Introducing Our First Sunday Edition, Viral: 🦠From Pandemics to Popularity 🌐

I am so pleased to present Hyperallergic’s inaugural Sunday edition!

This idea has been gestating for a while, but it wasn’t until earlier this year that we finally decided to put the plan into action, and today we are excited to publish our very first-ever Sunday edition.

This new section is designed to allow us to dive into both timely and timeless topics in a multifaceted way. For this first edition, we’ve chosen the theme “Viral.” With the help of editor Seph Rodney and our editorial team, I’ve gathered together this collection of essays that explores what “viral” means in our culture, from the epidemiological to the more contemporary notion of mass popularity.

We hope you enjoy this latest addition to Hyperallergic.

This week’s edition “Viral” includes:

• Hakim Bishara on the visual language used to represent viral threats
• Joseph Nechvatal on the relationship between viruses and algorithms, where he writes, “Viruses … function with a zombie algorithmic perfection, occasionally to deadly results”
• An Mina Xiao on how we can lead contemplative lives that are both spiritual and digital during times of pestilence and self-quarantine
• The history of faith and disease by Anthony Majanlahti, who asks what happens when an epidemic strikes Rome, where the profoundly human urge to kiss and touch sacred items becomes part of the problem
• Debra Brehmer‘s moving meditation at the Giotto Chapel in Assisi, where she reminds us, “Francis was not only a lovable socialist-styled saint who turned his back on inherited wealth to stand with the disenfranchised but he was also the first environmentalist”
• A look at filmmakers in isolation by Dan Schindel, who considers art that emerges from restrictive conditions
• Seph Rodney on why “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi is the most-watched video online

For now, we’ll be publishing the Sunday edition monthly, with hopes to increase the frequency after we weather this pandemic and can devote more resources to this new edition.

If you want to help, please consider supporting us by becoming a Hyperallergic Member so we can continue bringing you the quality journalism, reviews, and essays you look forward to every day. If you are in the position to support us, please consider becoming a member now. In our appeal letter earlier this month, we wrote about why your support is crucial to the survival of Hyperallergic and the existential threat that the current pandemic has posed on independent media like us. If you haven’t read it yet, please take a look and become a member.

Enjoy this week’s Hyperallergic Sunday and we hope to bring you many more in the months ahead.