The Rag | Living

‘Shadow and Bone,’ Two Kinds of Pizza, and the History of Woke

Here’s what I consumed this week

“Wait, why are there so many humans out during lockdown?” asked Istanbul cats this week. Photo by Emre on Unsplash

Things are… interesting here in Istanbul, where lockdown is starting to feel like its own superspreader event. First, there was the mass exodus from cities to rural areas before lockdown started. Those who stayed flocked to stores to stock up on food and alcohol, sales of which are banned during this lockdown.

Now, on my social media, folks all over the city are talking about seeing people chilling at parks, riding bikes, and crowding pharmacies and grocery stores. In a city with a centuries-old tradition of delivery infrastructure, it’s hard to make a compelling case for the necessity of going out. Ooooh! Breaking news from one of my expat WhatsApp groups: sales of additional items like electronics, home textiles, and garden supplies will soon be banned, too. Great, now we’ll have a run on potted plants today.

Given the presence of the B.1.617 coronavirus variant, it all just feels so reckless and dangerous—especially for the service workers who don’t have a choice about showing up. And so I am continuing to stay home, leaving ample time for reading, streaming, and noshing. Here’s what I consumed over roughly the last seven days.