<em>The Ticket: </em>This Isn’t Trump’s Katrina

Political crises are all alike, but disasters are all disastrous in their own ways.

If staff writer Vann R. Newkirk II could, he would stop every mention of “so-and-so’s Katrina.” After the ubiquitous -gate suffixing of post-Nixon scandals, President Bush’s infamous mishandling of the 2005 hurricane and its aftermath may be America’s most pervasive political metaphor today. But while the impulse for comparison should be resisted, Newkirk says the lessons of the past do have a special relevance now, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On this week’s episode of The Ticket: Politics From The Atlantic, he joins host Edward-Isaac Dovere (each connected remotely while hunkered down at home). The politics and public-health reporter discusses the coronavirus response, as well as Floodlines, the new Atlantic podcast he hosts about Hurricane Katrina. All eight episodes of the show were released this week.

Listen to their conversation here, along with the first episode of Floodlines:

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Kevin Townsend is a producer at The Atlantic.