A sobering account of how governments have used Covid-19 as a pretext for limiting freedom.
Two advocates for journalists’ rights reveal the severe blows to free expression and democracy inflicted by world leaders’ repressive actions during the pandemic.
Drawing on their work with the Committee to Protect Journalists, Simon and Mahoney map the alarming spread of what the World Health Organization calls “the infodemic”—“the flood of misinformation, lies, rumors, half-truths,” and other ills that authorities worldwide have deployed to weaponize Covid-19, risking lives and undermining freedom. “Censorship has been a defining feature of the…pandemic,” they write. Legal and journalistic purists may take issue with their expansion of the traditional definition of censorship to include not just the suppression of information, but its manipulation for harmful ends, as by promoting false narratives or spying on citizens electronically, purportedly to promote public safety. But it’s hard to argue with the wealth of facts, quotes, and stories the authors use to support their case. A startling number of countries have become “less free” during the pandemic: 91 have imposed new censorship measures, and in 80, democracy and human rights have deteriorated, according to a 2020 report by the democracy watchdog Freedom House. The infodemic may have begun when China lied about the origins of Covid-19 (at one point claiming that it originated in imported “frozen food”), but it spread quickly to democracies like Brazil, which pumped out misinformation; and Israel and Norway, which “coerced or cajoled” citizens into releasing personal data on dubious grounds. The “most disappointing result by far” has occurred in India, which Freedom House downgraded from a “free” to “partly free” country after Prime Minister Narendra Modi cracked down on the press, shut down the courts, and vilified Muslims by suggesting that they were spreading the virus. Few readers will disagree with the authors’ conclusion that, in response to such crises, people everywhere must “stand up for our right to speak freely.”
A sobering account of how governments have used Covid-19 as a pretext for limiting freedom.Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73591-368-1
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Columbia Global Reports
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.
Portraits in a post-pandemic world.
After the Covid-19 lockdowns left New York City’s streets empty, many claimed that the city was “gone forever.” It was those words that inspired Stanton, whose previous collections include Humans of New York (2013), Humans of New York: Stories (2015), and Humans (2020), to return to the well once more for a new love letter to the city’s humanity and diversity. Beautifully laid out in hardcover with crisp, bright images, each portrait of a New Yorker is accompanied by sparse but potent quotes from Stanton’s interviews with his subjects. Early in the book, the author sequences three portraits—a couple laughing, then looking serious, then the woman with tears in her eyes—as they recount the arc of their relationship, transforming each emotional beat of their story into an affecting visual narrative. In another, an unhoused man sits on the street, his husky eating out of his hand. The caption: “I’m a late bloomer.” Though the pandemic isn’t mentioned often, Stanton focuses much of the book on optimistic stories of the post-pandemic era. Among the most notable profiles is Myles Smutney, founder of the Free Store Project, whose story of reclaiming boarded‑up buildings during the lockdowns speaks to the city’s resilience. In reusing the same formula from his previous books, the author confirms his thesis: New York isn’t going anywhere. As he writes in his lyrical prologue, “Just as one might dive among coral reefs to marvel at nature, one can come to New York City to marvel at humanity.” The book’s optimism paints New York as a city where diverse lives converge in moments of beauty, joy, and collective hope.
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781250277589
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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