How's it going?
 
 
We put this issue of Parental Guidance to bed shortly after the University of Chicago (like most other higher-ed institutions) announced it would go to remote learning for Spring Quarter, and just after many in the country started working from home. Things will obviously have changed by the time you read this. In any case, we've tried to ensure that this issue will be useful and informative for the near future each of us is discovering day by day.
 
We'll leave the serious science to our sister newsletter µChicago (which you should check out even when there isn't a pandemic), but there are a few things we've found really helpful, like this March 15 Q&A session with UChicago infectious disease experts and learning about the exponential growth of epidemics and how the coronavirus affects the body.
 
Read on for more info and some great ways to keep yourself and your family upbeat and engaged in life as we're all hunkered down together, in spirit if not in person.
 
Also, we can't say it enough, or better than this ...
 
Deneen and Sean (AB'90)
 
P.S. How are things for you and yours at this challenging time? Let us know what--and how--you're doing. And please share Parental Guidance with any content-craving friends.
 
 
  Let's get comfortable  
 
 
  1.  
More questions about the coronavirus and your family?
Parents can get great, timely, regularly updated answers from the New York Times.
 
 
  2.  
Video games do some global good
Kids logging extra time on Minecraft these days? UChicago computer scientist Nick Feamster discusses how a virtual library within the game has become a hub of free speech.
 
 
  3.  
Economic outlook
Chicago Booth's Initiative on Global Markets asked leading economists around the country about the likelihood of a coronavirus-caused recession.
 
 
  4.  
Vaccine, please
Listen: UChicago scientists are on the front lines in the search for the coronavirus's vulnerabilities--and they've made rapid progress.
 
 
  5.  
Some (preferably free) distractions would also be nice
Museums, other cultural institutions, and various businesses are sharing virtual tours and other fun educational activities online. Some of our favorites include the British Museum, free at-home workouts, anything on Khan Academy (AP Art History, anyone?), and, of course, UChicago.
 
 
  6.  
How about free shipping?
The Seminary Co-op Bookstores are offering just that through April 15. (At 1,344 pages, Robert A. Caro's The Power Broker should keep anyone busy for a while.)
 
 
“There's a need for history and information and ideas, and books have always been the best technology for that.”
 
--Jeff Deutsch, Director of the Seminary Co-op Bookstores
 
 
  For the grown-ups  
 
  Maurice Hilleman, PhD'44, knew a thing or two (or 40) about vaccines.