Priscilla Wald, Distinguished Professor of English at Duke University, researches the cultural conditions which help define the narratives of disease outbreaks. Living through a global pandemic, of course, offers new dimensions to both the historical events which Dr. Wald studies and shapes how we talk about pandemics in the years to come. We speak with her about the narrative of COVID-19, structural violence, and the influence of the digitalized present on the pandemic experience.