The State We’re In, September 12, 2009. We look at how people treat each other during a pandemic and ask a Swine flu sufferer how the disease has affected her relationships. We ask if there’s a right to complain and if protest is the lubricant of democracy, meet a man who exercises his right to kvetch and hear from Israeli singer-songwriter Aviv Geffen, who was standing next to Yizhak Rabin when he was assassinated.

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Swine flu – how people treat each other during a pandemic

Swine flu survivor
Sarah Vines of London caught the H1N1 virus. She tells us about the disease, and the affect it had on her relationships.

I want H1N1
Kim Hohenadel is a registered nurse in the US state of Virginia. She explains why she hopes she catches the disease – in spite of the traumatic cases she’s experienced in her work.

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This week’s theme is "The right to complain"

Complaints
Julian Baggini is a British philosopher who has written a book, called “Complaints: from Minor Moans to Principled Protests”. He discusses with Jonathan what constitutes a complaint, right and wrong complaints, and how complaints and protests can lead to positive social change.

Jailed for complaining
An Indonesian housewife, Prita Mulyasari, went to a hospital emergency room late last year suffering from a high fever. She was misdiagnosed and she complained. As a result, she has since been arrested and jailed and now she’s on trial, facing a 70,000 euro fine and up to six years in jail.

Protest is the lubricant of democracy
Adam Eidinger was one of around 1000 protesters who staged a protest near the White House in 2002 to protest against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The protest was crushed by the police and over 400 were arrested. They were subjected to harsh treatment before finally being released. Eidinger and many of the other protestors have sued the city of Washington, D.C. and won. Eidinger tells Jonathan why protest is so necessary in a democracy.

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Hal's kvetch
In this essay, Canadian writer Hal Niedzviecki explains how, after years of resistance, he has come to accept the fact that he is a master “kvetcher”.

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Geffen's gift
Israel’s biggest and most controversial pop star Aviv Geffen discusses why he thinks music can be more powerful than politics and of the moment that changed his life – he was standing next to the prime minister Yitzhak Rabin when he was assassinated in 1995.

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