We are trying something new on the ‘Cost of Living’ blog.  Every other week we will be running a gallery of things we have seen, watched or read that are in some way related to health.  Let us know what you think in the comments below.

What we have seen this week

Rational and reasonable response to coronavirus? Or bizarre germophobia meets casual racism? This letter to an Essex local paper probably represents the kind of thoughts in the minds of many people in the UK right now.

Container ships at Southampton – and thinking of Mick Bloor’s work on seafarers’ health in a globalised industry

New signs up at Guy’s hospital. Pilot to make hidden disabilities visible. No evidence needed to get one. Raises interesting issues around self-labelling, disclosure and identity.

How to crap properly according to Norgine Pharmaceuticals Ltd

What we are watching this week

‘Star Trek: Picard’ – the new series of Star Trek finds Picard older and haunted by tragedy. With a Federation wrought with corruption and scandal, Picard is Trek’s response to populism, Trump and Brexit.

The Windermere Children on BBC1. An affecting based on fact drama of orphaned Jewish children sent to the Lake District after WWII for rehabilitation. This story of the psychological impact of brutality, familial separation and social isolation resonates with our ongoing global refugee crisis.

Kurzgesagt is a YouTube Channel that produces interesting and fully referenced videos on an eclectic range of topics

What we are reading this week

Love as survival in the parallel world of forced migration – allegorical, lyrical, compelling

Charles Dickens’ favourite of his own novels is full of joy but also has a lot to say about the difficulties of living with economic and social precarity and the toll this takes