Pandemics have destroyed cities before. Could they do it again?

Charles Kenny, author of a forthcoming book on pandemics, is cautiously optimistic that cities will prevail in the era of COVID-19. Here, he talks to Richard Florida about how infectious diseases have shaped cities throughout history, how COVID-19 could impact urbanization, and why preparedness is everything. The COVID-19 pandemic has woken us up to the way viruses attack and spread through cities, but the reality is that infectious diseases have long ravaged cities and urban areas. Charles Kenny has thought a lot about the connection between cities and disease. A senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and former World Bank economist, Kenny is the author of several books including The War on Death and The Upside of Down: Why the Rise of the Rest is Good for the West. He recently tweeted about his latest book, Winning the War on Death: Humanity, Infection and the Fight for the Modern World, currently undergoing peer review at the University of California Press. I contacted him about it, and he sent me the manuscript, which is timely and fascinating. I spoke to him about the history of cities and infectious disease and his main takeaways about how the current COVID-19 crisis will affect cities today.Read Full Story Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2020-04-14 11:15:24 UTC ]
News tagged with: #cautiously optimistic #senior fellow #books including #modern world #california press

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Pandemics have destroyed cities before. Could they do it again?'


S&S takes submissions for Books and the City website

Simon & Schuster UK is expanding its commercial women’s fiction website Books and the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #commercial women


Jet City, Comixology Offer Digital Comic of Hugh Howey’s ‘Wool’

Amazon’s Jet City Comics imprint is serializing the comics adaptation of sci-fi novelist Hugh Howey’s 'Wool' simultaneously on Comixology and Amazon. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hugh howey #comics adaptation


Daily News to Sell Diamond Avenue Building, Paper to Relocate Elsewhere in City

As part of the ongoing transition of the traditional print media, Digital First Media is putting the Daily News' Diamond Avenue building up for sale. The Daily News will relocate to a smaller building elsewhere in the city, said Publisher Gre ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #daily news


'The Girls of Atomic City': a bestselling WWII tale

'Girls,' by Denise Kiernan, continues to hold steady on bestseller lists more than a year after its initial publication. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hold steady #bestseller lists #initial publication


BEA 2014: Maggie Stiefvater: A Sinner in the City of Angels

The first time Maggie Stiefvater attended BEA, to promote her 2009 Scholastic release, Shiver, a fan rushed up to her as she sat huddled in a booth with her editor, exclaimed, “You’re Maggie Stiefvater,” and fell down. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #maggie stiefvater


Jet City Comics Debuts Cover Art for 'Wool: The Graphic Novel'

Jet City Comics, Amazon Publishing’s graphic novel and comics imprint, has released the cover art for the first three issues of "Wool: The Graphic Novel," the comics adaptation of author Hugh Howey’s bestselling, self-published science-fiction novel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amazon publishing #comics imprint #cover art #comics adaptation


Sara Miles: God, One City Block at a Time

Sara Miles, once a war reporter in Central America, didn’t give religion much thought then. Now she is an Episcopal lay liturgist and preacher taking to the streets of San Francisco and finding God there. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #finding god #city block #war reporter #central america


VIDEO: Armistead Maupin shuts down City

Tales Of The City, the hugely successful book series written by Armistead Maupin, comes to an end Continue reading at BBC World

[ BBC World | 2014-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #armistead maupin


Valentines revamp for S&S Books and the City

Simon & Schuster UK Ltd is giving its women’s fiction and lifestyle website Books and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Vibrant Book City, Dynamic Winter Institute

Despite the elephant in the room, or more specifically down the street, booksellers are optimistic about the year ahead. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #year ahead


Holiday Catalogs Data and Top 15 Cities, Per Popular iPad App

The turn-the-page Web catalog—tested widely in the 2000s as an alternative to e-commerce sites—once looked like an emerging shopping platform led by now-defunct tech providers such as RichFX. But the concept died on the proverbial vine. With the massive proliferation of tablets, however, the... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #device level


'Dangerous Women' boasts equal-opportunity destroyers

'Dangerous Women,' an anthology edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, features an impressive assembly of work, and a new novella by Martin.The fury of a woman scorned is just one of the perils encountered in "Dangerous Women," a splendid cross-genre anthology featuring original... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #gardner dozois #harlan ellison #relative newcomers


Peter Kaplan, editor who commissioned Sex and the City, dies at 59

Former New York Observer editor was known as cultural arbiter and was credited with cultivating style of influential paperPeter Kaplan, the former editor of The New York Observer who hired a then-unknown Candace Bushnell to write a column called "Sex and the City" has died. He was 59.Kaplan died... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


John Rechy's 'City of Night' turns 50

"City of Night" was not the first overtly gay-themed book but it may be the most unapologetic, a searing screed of life on the edge.I spent part of Wednesday afternoon at UCLA, on a panel to celebrate the 50th anniversary of John Rechy’s novel “City of Night,” newly reissued to commemorate the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john rechy #spent part #wednesday afternoon #newly reissued #american literature


New York City Has An Internet Inequality Problem

Last Monday night, Mark Zuckerberg published a post announcing Facebook's new initiative to bring Internet access to the developing world. The blueprint for internet.org mapped out how Facebook and a host of phone company allies might connect an additional 5 billion people online through more... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #report revealed #president obama #public libraries #online learning


Christine Quinn Wants to Be the First Female Mayor of New York City

As of this writing, Christine Quinn, the first female and openly gay speaker of the New York City Council, remains a front-runner in the city’s crowded race for mayor. A poll by Quinnipiac University, the New York Times reports, shows Quinn, the second-most-powerful elected official in the... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2013-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Discover A Foreign City Through Its Fiction Via New Gimbal App

The new Gimbal app, launching Tuesday at the London Book Fair, features translated short stories for commuters that allows you to explore a city through fiction. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


BA's Godfray: Amazon can destroy book trade

Amazon’s quest for industry domination is “scary” and it could have the ability... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


A Festival of Cookbooks in the City of Light

The Paris Cookbook Fair that took place in the Carrousel du Louvre, February 22-24 brought in nearly 3,000 attendees to visit 102 booths of publishers, writers, and agents. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


American City Business Journals Acquires Streetwise Media

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 16, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American City Business Journals, the nation's largest print and online publisher of local business news, has acquired Streetwise Media, a Boston-based digital media company that uses a community ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online publisher