Paul Holdengräber is joined by writer Nicholson Baker for this two-part episode 160 of The Quarantine Tapes. They talk about the changes and constants of daily life under the pandemic, card catalogs, and Defoe before turning to Nicholson’s recent work on the pandemic itself.

Nicholson published a New York Magazine piece asking “Did the Coronavirus Escape From a Lab?,” examining the possible origins of the pandemic. He talks with Paul about what motivated him to write that piece and why he thinks we need a thorough investigation into the origins of the virus.

Nicholson Baker is the author of seventeen books—his most recent is Baseless: My Search for Secrets Among the Ruins of the Freedom of Information Act. Baker and his wife Margaret Brentano have two children; they live on the Penobscot River in Maine.

Credits:

Paul Holdengraber - Co-Creator, Host, OLA Director
Anthony Audi - Co-Creator, Researcher, OLA Director
Alejandro Cohen - Co-Creator, Producer, Composer
Christian Pitt - Production Coordinator 
Erin Cooney - Copy, Production
Dublab Team