Politics with Amy Walter: What it’s like to Start a Career During the Pandemic

When the COVID-19 swept the U.S. in March, it was hard to fully understand how society would fundamentally change. Since then, more than 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment. As states grapple with the uncertainty that comes with reopening their economies, Politics with Amy Walter returns to a conversation from April about what it’s like to be entering the workforce at this time.

Hannes Schwandt, assistant professor at Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, shares how cohorts unlucky enough to join the workforce during a recession see a loss in lifetime earnings.

Amanda Mull, a staff writer at The Atlantic, describes how disasters like pandemics alter the worldview of those transitioning into adulthood and how the current economic downturn has the potential to do the same for Generation C. 

Judah Lewis was finishing the second semester of his senior year at Howard University when COVID-19 caused the school to close and classes to move online. The path to his last semester was not an easy one and now he feels like the rug has been pulled out from underneath him. Lewis talks to us about how the pandemic has jeopardized his post-graduation prospects and provides an update on his career plan.

In May, activist and playwright Larry Kramer died at age 84. He’d devoted his life to advocating for the gay community during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Kramer was an outspoken critic of the government’s response to the crisis and famously criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, who at the time was the face of the federal government’s response, in the pages of the San Francisco Examiner.