David Byrne's 'Reasons to Be Cheerful' Magazine Readies COVID-19 Series

The series chronicles the "extraordinary changes" occurring via pandemic

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished May 1, 2020

Back in March, David Byrne shared some thoughts on the coronavirus pandemic through his online magazine Reasons to Be Cheerful. Now, the Talking Heads mastermind has announced plans to examine our current moment at even greater length through a new reported series.

Launching today, the "Now Anything Is Possible" series will focus on the "once-in-a-generation potential of the extraordinary changes occurring around the world in response to COVID-19," examining "how those changes are solving problems that have long seemed intractable."

The series begins today with an op-ed of the same named written by Mitch Anderson. He writes, "Is this another moment of elemental change? Could the pandemic catalyze structural reforms and societal shifts to make the future more resilient, sustainable and fair? Or after the crisis subsides, will we simply end up back where we were — or worse?"

Byrne wrote in a statement, "This is a catalyzing moment and many of the changes that have been made or contemplated are going to be permanent –– some of those are good, and some deeply questionable. We at Reasons to be Cheerful of course want to know: how can we keep the good stuff? Who is doing it (it's already happening) and how those ideas and initiatives are working out?"

Byrne launched Reasons to Be Cheerful last August as "a non-profit editorial project that is tonic for tumultuous times."

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