The inside story of discovering omicron: South African scientists on the lessons their experience offers the rest of the world

What is it like to discover a new COVID-19 variant? We hear the inside story from Jinal Bhiman at South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases, one of the scientists who first alerted the world to the omicron variant. And Shabir A Madhi, professor of vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand, explains what lessons South Africa's experience can offer the rest of the world about future coronavirus variants. We’re joined by Ozayr Patel, digital editor for The Conversation based in Johannesburg for this story.

And new research finds a person’s emotional reaction to music has a lot to do with their cultural background – we speak to George Athanasopoulos, a musicologist at Durham University in the UK. (From 34m15s)

Plus, Laura Hood, politics editor for The Conversation based in London, recommends some recent analysis on the political pressures facing the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, over parties held during coronavirus lockdowns. (From 47m10s)

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here. A transcript of this episode is available here.

Further reading:

• The hunt for coronavirus variants: how the new one was found and what we know so far
• South Africa has changed tack on tackling COVID: why it makes sense
• How your culture informs the emotions you feel when listening to music
• Four key takeaways from the ‘partygate’ investigation into Boris Johnson’s Downing Street
• Boris Johnson pledges to ‘fix’ Downing Street after partygate – but this is a failure of his leadership

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