We live in strange times; a new normal has been created and freedoms are restricted. A daily narrative is fed from government briefings and media coverage which generates fear. It is reinforced in clever advertising across all media. People are told what to do and think. Most seem to go along with it; the alternative incurs harsh penalties. Some adopt irrational behaviours, such as wearing masks while walking in the fresh air or while driving on their own in a car. Dissenting views from the mainstream narrative are side-lined. Group think is fostered which overwhelms reason and reduces individual’s agency. It doesn’t feel right. Some are fearful. Some are isolated. Some are sceptical. 

Not everyone is taken in by the narrative. A group of ordinary people with different backgrounds can see the inconsistencies, the lack of an alternative perspective, the irrational behaviours and the coercion. They sense others may feel the same way, but who are unable to express themselves because their individual agency is diminished by isolation and even hostility. They see many around them who are allowing their thinking faculties to sleep while accepting uncritically everything they are told.   

As a result of these observations and their holding of similar views, the group decides to record a series of roundtable discussions in which they share their observations and opinions related to the situation in which we find ourselves. They hope that in so doing, they can fulfil two aims: To resonate with people who might otherwise feel marginalised by the dominance of the mainstream narrative; and to help people think critically about the circumstances and to recover their agency.  

In the first roundtable (which is in two parts), the group considers the adoption of the COVID-19 measures in England and asks: Are We Mad? 

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