by Thinus Ferreira
The yellow doorframe brand that's a portal to the world and the rest of the universe has a wonderful tie-in this month between the National Geographic (DStv 181 / StarSat 220) TV channel and its monthly National Geographic magazine.
On National Geographic its Virus Hunters special documentary will be broadcast today, 25 November at 21:00, and then there is the November 2020 single-topic edition, headlined "A World Gone Viral: How the pandemic is changing our lives".
The wonderfully insightful and well-researched, well-travelled (despite Covid-19) Virus Hunters look at the Covid-19 pandemic through the lens of other viruses, how they spread and what it means for mankind and nature within the context of today's world.
Virus Hunters is a bit gross (and enters a real bat cave in Africa) so be aware squeamish viewers.
This well-researched documentary TV special is however very informative, has some quite cinematic and beautiful scenes and will educate and widen your perspective on viruses, Covid-19 and the global pandemic.
Virus Hunters tracks some of the experts currently searching to identify the chain of events that could cause the next global pandemic.
The National Geographic fellow, epidemiologist and ecologist Christopher Golden is on a mission to connect the dots on culture, disease and the environment to discover the patterns that cause global health crises.
In Virus Hunters the ABC News foreign correspondent James Longman together with Christopher Golden travel across Africa to Europe and then the United States (during Covid-19!) to meet some of these scientists on a quest to understand and stop the Covid-19 outbreak and to try and prevent the next deadly pandemic.
Virus Hunters beautifully ties in with the National Geographic November 2020 special issue print edition and online at natgeo.com/coronavirus.
The November 2020 issue has over 140 pages packed with carefully collected, beautiful, sometimes harrowing, often moving, essays and reports from across the world that adds to your knowledge of the world, changs your perception about things, and changes you.
Articles within this November 2020 issue range from the coronavirus explained, to how it has changed our lives, to how the first 100 days played out, the devastating year that 2020 has turned out to be, and a look at what the impact of the pandemic could be on planet Earth.
Can we trust the science about the pandemic that emptied streets and filled graveyards? How have the poor been affected, and young people between 18 to 25? From Kenya to Indonesia, and from Belgium to the United States and even Jordan, the November issues covers it all.
I really can just fully recommend this National Geographic November 2020 issue as an incredible read, and thanks a lot to National Geographic for sending me this magazine.
One day we'll look at this stunning, fateful year in human history, and the test that it presented to humanity.
This specific National Geographic magazine is one of those treasure chest keepsake media that you'll always be able to go back to for how it captured the science, reflected the mood, and referenced and presented our understanding of the world at the time. 2020.
