In the old days, or any time before a month ago, each episode of our show dove deeply into a different corner of life in Brooklyn, and delivered stories, sounds and scenery from the people and places that make it home. But these days Brooklyn’s changing, and outside of it, the city, the nation, and the planet. It’s hard to believe that something you can’t see, and that can’t endure twenty seconds of soap and water, could devastate world powers, shift global economies, and topple an Empire State. But it’s even harder to believe, despite nearly four years of evidence, that the people tasked at the highest level with staving off  the havoc that threat like that could wreak, would be as ill-prepared, wreckless, skeptical, and cruel, as our country’s leadership has once again proven itself to be.  And perhaps hardest to believe, is that as the death toll rises, the days count down to what might just be the most important election in American History, or what might turn out to be the last failed test of the American Experiment. And infected with the terror that the Coronavirus COVID-19 has unleashed, and the panicked uncertainty that November holds, our novel little show has adapted to survive. For the foreseeable future, we’ll be posted at the intersection of an outbreak and a vote, on a corner we’ve dubbed -19,’20. Today it’s March 27th, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. 

The ground is slipping quickly, and help’s arriving slowly. It’s been a long time coming, but we know a change is gonna come, in Brooklyn, USA. 
 

Doomsday Preppers
by Charlie Hoxie

When New York City ground to a state-mandated halt last week, some people were more prepared than others; but few were as prepared as Jason charles, one of the organizers behind the NYC Prepper's Network. The group meets monthly to share ideas and information on preparing for the worst: how many cans of food and gallons of water a person should have stashed away, or what goes into a perfect bug-out bag- you know, the bag you grab when you have to high tail it out of the city and get to safer ground. Supervising Producer Charlie Hoxie—you may know him from his film, The Grand Unified Theory of Howard Bloom, which premiered at DOC NYC last year met up with Jason as the novel coronavirus started showing up in our city and altering lives.

The Calm Before the Storm
by Shirin Barghi & Ahmed Ali Akbar

Ahmed Hozain is a general surgery resident based in New York, who focuses on lung tissue bioengineering, transplantation and immunology. On our sister series, M-Train, he talked to host Ahmed Ali Akbar about his work, this pandemic, and the city’s new normal. You can listen to their full conversation on this week’s episode here.

Yin Q
by Emily Boghossian

With New York on pause, and non-essential employees cooped up and socially-distanced, sex workers are facing a total loss of income and fighting to adapt. Yin Q is a Brooklyn-based BDSM practitioner as well as the co-director of Red Canary — a grassroots organization that advocates for migrant massage parlor workers in Flushing Queens. Yin called in to talk about women & business for a future episode of Brooklyn, USA, stayed on the line to share how COVID-19 is affecting the kink community.
 

“It’s Like We’re Saving Westeros”
Ross Tuttle

Mert Erogul is an Emergency Room doctor in one of Brooklyn’s busiest hospitals -- and that’s on a good day. But in recent days, and like all of New York’s healthcare facilities, Dr. Erogul’s place of work looks less like a and more like a warzone. The enemy they fight is stealthy and severe, and the armor they’re afforded is worn down and running low. After yet another strenuous shift, he sat down with a well-deserved bourbon, to catch up with his friend and our Senior Producer Ross Tuttle, and to send us a message.
 

If you have something to say and want us to share it, all you have to do is...

1. Call (917) 719-0021 to reach our Voicemail Box
2. Tell us your name, neighborhood, email (we’ll edit this out – just want to know how to reach you!)
3. Tell us any and all of the things that you need or want to say.

• It can be a story, a joke, a secret, or a fact.
• It can be something that you overheard from six feet away, or have been thinking about, worrying about, or a thing that made you smile.
• It can be a way that you're coping with, processing, and navigating this moment, and what you’re hoping that the next one holds.
• It can be a movie recommendation, a book you love, a self care tip or breathing technique that you’re finding very useful...
• or anything else that you want to share with the world!

 
And if you’d rather just record yourself and send it in, just...

1. Open up your phone’s Voice Memos / Voice Recorder app and hit RECORD.
2.  Follow Steps 2 & 3 (from before).
3. Email the audio file to brooklynusapodcast@gmail.com.

 
We’re here when you need us, and we can’t wait to hear from you.
 
See you on the other side, in Brooklyn, USA.