the front lines in coordinating the global response to the pandemic in the areas of public health, finance, food security and supply chains, schooling, and governance. Yet these institutions find themselves caught up in the middle of big-power geopolitics. The Lancet COVID-19 Commission will aim to make recommendations to strengthen the efficacy of these critical institutions and to promote their adequate financing. The Commission will also reach out to regional groupings, including the African Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), and others, to liaise with, hear evidence from, and support, when possible, the efforts of these bodies in fighting the pandemic. The Lancet COVID-19 Commission will include Commissioners who are leaders of health science and delivery, business, politics, and finance from across the world. They volunteer to serve in their individual capacities, not as formal representatives of their home institutions, and will work together towards a shared and comprehensive outlook on how to stop the pandemic and how best to promote an equitable and sustainable recovery. The Commission and its task forces are committed to excellence and diversity across gender, geography, and sectors of society to ensure a comprehensive and inclusive approach in all aspects of the Commission's work. Alongside the Commission, we aim to set up task forces that will focus on specific dimensions of the pandemic. Task force topics include: the nature, origin, and prevention of zoonotic diseases; public health systems for surveillance, testing, tracing, and isolating COVID-19 cases; the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and medicines; the protection of vulnerable groups; wellbeing and mental health in the context of pandemic control; equitable and efficient financing of pandemic control; and building back better in the post-COVID-19 economy to achieve the global goals of sustainable development. There will also be working groups for various subregions, drawing on global and local experts. The Commission will report periodically throughout the pandemic to provide timely public updates, assessments, and recommendations. The Commission had its first meeting on June 23, 2020, and will issue a first public statement in September, 2020, at the time of the UN General Assembly. We aim for the first interim report of the Commission to be in January, 2021. The Commission will present its planned second interim report in July, 2021, and a comprehensive report in January, 2022. During the next 18 months, the Commission will hold periodic regional and global webinars, which will be open to the general public and expert practitioners, to discuss the work of the Commission and to generate inputs and feedback. The Lancet COVID-19 Commission's website will post ongoing and up-to-date information on the Commission's work, offer policy briefs and background studies, and provide a venue for the public to submit questions, data, reports, and insights to support and learn about the Commission's activities. The Lancet COVID-19 Commission is confident that this pandemic can be controlled decisively and justly through innovative, equitable, and globally cooperative strategies that are undertaken jointly by all nations and with the firm commitment to leave no one behind. JDS is Chair and YBA, OKC, and GL are members of the Secretariat of The Lancet COVID-19 Commission. We declare no competing interests. The Lancet COVID-19 Commission is grateful for the generous support of its founding donors, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

A Poem by Dr. Barry Lubetkin I dreamt about them last night, fitful sleep I wonder if I do every night, Ambien slays the memory They stare at me and I feel old, unprotected, Naked, like their faces. And then I awake, night still owning my eyes, I power walk without power, but the doctors insist, Down Second Avenue, alive with nothing but the noise of naked faces, They, yearning for release from Covid prison. Joyful and free, laughing and drunk, Masks stuffed in shorts, hanging from ears, No masks anywhere, ever, Parents, grandparents, blurred by tequila. I shift to third gear, no sidewalk clear, Is the breeze blowing for me? Against me? Watch for the car, the bus, the truck, Naked faces party on, I don’t exist. A sea of danger looms ahead, Oblivious to storms in lungs, scars in brains, dying Moms, dying friends, Lifetime therapy to sew up guilty souls, Don’t they read? Don’t they care? I turn right and right again, I shift gears, must get home, a cough scares me, weaker? Nonsense! the breeze was with me, Door closes, my face now naked, safe. Barry Lubetkin, Ph.D. is the co-director and co-founder of the Institute for Behavior Therapy in New York City. He is the author of numerous academic and popular articles, as well as two popular self-help books, Bailing Out and Why Do I Need You to Love Me in Order to Like Myself. The Institute for Behavior Therapy is the oldest private cognitive behavior center in the United States.

By Alan Resnick After months of heated negotiations, baseball’s compressed 60-game season finally began this week, with cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands instead of people. In an attempt to mitigate as many risk factors as possible while playing in the midst of a pandemic,, Major League Baseball has come up with a hefty new 101-page Operations Manual. The safeguards it establishes apply to everyone: players, manager, coaches, umpires and clubhouse personnel alike. I’m doubtful, though. While I certainly understand their intent, I fear they’ve taken a game that an increasing number of people find bland and boring and made it even more vanilla. The painstaking precautions outlined in the manual fall into a number of different categories. Most relate to COVID-19 testing and health screening, in terms of frequency and the actions to be taken should someone test positive. Others involve safety measures to be taken when traveling on planes and staying in hotels for away games (e.g., the traveling party will have a private check-in and entrance at hotels to avoid interactions with the public). The ones I find most fascinating, however, involve on-field safety rules. There are pages and pages of these precautions. Players are now being “strongly discouraged” from throwing the ball around the infield after an out. Growing up, we called this “around the horn,” an activity that took place when no men were on base after either a strike out or an out at first base. The ball would be tossed from infielder to infielder, always ending with the third basemen, who would then toss the ball back to the pitcher. It was a ritual that we practiced every bit as much as we did batting or fielding. But now the risks of contamination have been deemed to be too great. I suppose that a generic around the horn could be shown on the stadium Jumbotron, but, then again, what’s the point if there are no fans in the stands to see it? Arguing with umpires or with the opposing team in close proximity is now verboten. One of the simple pleasures of the game used to be watching your team’s manager rush out from the dugout and stand toe-to-toe with an umpire to dispute a call. There was your guy, getting in the umpire’s face, kicking dirt on his pants and unintentionally (perhaps?) spraying spittle on his face. Now, an umpire could now possibly wear a protective shield, but it may be difficult to secure a face mask over the top of it. And I suppose that current technology could be used to allow a manager to text his protest, but “you’re blind as a bat” loses much of its bite when not spoken from three inches away from the ump’s face. High fives, fist bumps, and hugs are now prohibited, and players will have to line up six feet apart to celebrate a walk-off hit. (It’s not entirely clear if there will be markers on the baselines to designate the six-foot social distancing requirement or if players will be asked to just guesstimate it.) Displays of emotion on the field have been a controversial subject in baseball in recent years; some have argued that these displays have added needed color to the game, while traditionalists feel that these antics occasionally violate baseball’s unwritten rules about how the game should be played. (I tend to lean toward the traditionalists on this issue.) Perhaps those giant foam finger souvenirs can be distributed to players before they line up so that they can safely slap palms with the hero of the game. Of course, they would have to be disposed of after the celebration. Baseballs used during batting practice must now be disinfected and taken out of circulation for at least five days. When I played organized youth baseball, our equipment bag had maybe a total of six balls. I wonder if the little leagues have adopted a similar rule because, when I played organized youth baseball our equipment bag had maybe a total of six balls. “Can we practice again tomorrow, coach, please?” “No, sorry, Timmy, we can’t practice again until Saturday. I have to go home and sanitize our baseballs and leave them in the garage until the weekend.” Even the phone in the dugout must be wiped down before being used to contact the bullpen. In the past, some managers were criticized for leaving pitchers in the game after they had “lost their stuff.” They did not have a relief pitcher warming up and ready in time to stave off a big inning. But now, managers have an excuse: “I told Schultz to call the bullpen to get Thomas up and ready, but we ran out of Lysol wipes in the clubhouse. By the time they arrived, the game got out of hand.” Another integral part of baseball tradition is the mound visit, where the pitching coach or manager strolls out to have a chat with the pitcher. Other infielders typically join in the scrum, and they cover their mouths with their gloves so that the opposing team cannot read their lips. But now, it is expected that the participants maintain their social distance and that gloves not be raised to the mouth, making it harder to conceal the contents of these strategic discussions in an empty stadium. And the manager and pitching coach will be expected to wear masks and maintain their social distance as well. What was once a tight little circle will look more like the opening of a square dance. The single safety precaution that I find most curious is that team mascots will be allowed in the stadium, but not on the field. I have a simple question: What does a mascot do in an empty stadium? There is no one there to enjoy their zany antics. I can think of little sadder than an adult wearing a mascot suit wandering around the corridors of a deserted stadium. I believe that there is a significant prophylactic that baseball has neglected to consider: the full body condom. I’m not talking about the kind worn by Priscilla Presley and Leslie Neilsen in The Naked Gun, but rather something that looks more like a spacesuit made out of super-thin latex or polyurethane. This would permit full range of motion in the arms and legs, so players could easily swing a bat, bend down to field a ground ball, pitch, throw, or run. They could be tinted in different colors, so that each team could have both a home and away condom. And I’m guessing that designs could be added to reflect each team’s unique insignia. Just imagine a full body condom with the Yankee pinstripes.. I think I’ll contact Major League Baseball after I disinfect my phone and see what they have to say. Alan Resnick is an industrial psychologist with over 40 years of professional experience. He and his wife are sheltering at home in Farmington Hills, Michigan. He is passing the time by cooking, exercising, catching up on friends’ recommendations of must-see TV and writing.

An Exclusive Report from Florida, the New Epicenter of COVID-19 By An Anonymous Insider I live in Florida and I believe in science. I know there are others like me, but many people who aren’t. As the pandemic spreads through the state with terrifying speed, daily life has become challenging and surreal, and not just because of the difficulties of sheltering in place as much as possible. I am fortunate enough to work from home. With a preexisting condition that makes me highly vulnerable to the coronavirus, I take the common-sense precautions of wearing a mask, washing my hands, using hand sanitizer, not eating in restaurants, not going to bars, ignoring the governor who is desperate to please the President, ignoring the President, who is desperate to be re-elected, and more. But sometimes the challenges are unavoidable. Florida is nationally maligned as a place where ridiculous people do ridiculous things, where stupidity reigns and head-shaking events leave others, particularly Northerners, looking down at us. I have long fought this stereotype of my home state, fought the stereotype of owning guns and being a registered Republican. The state offers natural beauty, year-round weather that I love and so much more. It is getting harder, however, to maintain optimism as the coronavirus not only kills people who could have been saved, but as local politicians and residents ignore and outright deny science to advance their agendas, or promote a culture war or whatever conspiracy theory du jour motivates them. The reality of this sometimes comes as a knock at your door. Recently I hired a national company to do some work outside my house. When their representative showed up at my door, he was wearing a mask over his mouth and below his nose. (Is this a Florida thing?). He attempted to step into my house. This type of behavior no longer startles me because it is the norm in this part of Florida. I stepped back, raised a hand for him to stop and asked him to put on his mask. “I am wearing a mask,” he replied. “The mask has to be over the mouth and the nose for it to work,” I said. He shot me a disgusted look and then stepped into my house. I am not a rude person. During normal times I would allow him to come in, even though there is no reason for him to enter. There are not normal times. “Please step out of my house,” I say. “There’s a virus going around and you don’t need to be inside.” He is agitated and surly. He is not alone in his position in Florida. I am in a doctor’s office for an appointment that is unavoidable but I have been assured they are taking all precautions, including letting in only one patient at a time. And that’s true. When I arrive I am the only one. The receptionist is wearing her mask around her neck. She tells me to sign in.. The sheet is blank and there is one pen, no hand sanitizer, no way to avoid touching a pen that others have clearly touched as it is tethered to the clipboard. Back in the exam room, the nurse is not wearing a mask. I ask her why not. She replies that it’s dangerous to wear one all day and breathe in carbon dioxide. Her boss, the doctor, is an extremely well-educated man, who went to a top-tier medical school. I ask her if she believes in the efficacy of masks for preventing the spread of coronavirus, especially considering that this practice is filled with high-risk people. She strings together a disjointed sentence: “America…coronavirus…you people…will give it to you.” I have no idea what fragmented thought is behind this and finally ask her to put on a mask. She does so reluctantly. People in West Palm Beach are protesting. It is their constitutional right to not wear a mask. I used to bet on sporting events a fair amount. I would push all my chips to the center of the table on this bet: not one of them has ever read the Constitution and has no idea what it says or means. A woman says she has a mask in her pocket but won’t wear it because it is her right to not have to do what the government tells her. The epidemic is swelling to headline-making proportions, putting the state as the U.S. epicenter. Her mask is in her pocket. For every viral video you have seen of an enraged non-mask wearing Costco customer or maskless shoppers turned violent, there are hundreds if not thousands of more people espousing the same “philosophy” of freedom, of constitutional protections. I encounter many of these people on the infrequent occasions I must venture out. In one store, the line is long to check out because they have not staffed the store properly. Again, masks are worn under the nose. The store has a policy that you can’t come in without wearing a mask. Once inside, though, many simply drop the mask around their neck. I live in the part of the state where Democrats dominate. But there are plenty of Trump supporters and many who believe the government is trying to control their lives. (“Are you Trumpers?!” one friend happily exclaimed after not seeing me for years, pre-pandemic. My wife and I blanched: no, we are appalled by him, we explained. The rest of the evening did not go well.) A long, long time ago, Florida was a state ruled by Democrats. Walkin’ Lawton Chiles was a revered political figure and governor. But the 1990s brought impactful demographic changes and Republicans have ruled the state since then, helped along by the ineptitude of the Democratic party (see, e.g., nominating Andrew Gillum, in the middle of an ethics investigation, for governor). As a moderate Republican in the southern part of the state, the politics were not intrusive or divisive on a regular basis in my life, for the most part. Now Governor Ron DeSantis has changed that. He and other politicians and many of my neighbors deny the scope of the healthcare emergency, parrot Trump that more testing means more positive results, and in Trumpian fashion blame the media for whipping up hysteria. I know two people who have died of coronavirus. I know many others who have contracted it, suffered, and survived. I don’t know anyone who has died of the flu. My wife and I no longer watch DeSantis’ briefings. He has left us on our own. Packed bars have led to an explosion of cases. The belief that only old people were dying from coronavirus (as if that were okay) has been exploded by the new statistics showing how many younger people are infected. And still the governor, the self-proclaimed defender of liberty, does nothing, enacts no restrictions, leaves it to local mayors to create ordinances, which many people routinely ignore because no one wants to step on your freedoms, guaranteed by this great country. I know a person who once knocked on our neighbors’ door at 11 p.m. to yell at them and tell them they were making too much and violating the local noise ordinance. That same person is ignoring a county mandate to wear a mask. Constitutional freedoms are a movable feast. Florida remains the place that elicits head-shaking disbelief from much of the rest of the country. We like our guns. We don’t want to wear masks. We have elected Republican governors like DeSantis who take a narrow margin of victory and act as if it were an overwhelming mandate from the people. (Sound familiar?) We protest any attempt to take away our freedom, enjoy no state taxes, have beaches packed with people during the pandemic because of our governor’s inability to protect us from others. We are intolerant of people who try to take away our freedoms. People have told me Fauci is lying. People have told me the media is pumping up the story so Trump doesn’t get re-elected. People have told me that vaccines cause autism. Some of these people hold advanced degrees. Some are doctors. All are Floridians. When the pandemic was growing but before it hit its current stage, my neighbors had a party. There were approximately 50 people in a house that is rented out as an Airbnb. DeSantis had recently signed an executive order limiting Airbnb operations but when I read it, the order was so toothless that it basically prohibited nothing. I tracked down the owner of the Airbnb, a local realtor and told him it wasn’t acceptable. I expected hostility and instead he apologized profusely and said he was going to the house to talk to the renters and warn them they would be kicked out. I was stunned. I know many of you are watching the situation in Florida spiral out of control and making the usual Florida jokes. We know how people in the north feel about people in the south. It is true that we are a state divided, a state where politicians worry more about the economy than lives, where individuals believe they have a freedom to possibly endanger others rather than simply wear a mask. We are a state with a failing school system that has produced more than one generation of people eager to believe in conspiracy theories rather than study and evaluate the science of a virus that is killing us. We are a state that has not invested in its poor, its homeless, its children, its education system and now we are watching this failure play out on the national stage. But if you live in a state like New York where you have apparently flattened the curve, don’t be so quick to shake your head at us. I lived in Manhattan for a time and every day I walked past homeless people sitting or sleeping or laying on the sidewalk. Some were drunk, some were mentally ill, some were people who simply had been discarded. Every day New Yorkers briskly walked past these people, not looking, not noticing, concentrating only on where they were going. And every day I walked past homeless people, I felt a little more of my humanity ebb from my body. So before America make its Florida jokes and shakes its head in disbelief at how the virus is raging out of control here, everyone should look around and see the country that we all have helped build, where fear of change and ignorance define a large part of the population, where lack of quality education has helped build a culture that has allowed a frenzied and phony “culture war” over masks to erupt. Take a good look at us in Florida, because we are you. The writer has asked to remain anonymous for professional reasons.

Be honest--would an objective observer describe your pandemic lifestyle as indolent, slothful, shiftless, loafing, inactive, inert, sluggish, lethargic, languorous, listless, torpid, enervated, slow-moving, slow, heavy, dull and plodding? Have no fear—Charles Polit, the co-founder of Artus Physical Therapy to the rescue! A top Manhattan physical therapist with a doctorate from Columbia University and 15 years of clinical experience, Polit has helpful advice for Insiders, from the lazy bums among us to the fittest physical specimens. And when it comes to exercise, Polit walks the walk. (Runs the run?) A seasoned runner, marathoner, triathlete, swimmer and golfer, Polit shared his secrets with The Insider for staying motivated and safe as you exercise pandemically. In Part 2 of this interview next week, Polit will tell Insider readers about the new craze for remote physical therapy, which is paid for by most commercial insurance and Medicare. The Insider: How did you get interest in exercising? Were you athletic growing up? Charles Polit: I was always active growing up. I lived on a dead-end street in Bohemia, a small town in Long Island. I had friends on my block, as well as the two other dead-end streets next to mine, and we were always playing one sport or another: wiffle ball, hockey, skateboarding, all on these little side streets. With football, it would be two-hand touch--while the player with the ball was on the street, and tackle football if that player chose to run on any and all of our neighbor’s lawns, I really took to baseball and played Little League until junior high school. I would practice throwing and fielding with my dad in the backyard most days after school, as soon as he got home from work. But I didn’t get into actually exercising until my last year of high school. I was 18 and scrawny–118 pounds-- so I decided to start lifting weights to fill out my physique a little more. After two years of community college, I still wasn’t completely sure what I wanted to do for a living, so I took a few years off from school. I then realized that I wanted to do something in the health field, but not spend nine to ten years in med school and residency.. So I decided to go to Hofstra for a degree in exercise science. Afterwards, I found a job in the city working for a corporate fitness/wellness center at Credit Suisse as an exercise specialist. I did that for a few years but found it just wasn't for me, and felt I wanted something more. There was a physical therapy office located in the wellness center where I was working. That appeared to be more challenging and rewarding, so that, along with hurting my back and having it rehabilitated with physical therapy, solidified my desire to return to school, where I received my doctorate of physical therapy from Columbia. It was there that I began to run at 30 years old. Several years later, I heard about the New York City Triathlon, which is Olympic distance. If you joined through a charity, you would be professionally trained for free in exchange for fundraising. The organization is Team in Training (TNT) and they raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Through TNT, I learned how to swim and cycle proficiently, and I did rather well in the tri. I thought if I could do that, maybe I could do the ultimate triathlon, the Ironman. Part of that race includes running an entire marathon though, so if I was realistically going to entertain an Ironman, I needed to see how I would perform in a marathon first. A friend of mine expressed interest in the Tokyo Marathon, and I thought why not, since I was always interested in Asian culture, especially the antiquity and modernity of Japan, so I signed up for it. It was a tough event, but I finished pretty well in that too, and have been running and swimming ever since. The Insider: Do you think that a pandemic couch potato can actually emerge healthier after the pandemic passes? Charles Polit: Sure! I think it’s possible for people who used to exercise, but for one reason or another put their routine on the back burner over the years--busy schedules, long hours stuck in the office, et cetera)--to see that they have all this extra time on their hands and figure, if not now, when? However, it can be difficult for people who have never really been active through their childhood and young adulthood to begin a regimen when they’re older. I recommend for them, as with anyone really, but especially with these individuals, to choose something they don’t hate or do just to get it over with. A better approach, according to exercise psychologists, is to choose something you enjoy, like walking or running, or bicycling or exercise classes, or even dancing, whatever you may have some interest in already. And start easy, a couple of days a week for 10-15 minutes and gradually progress from there. This way, the person is more apt to stay with it, instead of getting into something gung-ho in the beginning out of excitement, only to burn out and give up completely after a week or two. The experts say that you need to stay with a routine for a minimum of three months in order for it to stick and become part of your lifestyle. The Insider: What is your advice for the person who has been sheltering in place and getting very little exercise? Charles Polit: If your baseline is sedentary, you’ve got to start gradually. If you’re not going out at all, and you have enough space in your own house or apartment, try to get 20-30 minutes of (12) increased activity most days of the week. It can be broken down into 10-minute increments, two times a day, three times a day. You can even do small laps back and forth in your home. Be sure to clear away any and all objects, including throw rugs, which you could trip over.. There was a story about a man who did the equivalent of a marathon on his terrace! Just be sure it’s continuous for at least 10 minutes and above your normal walking pace. Your body is used to your everyday pace, so it doesn’t need to adapt and improve if you only stay with that. Conversely, if you push your body safely, you will get the physiological adaptations and benefits, or training effect, of regular exercise: increased capillaries to move more oxygen, decreased heart rate and blood pressure. That's whether you're indoors or outdoors. But if you’re restricted to your home, I would love it if you have a terrace or backyard to get some fresh air. Again, the biggest hurdle getting people to maintain prolonged course of exercise is that it has to become your lifestyle. Some people get too zealous. You’ll burn out, so you’ve got to start easily. The first week, you can do once or twice a week. Don’t take on too much. Walking is one of the most underrated activities you can do, if you do it properly for exercise. Your body is an amazing thing. It’s going to adapt if you push it, You have to do it slightly above pace. I’m not talking about being out of breath. You’re supposed to be able to hold a conversation while you’re walking. Just a tick more than normal—just stay at an elevated pace. Nothing crazy. That would be your minimum, Beyond that, if you’re sheltering in place but going outside and already walking a lot, chances are that you’re not doing that in a sustained way most days of the week. So you have something to work up to—a walking program of 20-30 minutes a day, most days of the week, at an elevated pace. That will do wonders for your blood pressure and your heart rate. You’re trying to be more efficient. It’s not a miracle that marathon runners are in better shape. They’re pumping out more oxygen per pump than the average person. The sedentary person (and the more comorbidities, the worse the situation, of course) typically places more strain on their heart and cardiovascular system, as they require more beats per minute to get the necessary oxygen to all the cells. Often this is via more occluded, sclerotic vessels, which creates increased blood pressure and further taxes of the system. If you’re an active person, you’re going to pump more efficiently—hence, much less strain on the blood vessels, fewer sclerotic problems. So I highly recommend walking if you’re sedentary. Beyond that, there are tons of classes online now. I do yoga myself. There’s also Pilates, if you have some experience with that. You don’t want to go willy-nilly and get hurt doing a class. You’re not going to get personalized guidance; this is for the masses. You’ve got to be careful with that. If you have some background in those classes, I think they’re phenomenal at home. I’m thrilled that a lot of people are getting healthier now. It’s awesome that they’re doing it. The Insider: What about the super athlete? Is it safe to run a lot now? Charles Polit: I think so, as long as you do it safely. You have to look at the continuum: zero risk, which doesn’t exist, to maximal risk. You have to play with that yourself as an individual. I do it myself anytime I step outside—we all do. So I’m going to go with the guidelines. I’m always going to stay at least six feet apart when I can. I always have a mask with me. At first, I thought, always wear the mask running. I’d rather err on the side of being careful. It’s not easy, but I did it. Then, as more information emerged, I discovered that if you’re not near anyone, you don’t need it. So I went from wearing it outside all of the time, to wearing it now just as I am entering or leaving my building, because you never know if you’re going to pass someone. Then, anytime I approach anyone, I don it. It’s not necessary if no one’s around you. But I purposely stay away from everyone. There’s no reason not to run if you have a safe distance around you. If you just want to try running for the first time, it’s like anything else, like the bike or like the walking. Don’t go gung-ho. We all want instant gratification. It’s the American way: if something’s good, let’s get more of it. People have the best of intentions, but you see them fall flat on their face. You don’t like to do it then—it becomes not enjoyable. And you may get stress injuries to boot.. The Insider: How about golf as a pandemic sport? Charles Polit: It depends upon the course. Some public golf courses are very strict and some are not. They all require you to have face masks in the starting and ending areas. I’m very cautious, but it’s like anything in life: you have people who are cautious and other people who don’t think it’s that big a deal. I’ll go by myself, but they group you with others. You can stay apart if you choose to, but I see instances all the time where golfers are still close together and not wearing masks. I don’t wear a mask when I play, but I certainly keep my distance and I’m outside, and there’s wind. The Insider: What about Peloton bikes? https://www.onepeloton.com/shop/bike Charles Polit: I’m definitely a fan. Remember—to increase adherence, if you can last for three months at any kind of new activity, you’re more likely to keep that as part of your lifestyle. That’s what you need—not just a few weeks if you want long-term gain. You have to stay with it. And to make it more likely that you’ll do it, you choose something you enjoy. If someone hates biking, I’m not going to push them and say, “You should do it anyway, shut up and do it!” It doesn’t work like that. So if people like cycling, they’ll love Peloton. It’s a live class, and you pay for the access to that class remotely. There are wonderful instructors and you have different visuals. You pay for the bike and the subscription. But it’s not something to try if you don’t’ like cycling—it’s expensive. If you’re tinkering with whether you’ll like cycling, get a cheap bike and try that. And if you really like it, Peloton is the next level. The Insider: What about swimming? Is that safe? Charles Polit: My own laps have come to a halt, except for limited and brief ocean swims. since the pool at my gym has been shut down, Here is the CDC’s official advice about swimming:: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/index.html The Insider: In some areas of the country, gyms are beginning to open. Is that safe or would you recommend against it? Charles Polit: That’s a tough one. I'm concerned with people being in indoor spaces, some smaller than others, with people who are breathing heavily, and not always social-distancing or wearing masks. And how do you know if the machines you're touching are that clean? I don’t think that I would feel comfortable telling anyone that it is safe yet, because it may not be. There are many safer, fun, quality alternatives out there! Charles Polit is the co-founder of Artus Physical Therapy in Manhattan. He is working both remotely and in-person during the pandemic. info@artuspt.com (Artus email address) (646) 559-2656 (Artus phone number)